Grits should get rid of lieutenants
OTTAWA—The spin-doctors may be convinced that ex–lieutenant Denis Coderre's poison pill last week was a Montreal-Toronto power struggle.
But the real problem is a much deeper political malaise.
It lies in the Byzantine nomination process that permits "lieutenants" to serve as de facto dictators in the selection of local candidates.
Outremont's history as a coveted Liberal seat has nothing to do with the Montreal-Toronto power axis. When Jean Lapierre, one-time Liberal turned separatist, returned, former Prime Minister Paul Martin gave Lapierre one of the safest ridings in Canada, in recognition of his unwavering support during the Chrétien years.
With Lapierre's unexpected 2007 departure, the fight for Outremont erupted again. Former Liberal minister Liza Frulla wanted Stéphane Dion to appoint her in the riding. He hesitated, given Frulla's public denunciation of his leadership win.
The nasty spat dominated gossip columns for weeks until finally Dion made the offer and Frulla declined.
The riding of Pontiac is far from the national spotlight.
But a similar power struggle played out this summer under the "authority" of the Quebec lieutenant. Coderre was fresh from a failed dustup in neighbouring Gatineau, where former party executive director Steve MacKinnon defeated a handpicked Coderre candidate.
Coderre did not want two anglophones running for the Liberals in West Quebec. Ironically, party brass had previously blocked the candidacy of francophone lawyer and former MP Françoise Boivin. Organizers were saving the riding for a "star" so Boivin joined the New Democrats, and the seat went to the Bloc Québécois.
With Cindy Duncan McMillan, and Greg Fergus already in the Pontiac race, Coderre recruited former provincial political aide Georges Lafontaine to join the race. Fergus was a past national party director and Duncan McMillan was a businesswoman, who came within 3,000 votes of beating Lawrence Cannon in the previous election. Coderre ran roughshod over the riding association, unilaterally choosing a nomination date and location to favour his candidate.
Local activists claim Lafontaine was handpicked in return for his support for Coderre in a future leadership bid. Lafontaine lost.
Contrast the Outremont and Pontiac fiascos with a recent local Liberal nomination in Oakville. Former Member of Parliament Bonnie Brown hailed the process, as "how politics should be done." The party executive recruited eight potential candidates.
The association encouraged all potential nominees to sell memberships and recruit new supporters. In the end, five candidates sold 2,300 memberships, with 1,000 coming together to choose the final winner.
The association emerged energized, united and with $60,000 in the bank. They are rip-roaring ready for next election.
A healthy democracy encourages open public debate and multiple candidates. The power of appointments does not. Right now, Ontario organizers are debating whether to block a deaf lawyer from running for nomination in favour of a woman. What a Hobson's choice!
The whole notion of appointments is antithetical to democracy. A healthy nomination is a dry run to a successful election.
In his bitter resignation statement, Coderre directly linked his "loss of moral authority" to overturning his power to appoint.
Contrary to popular belief, appointment power was not introduced to empower women and minorities. It was originally introduced as an Elections Act amendment requiring political parties to provide approval letters for candidates.
The letters gave party leaders the power to weed out unsuitables like anti-French former Moncton mayor Leonard Jones, whose 1974 Conservative candidacy was blocked by then leader Robert Stanfield.
In the late '80s, pro-lifers and gunners started selling memberships en masse in support of single-issue candidates.
To counter that phenomenon, the Liberal party conferred broad appointment powers upon the leader at a national convention in 1992.
Over the years, appointments have been defended as a tool to nominate more women and minorities. But more often than not, the power is actually delegated to organizers and "lieutenants" who gerrymander or cancel nomination meetings to impose their own people.
When local riding associations are bypassed, the volunteer base of the party becomes increasingly disengaged. "If I am not good enough to vote for a candidate, what is the point of getting involved," is how one activist put it.
Incidentally, this democratic deficit is not unique to the Liberals. Tory "star" candidate Lisa Raitt of the "sexy" isotopes crisis was parachuted into her riding without a nomination.
Last week's public drubbing of Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff by his own "lieutenant" could be an opportunity. Ignatieff should abolish lieutenants and appointments and point the party in the direction of nomination democracy.
More than one party activist thinks the demise of Coderre could actually be a good day for Liberals.
Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era Cabinet minister.
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The Hill Times
http://hilltimes.com/page/printpage/copps_corner-10-5-2009