A
few months ago, I was reading in the newspapers that Prime Minister
Stephen Harper was heading toward disaster in Quebec and Liberal
Leader Michael Ignatieff was the new anti-Duceppe. After last week's
byelection results, many of the same pundits are saying that
Ignatieff is finished and Harper is back in the game.
Of
course they were wrong about Harper and they could be wrong about
Ignatieff, that is if the Liberal leader chooses to prove them
wrong.
But
the turnaround will be hard, painful, and takes time, however, it's
not impossible.
The
first step, even if badly executed, has been made by cleaning up his
office. That's an important step because it means that the leader
has realized there was a problem. Yet, firing people, even if it
doesn't make you feel good, is an easy one.
The
difficult part starts now with the second step, which is to hire
qualified top OLO staffers, and the third step is to clean up the
party's hierarchy that handles the House and caucus activities.
Of
course, step two is mainly in the hands of the new chief of staff,
Peter Donolo. The former director of communications to former prime
minister Jean Chrétien is very qualified, has an impressive
curriculum, and tons of connections with skilled and politically
smart people. He can really make Ignatieff's office work.
But
there are two potential problems. First, if this transition is not
properly handled, Ignatieff might appear as the front man for some
behind-the-scenes manoeuvering that will not help the rebuilding of
his leadership. The second is the relationship that his new
management will establish with the caucus.
Donolo
is part of a well-identified group of Liberals and close to former
prime minister Jean Chrétien. The former Liberal leader has been
very much involved in the life of the Liberal Party even after his
retirement and Ignatieff has not been his first choice as his
successor. There is a risk that Ignatieff might be viewed by some
only as a transition leader holding the spot for someone else to
step in. Of course, Ignatieff is much more than that and he has the
qualities to lead the party. But it's up to him to let people know
who's in charge otherwise he will never have the support, and the
respect, of his caucus.
The
second step of his plan to turn around his leadership is the
interaction with his caucus.
Donolo,
while he has a strong reputation in dealing with communications
between the leader and the voters, was never really engaged in
handling the communications between the leader and the caucus. In
fact, the major problem Chrétien had was not with the voters, but
with his own caucus.
And,
from what we see lately, there is a lot of work to do in this
sector.
According
to many insiders, the person with the strongest support in the
present Liberal caucus is not Ignatieff, but Liberal MP Bob Rae.
This creates a huge problem in terms of credibility for Ignatieff.
After all, Chrétien was forced out not by Canadians, but by his
caucus.
There
is a lot do in rebuilding credibility and, most of all trust.
Many
MPs don't feel protected by the leader. The handling of the Denis
Coderre issue last month and the departure of Ian Davey two weeks
ago haven't reinforced the trust of MPs in their leader. Even the
handling of the problems Ruby Dhalla had to go through a few months
ago has not impressed many in the caucus. She was the co-chair of
Ignatieff's campaign and basically was left alone to defend herself.
The Liberal Whip's Office needs to be reined in and the Question
Period team needs to clean up its act. Even if the 45-minute
mediocre TV entertainment show is highly overrated in terms of
interest to the vast majority of Canadians, it's still a good window
on the effectiveness of the team to deal with the daily issues
Canadians are concerned with.
Up
until now, the Liberals in the House have been unfocused and they're
shooting all over the map in Question Period, unlike NDP Leader Jack
Layton and his party who are tightly focused.
Liberals
are trying to blame the Harper government with everything under the
sun—from the global recession, to the H1N1 pandemic issue.
Canadians,
watching newscasts from all over the world are fully aware that
Canada, if not doing better than others, definitely is not
underperforming other industrialized countries in Europe, in North
America and the rest of the world. Polls and byelections prove that
Canadians know what Liberal Question Period handlers don't.
Furthermore, they use this TV opportunity to showcase some, and
ignore vast majority of others.
They
also need another shakeup to change the people responsible for the
House operations. They're the same people who used the same tactics
during Stéphane Dion's era and we all know the results.
Can
Ignatieff become a future Prime Minister of Canada?
Of
course he can. But he needs to address all those issues first, and
then prepare a credible political platform to present to Canadians.
Most
of all Ignatieff needs time.
Hoping
to become Prime Minister by counting exclusively on the rants of the
usual suspects during Question Period and by waiting for the
Conservatives to make mistakes, is a mistake in itself and one
Canadians will not forgive anymore, to
anyone.
