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Liberal leadership vote to begin in November
Canadian Press
Rank-and-file Liberals across the country will start voting in mid-November on the fate of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien under leadership review rules established by the party executive.
But the 55-member body — on which Paul Martin supporters hold a majority — dodged the key question Saturday of whether Mr. Martin should be forced to take a public stand against the prime minister if he wants to replace him.
The executive also ducked the issue of whether Mr. Martin should have to disclose how much money he spends organizing for the review vote. And it put off for a month the selection of a neutral arbiter to ensure the voting process is fair.
Party president Stephen LeDrew insisted there was agreement on all sides that the voting process must be "beyond reproach" and free of any taint of bias.
"This review vote will be more controversial now, for higher stakes than ever before," Mr. LeDrew said after the executive spent six hours Saturday drafting rules for the next Liberal convention in February.
The party constitution requires Mr. Chrétien to face a vote of confidence in his leadership at the convention. But the process will unfold in two stages — first among grassroots members in local ridings, then in a second ballot among delegates to the convention.
The prime minister must win both votes to avoid a full-fledged leadership campaign that would give Mr. Martin — and anyone else who wants to run — a shot at the top job.
The grassroots voting will begin Nov. 12 and be wrapped up by Jan. 15. But the results will not be announced until after delegates also cast their votes at the February convention.
The battle lines started forming last weekend when Mr. Chrétien dumped Mr. Martin from his longtime post as finance minister.
Mr. Martin had balked at Mr. Chrétien's order for all cabinet members to shut down the unofficial leadership organizing and fundraising that had been going on for months behind the scenes.
The prime minister scored a combined 91 per cent approval rating at his last review in 1998, under the same double majority system that will be in force this time.
But forecasts of how he will fare at the February convention predictably followed factional lines Saturday.
"I have every reason to think the prime minister will enjoy strong support at both levels," said Dominic LeBlanc, chairman of the Atlantic caucus of Liberal MPs and a staunch Chretien ally.
John McKay, chairman of the Ontario caucus and an ardent Martin supporter, contended the double majority rule will work against the prime minister.
"It's a pretty stiff test," said Mr. McKay. "It's difficult for anyone to face a leadership review at any time where you're looking at effectively meeting two tests."
Mr. LeDrew had proposed Henry Pankratz, a longtime Liberal and former vice-chairman of the accounting firm Ernst and Young, as the returning officer to oversee the complicated voting process.
The party president considered Mr. Pankratz to be leadership-neutral, but some in the Martin camp disagree because he was appointed by Mr. Chrétien to a post on the Toronto Harbour Commission.
A final decision was put off for a month while the executive considers other candidates. "There were concerns that we needed two or three names into the mix," Mr. LeDrew said.
Another proposal that would have created official Yes and No committees to campaign for and against Mr. Chrétien's leadership was scuttled after brief discussion.
The idea had beeen floated by Jack Siegel, a Toronto lawyer who has tried to remain neutral between the rival leadership camps.
But insiders say the Martin faction strongly opposed the move, which could have put them on the spot by forcing them to publicly campaign against Mr. Chrétien.
Mr. Martin has repeatedly refused to say whether he will personally organize against the prime minister. Many in his camp want him to leave the job to others to avoid being pictured as personally disloyal.
Mr. Chrétien backers also want rules requiring disclosure of how much money is spent fighting the leadership review, while many Martin strategists are cool to the idea.
Mr. LeDrew said the executive decided not to deal with the issue Saturday. Instead it will wait for Mr. Chrétien to announce a related initiative that will address the same question.
The prime minster is expected to unveil conflict-of interest guidelines Tuesday that will require all sitting cabinet members to disclose immediately all the political donations they have received since they entered cabinet.
"I want to see what those (guidelines) are before we start reinventing them," said Mr. LeDrew.
The hitch is that the cabeint rules won't apply to Mr. Martin, who no longer is a minister. But the Chrétien camp hopes there will be public pressure on Mr. Martin to comply voluntarily, or face the embarrassment of explaining why he refuses to do so.
