Liberals broaden leadership consultation but not enough to satisfy Rae

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/12/2008 (6173 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA – The Liberal national executive has broadened the consultation process for quickly choosing a new federal leader but thousands of rank and file party members will still have no say in selecting Stephane Dion’s replacement.

The decision late Monday will come as a bitter disappointment to leadership contender Bob Rae, who had been lobbying hard to have the party adopt an accelerated contest that would give every party member a vote.

Liberals close to Rae said the former Ontario premier will now have to consider whether there’s any point to forcing a final confrontation with frontrunner Michael Ignatieff, his old friend and onetime university roommate, or simply bow out of the race now.

The pressure on the party to come up with a speedy leadership process mounted earlier Monday when Dion announced that he will resign earlier than scheduled, as soon as a replacement can be chosen through an expedited process.

Dion had intended to stay on until a May leadership convention in Vancouver chose his successor.

But he agreed Monday that a replacement must be chosen well in advance of a potential parliamentary showdown over the Jan. 27 federal budget – which could plunge the country into another election or see the Liberals try to form a coalition government with the NDP, propped up by the Bloc Quebecois.

The 25-member national executive considered various options during a three-hour conference call Monday night.

In the end, members agreed that the executive should not rely strictly on the recommendation of the party’s 77 MPs and 58 senators in choosing an interim leader – the option favoured by Ignatieff who enjoys the lion’s share of support among caucus members.

They decided to broaden the consultation to include over 800 Liberals, including riding presidents, defeated candidates and the presidents of the party’s student, women’s, seniors and aboriginal clubs.

The executive will make a final decision by Dec. 17.

“In keeping with our national Canadian character, the Liberal party brought together good sense and balance in seeking broad consultation in an expedited timeframe,” party president Doug Ferguson said in a written statement.

While the decision goes beyond the simple caucus consultation preferred by Ignatieff, it still favours the frontrunner. Most of the 800 who will be consulted are among the elite who would have been automatic or ex-officio delegates to a leadership convention. Ignatieff won the lion’s share of ex-officio support during the 2006 contest and was expected to do so again.

Ignatieff made it clear Monday in an email to supporters that he wants the job of interim leader.

Should he win, Ignatieff said he’s committed to having his leadership “confirmed by our party” at the previously scheduled convention in Vancouver next May, after which he would “immediately engage the grassroots” in policy development.

Ignatieff’s supporters believe his installation as interim leader will put irresistible pressure on Rae to bow out, although Rae could theoretically remain in the race until the May 2 leadership vote.

With Rae out, Ignatieff would become the de facto permanent leader whose acclamation would be simply be rubberstamped in Vancouver.

Until the executive’s decision to broaden the consultation, Ignatieff’s supporters had hoped to have the matter settled at a caucus meeting Wednesday.

The only other leadership contender – New Brunswick MP Dominic LeBlanc – alluded to that scenario Monday as he dropped out of the leadership contest and threw his support to Ignatieff.

“I would be very pleased if the caucus were to unite around Michael on Wednesday,” LeBlanc told a news conference.

The Ignatieff camp released the names of 46 Liberal MPs who are backing the frontrunner. It did not mention his support among senators, who tend to lean more towards Rae.

Dion set the chain of events in motion with his decision to speed up his retirement. In a statement, the beleaguered Dion said a consensus has developed in the party that it needs a new leader in place before Parliament returns from its Christmas break.

“I agree . . . So I have decided to step aside as leader of the Liberal party effective as soon as my successor is duly chosen.”

Rae spent the day trying to whip up a grassroots revolt against the prospect of caucus determining the next leader behind closed doors.

“It’s better to have the party as a whole involved in finding a solution than it is having a solution imposed from above,” said Rae.

“I don’t think that coronations are generally very successful in political parties. I think most people believe that it’s better to have a contest, it’s better to have a choice.”

Rae charged that letting caucus alone determine the leader would be undemocratic and elitist, and would shut out party members in vast areas of the country that are not represented by Liberals in the House of Commons.

He got some support Monday from Toronto MP Gerard Kennedy, the kingmaker who helped secure the leadership for Dion in 2006. Kennedy, who endorsed Rae for the leadership this time, argued that a more inclusive process would confer more “legitimacy” on whomever wins.

Kennedy and other MPs said they’ve been hearing from angry Liberals who don’t want to be left out of the process. Insiders said national executive members were also deluged with missives from irate party members.

In response to one upset Liberal, party president Ferguson promised: “I will stand up for our members on this issue.”

The national executive considered four options for choosing Dion’s replacement. They were:

-The Ignatieff camp’s preferred option of having the frontrunner effectively crowned at Wednesday’s caucus meeting and ratified by the national executive.

-Expanding the number of Liberals required to approve the caucus choice of interim leader to include riding presidents and defeated candidates, in addition to the national executive.

– Have caucus choose an interim leader Wednesday other than Ignatieff or Rae. Later this month or early January, allow every party member to vote by phone for a permanent leader, who would be officially ratified by delegates at the May convention.

-Move up the delegate selection meetings for the May convention, currently scheduled for early March, to early January. With only two contenders left in the race, the winner would be evident at this point, although formal ratification wouldn’t take place until May.

The executive eventually settled on the second option.

Dion’s departure throws into doubt the future of the coalition proposal he negotiated with the NDP.

While Rae has championed the plan, Ignatieff has been lukewarm to the idea of forming a Liberal-NDP coalition cabinet propped up in the Commons by the separatist Bloc Quebecois.

Ignatieff has suggested the Liberals should continue to use the threat of a coalition to wring concessions out of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but should wait to see the content of the budget before deciding whether to follow through.

In Ignatieff’s own words, his position amounts to “coalition if necessary but not necessarily coalition.”

Dion defended the coalition deal in the news release announcing his departure plans.

“I believe that decision was the right one, and I am proud of having forced Stephen Harper to back away from his attempt to force upon Canadians his most ideological and harmful plans in these tough economic times,” Dion wrote.

“The prime minister and his government refused to lay out a plan to stimulate the economy. The prime minister has lost the confidence of the House of Commons. The prime minister shut down Parliament to save his job while thousands of Canadians are losing theirs. The prime minister has poisoned the well of trust and respect that is necessary for a minority government to work in Parliament, especially in a time of crisis.”

Dion’s fate was sealed last week when an amateurish videotaped address to the nation was delivered to television networks an hour late and out of focus. That was the last straw for many Liberals who had been willing, up to that point, to let him temporarily lead the coalition effort.