Monday, June 3, 2002
Chrétien in crisis - THE COMMENTARY
By Joseph Planta
VANCOUVER -- Paul Martin is no longer finance minister, but one day he still may succeed Jean Chrétien. Martin has wanted to take over ever since he first lost the Liberal leadership in 1990. Martin spent nearly nine years in the cabinet of Jean Chrétien and won the allegiance of Bay Street and the international economic community with his mix of austerity and Liberalism that brought the deficit down to surplus status. If one took a straw poll of Liberal MPs, Paul Martin remains more popular than the leader; thus Chrétien felt it necessary to sack him.
The last cabinet shuffle, some eight days ago, was precipitated by the ongoing debate over the questionable ethical conduct by some of the Chrétien cabinet. Art Eggleton, was sacked when it was revealed a contract from his then ministry went to an ex-girlfriend. Don Boudria was demoted when it was revealed his conduct was less than ethical. Other ministers continue to feel the heat: Denis Codere, the highly ambitious Immigration minister; Martin Cauchon, the Justice minister; and Solicitor General Lawrence MacAulay, continues to feel the heat over the funding his brother’s college got. Even the Prime Minister’s own conduct is getting closer scrutiny once again. The old Auberge Grande Mere scandal was being talked about in the press and by the end of the week, Chrétien had enough.
It seems that the leaking to the press, the whistle-blowers, are from the Martin camp -- restless Grits unwilling to wait for the Prime Minister to step aside graciously to allow their man Martin to ascend to the highest office in the land. Chrétien, last week, threatened to fire ministers who were challenging his leadership if they continued to raise money for the undeclared succession race.
The Canadian Alliance, which provided us political watchers with much entertainment as they stabbed each other in the front last year, must be a tad pleased at the moment. Now it’s those holy Grits that are facing dissension within their caucus and giving the pundits something to watch. I remember admiring the Liberal Party last year, when Stockwell Day and others were duking it out in the press. In their long and varied history, the Liberal Party -- in the name of power -- managed to keep their troubles in-house. John Turner, restless at waiting for Pierre Trudeau to step aside, took the initiative to resign and make some dough in the private sector. Which is something Jean Chrétien did when Turner finally took over, and our current PM was too unhappy at waiting for the job. Paul Martin Sr. tried to win the Liberal leadership for himself (in the Pearson ear), however when he was unsuccessful, that legacy fell to his son, the now former finance minister.
The provocative threat made by Chrétien last week was enough for Paul Martin to muse on Friday, that he would have to reflect on his options. If Martin were to stay in cabinet, he’d need to realise he’d be sitting in a cabinet headed by a power monger who really doesn’t want the job. Chrétien has only stayed on as leader, probably to piss off the Martin camp who want the office so badly. If Martin remained in the cabinet then he’d be condoning Chrétien’s authoritarian and unethical outfit. If Martin remained in cabinet, he’d be showing great loyalty to the boss, which I now believe is lacking not only from Martin but a good chunk of the Liberal caucus. It truly isn’t right when the leader can hold on to the top job for as long as he likes. That’s not right, and Martin knows it.
Martin reflected on his options last week, and Chrétien realised it would be the prime time to sack his ambitious successor. Chrétien, is short of a legacy for his tenure in office, and any future plans would for sure be halted by Martin, who’s been know for some penny pinching. Well, Chrétien probably asked Martin to stop campaigning for his job and probably Martin refused. Martin doesn’t need to kiss Jean Chrétien’s ass, so Chrétien wanting to flex some political muscle decided to play a game of chicken. Paul Martin, as he’s admitted, was to consider his options over Sunday and report to the PM by Monday morning before the markets opened. However, en route to travelling back to Ottawa, Martin hears on the CBC that Chrétien plans to shuffle his cabinet later in the day.
It seems no one had to blink at this game of chicken. Chrétien went away and scheduled a swearing-in ceremony, where anointed heir apparent John Manley would take over the Finance portfolio. Martin -- ever beloved by the Liberal caucus, and after Stephen Harper’s words, the Canadian Alliance as well -- managed to paint the picture that he was fired, thus winning some brownie points amongst the pundits and I’m sure the Liberal rank and file. A Liberal rank and file, that will surely want to make Chrétien pay, if not embarrass him in February when a leadership review will take place.
This game of political watching has been quite interesting as of late. We’ve seen a nine year government admitting to sleeping on the job. Millions are missing and some ministers are getting too cosy. If Martin were to take over one day, for sure he’d be in a noble position to say he was never part of this scheme. He could say that what he is proposing is a new leadership far from the largesse of Chrétien, and that could be his ticket to winning the rest of the country.
Will Martin, in fact though, stick around? He’s younger than the Prime Minister sure, but when Chrétien decides to step down, will Paul Martin be any younger?
For far too long, Jean Chrétien has taken a lot for granted. He took for granted that his ministers were a far better lot then Brian Mulroney’s. Alas, they aren’t any better. For far too long, Jean Chrétien went on without having a legacy to leave Canadians for his sentence as Canada’s Prime Minister. Alas, it was Brian Mulroney himself who said last week that while Pearson would be remembered for the flag, Trudeau for the constitution and he himself for free trade; Jean Chrétien’s legacy would be this culture of corruption and waste.
The biggest waste is that of Chrétien losing the man who charted this country’s economic course over the last nine years. Sure, the dollar isn’t in the 90-cent range as it was during the Tory years, but things have been generally okay.
Paul Martin and Jean Chrétien have never been friends, and the events of the last 72 hours suppose they will never be friends. However, for nine years they were able to fake a working relationship that is a credit to both Martin, and probably to Chrétien as well. Jean Chrétien, because of his paranoia at being succeeded, has blown that meager legacy. It can only be hoped that the economy will do something miraculous, so that the new guy, Deputy Prime Minister John Manley, will make everyone forget of Paul Martin’s generally good stewardship.
- 30 -
Questions and comments may be sent to: editor@thecommentary.ca
An archive of Joseph Planta's previous columns can be found by clicking HERE .