The Shotgun Blog
« Pete Vere: "Michael Moore mocks Canadian soldier after election debate" | Main | (Video) Former Estonian PM Mart Laar on the global financial crisis »
Monday, October 13, 2008
Elizabeth May offered Senate seat and Environment Ministry in Dion government?
Pierre Bourque has proven to possess an uncanny ability to locate leaky sieves, he's been right on his scoops more often than he's been wrong. This time, Pierre isn't naming his sources and is couching his claims in weasel words, which means we must treat this report cum grano sali. Pierre's been filling out this story throughout the day:
In recent hours, Bourque has heard from a number of senior political operatives, notably former senior Green Party standard bearer David Chernushenko, who told Bourque that "Integrity is when you make your actions consistent with your words and your promises. We all look for leaders with integrity. Too bad they are so hard to find. Green Party candidates should expect nothing but full and unwavering support from their leader. They have not received it. She has failed utterly in this one and most important obligation. To back them all to the end. In our 2006 leadership race, only when pushed by me, she promised Green Party members that of course she would back GP candidates 100 percent. Alas, the facts speak for themselves. If I were a candidate, I would be furious. I would feel let down by my leader when I needed her most"
...Also heard from was a top Liberal organizer who admittedly worked on the leadership bid of one of Stephane Dion's rivals, in other words someone who has much to gain if Dion and his Green Shift are soundly defeated Tuesday. Yet, this still-very-active politico tells Bourque he fears a secret deal has been cooked between Dion and Elizabeth May (both unabashed disciples of ex-pat Kyoto godfather Maurice Strong, and both currently immersed in a vociferous round of 'doth protest too much' denial about a secret deal) which may explain why she has been meeting with "key Liberal organizers" and is now actively telling Green Party supporters to vote Liberal, of all things.
This, according to our Liberal insider, in exchange for a possible Senate seat and a place as Environment Minister in a Dion-led government. To be clear, Ms May's curious strategy of backing Dion is creating ill-will within her own party to the point that "a lot of Green candidates are upset", according to one national news report this morning. Add to that the fact Dion himself is urging Greenies to go red and join the Liberals....Late tonight, Dion was, incredulously, heard saying to anyone who would listen that "Elizabeth May and I can be counted on to level with Canadians", of all things.
Meanwhile, Grit insider Ray Heard, perhaps the first Liberal to demand publicly many months ago that Dion should resign for sheer incompetence, is telling friends tonight that this news on Bourque of the May-orchestrated Green Shift to the Liberals comes as no surprise. "Its all part of a secret deal between Dion and May. But what maddens me is that, when I publicly endorsed my friend, Peter Kent, the Conservative in Thornhill because he deserves a seat in Ottawa, I was denounced as a traitor and worse by fellow-Liberals. Surely, if Dion can endorse May and persuade her to get her voters to defect to the Liberals at the eleventh hour, I have the same right to ask Grits to vote for Kent....This, friends, is another Liberal farce that will end in tragedy. I shall be the first (admittedly sorely jaundiced) Liberal to call for Dion's head when the votes are in late Tuesday."
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Chernushenko is right, after May's repeated flip-flopping on the issue of strategic voting, Green Party candidates have every right to be hopping mad. Although some Green candidates have demonstrated willingness to back an "anyone but Harper" strategy, as CPAC documented in the Saskatchewan riding of Palliser, as leader of a Federal Party May should be unambiguous in encouraging Canadians to vote for her party. There's nothing wrong with peddling for influence in a Dion government or working towards a coalition, just not at the expense of selling your own candidates down the river.
What about the claim that May has been offered a Senate seat or the position of Environment Minister? It remains a possibility, but at this point we don't have much more than a he-said-she-said allegation, I'd like to see a named source before I give it serious credibility. Also, as it stands right now, we're never going to see what a Dion government looks like anyways.
Developing...
Posted by Kalim Kassam on October 13, 2008 in Canadian Politics | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d834515b5d69e20105357b62fb970b
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Elizabeth May offered Senate seat and Environment Ministry in Dion government?:
» Best reason for an elected senate from Nice Comfy Fur
Stéphane Dion has reportedly been wooing Elizabeth May with a Senate seat in return for telling Green Party supporters to vote Liberal. [Read More]
Tracked on 2008-10-13 9:07:12 AM
Comments
The Red Greenies party will lose a buck seventy-five for every vote they cast for the other two lefty parties, coming up a tad short, not only in cash for any future election but particularly in believability, all the while Lizzie eyeing a Dion Senate seat!!
Good grief!
Posted by: Joe Molnar | 2008-10-13 8:23:55 AM
The "Red Greenies" party: will they mix their colours? Red + Green = Brown (shirts?).
Posted by: Irene | 2008-10-13 9:21:32 AM
The Green Party, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Liberal Party.
Will someone please tell me how the Greens can be considered separate from the Liberal Party?
Posted by: Zebulon Pike | 2008-10-13 9:30:14 AM
The watermelon-ization of the Liberals is necessary for survival. Harper has claimed much of their turf pushing the Grits further to the left than their customary range. To their left you have concrete-bound labour locked into the NDP tent. May, like Harper can't resist the scent of power and could just conceivably cut such a deal as above. Her mistake, I believe, (we'll find out tomorrow) was to court the Grits rather than the Red Tories as she might of had an offer from them if history has any relevance.
Posted by: John Chittick | 2008-10-13 11:19:27 AM
I did an online poll for Harris-Decima on October 8 that asked a question about what I'd think about Dion making May his Environment Minister. That question seemed to come out of nowhere - but was it a LPC trial balloon?
Posted by: GMO | 2008-10-13 9:04:07 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.