So, the PM has fired the Finance Minister, apparently because the latter’s leadership aspirations were too much for Jean: Martin’s Out, Manley’s In.
So, what do people think? Does this mean Martin will be able to challenge Chrétien from the outside, free of Cabinet solidarity? Or is Martin’s career over? And will the Grits split, or are they just too familiar with power to let anything like this affect their hold on the Gov’t?
I think in the Febuary (I think it’s Febuary) Leadership Review, Chrétien will be replaced by Martin.
I think most Canadians like and respect Martin (ok, not all), however, just about everyone I talk to bairly tolerates Chrétien. Personally, I think the man made a mistake.
That’s about as close to a coup as it comes for us. I expect that Martin will up his efforts in running for the leadership now but not to the point of ripping apart the party.
Ripping it apart into what? There’s no serious opposition party poised to capitalize on a Liberal schism. If there was ever a time for a major challenge, this is it.
Unless the conservatives get their act together or the country takes a sharp turn to the left, giving the NDP a shot, the Liberals can pretty much do whatever they like. They’ll have time to recover and reunify behind Martin or any other replacement before the next Federal election.
I have, over the years, liked Jean Chretien. Common man and all that, he has balanced the budget, given us relative prosperity and hasn’t, recent events notwithstanding, allowed nearly as much corruption as his predecessor. That said, I think he is past it and is unwilling to admit it. I will say this about Trudeau: he quit while he was ahead and Chretien would do well to follow the example. Why is he hanging on so? What is he trying to prove? He has clearly run out of ideas and, since the opposition parties are totally incompetent, the only real opposition has to come from within. Maybe Martin can pull it off at the next leadership review but Canadian politicians are such sheep that I doubt it. I hope Martin isn’t finished, but I am afraid he may be.
If the CRAP had any balls, they would be sucking up to Mario Dumont and the ADQ. Ideologically, they are both far right parties that would largely dismantle both the social safety net and the federal government. Since the ADQ’s star is rising, this would give them the entree into Quebec that they so sorely need. Maybe they could then merge with the Bloc and come out as a real opposition. I shudder, but that is what they should do.
I admit to some amazement at hearing the ADQ is a far right party. Hell, the CRAP isn’t a “far right” party, either. Canada doesn’t have any major extremist parties. As to CRAP’s aspirations, trust me; the “Dismantling” of the federal government would not last five minutes. It’s easy to say you’ll dismantle the government when you’re in opposition. Once you ARE the federal government, the sweet smell of pork moderates your worldview.
As to the OP, I haven’t an iota of respect for Chretien; he’s every bit as corrupt as Brian Mulroney and has fewer ideas. The loss of Martin, however, is not as significant a blow as some will make it out to be:
Martin, in case nobody has noticed, is a very old man. Had Chretien held on for another term - a likely scenario - I don’t think the Martin camp would have stuck with him for another 4-5 years. I suspect most would have defected to Manley or lesser candidates. I’ve been saying for years Martin had no chance of becoming PM, because the timings were against him; this just accelerated his realization of that inevitability.
For all the praise being heaped upon him, Martin’s performance as Finance Minister is really not that impressive. The reversal of deficits to surpluses is more a function of a better economy, lower interest rates, and downloading than it is Martin’s financial wizardry, and to be honest much of the so-called “surplus” is accounting trickery. It’s also silly to make it out as if Paul Martin, by himself, balanced the budget; it was balanced because the Liberal government had the will to do so, not because Martin found $40 billion sitting around. The budget would have been balanced if Sheila Copps or Don Boudria were Finance Minister. That’s not to say Martin doesn’t deserve some credit, he does, but he deserves maybe one twentieth of the credit he’s been given.
Martin’s candidacy has long been trumpeted as a way of fighting separatists, Martin being (supposedly) more popular in Quebec than Chrietien. That said, there’s no OBJECTIVE evidence Martin is a separatist-slayer. In fact, there’s no objective evidence being popular in Quebec helps you fight separatists at all. Brian Mulroney was loved in Quebec and he single-handedly revived the separatist movement.
A big news story today, but I don’t think this changes who would have been Prime Minister.