Mr. Martin was on the hot seat earlier this year when it was revealed that Jim Palmer, a Calgary lawyer, was raising money for his undeclared leadership bid while simultaneously serving as an adviser on tax policy to the Finance Department.
Howard Wilson, the federal ethics counsellor, ruled the arrangement put Mr. Martin in a potential conflict of interest.
Mr. Palmer later severed his ties with the Finance Department. The Martin camp also returned a cheque for $25,000 that Mr. Palmer had solicited from TransAlta Corp., a Calgary electricity company whose coal mining subsidiary stood to benefit from any relaxation of resource industry tax rules.
Liberal leadership vote to begin in November
Canadian Press
Rank-and-file Liberals across the country will start voting in mid-November on the fate of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien under leadership review rules established by the party executive.
But the 55-member body — on which Paul Martin supporters hold a majority — dodged the key question Saturday of whether Mr. Martin should be forced to take a public stand against the prime minister if he wants to replace him.
The executive also ducked the issue of whether Mr. Martin should have to disclose how much money he spends organizing for the review vote. And it put off for a month the selection of a neutral arbiter to ensure the voting process is fair.
Party president Stephen LeDrew insisted there was agreement on all sides that the voting process must be "beyond reproach" and free of any taint of bias.
"This review vote will be more controversial now, for higher stakes than ever before," Mr. LeDrew said after the executive spent six hours Saturday drafting rules for the next Liberal convention in February.
The party constitution requires Mr. Chrétien to face a vote of confidence in his leadership at the convention. But the process will unfold in two stages — first among grassroots members in local ridings, then in a second ballot among delegates to the convention.
The prime minister must win both votes to avoid a full-fledged leadership campaign that would give Mr. Martin — and anyone else who wants to run — a shot at the top job.
The grassroots voting will begin Nov. 12 and be wrapped up by Jan. 15. But the results will not be announced until after delegates also cast their votes at the February convention.
The battle lines started forming last weekend when Mr. Chrétien dumped Mr. Martin from his longtime post as finance minister.
Mr. Martin had balked at Mr. Chrétien's order for all cabinet members to shut down the unofficial leadership organizing and fundraising that had been going on for months behind the scenes.
The prime minister scored a combined 91 per cent approval rating at his last review in 1998, under the same double majority system that will be in force this time.
But forecasts of how he will fare at the February convention predictably followed factional lines Saturday.
"I have every reason to think the prime minister will enjoy strong support at both levels," said Dominic LeBlanc, chairman of the Atlantic caucus of Liberal MPs and a staunch Chretien ally.
John McKay, chairman of the Ontario caucus and an ardent Martin supporter, contended the double majority rule will work against the prime minister.
"It's a pretty stiff test," said Mr. McKay. "It's difficult for anyone to face a leadership review at any time where you're looking at effectively meeting two tests."
Mr. LeDrew had proposed Henry Pankratz, a longtime Liberal and former vice-chairman of the accounting firm Ernst and Young, as the returning officer to oversee the complicated voting process.
The party president considered Mr. Pankratz to be leadership-neutral, but some in the Martin camp disagree because he was appointed by Mr. Chrétien to a post on the Toronto Harbour Commission.
A final decision was put off for a month while the executive considers other candidates. "There were concerns that we needed two or three names into the mix," Mr. LeDrew said.
Another proposal that would have created official Yes and No committees to campaign for and against Mr. Chrétien's leadership was scuttled after brief discussion.
The idea had beeen floated by Jack Siegel, a Toronto lawyer who has tried to remain neutral between the rival leadership camps.
But insiders say the Martin faction strongly opposed the move, which could have put them on the spot by forcing them to publicly campaign against Mr. Chrétien.
Mr. Martin has repeatedly refused to say whether he will personally organize against the prime minister. Many in his camp want him to leave the job to others to avoid being pictured as personally disloyal.
Mr. Chrétien backers also want rules requiring disclosure of how much money is spent fighting the leadership review, while many Martin strategists are cool to the idea.
Mr. LeDrew said the executive decided not to deal with the issue Saturday. Instead it will wait for Mr. Chrétien to announce a related initiative that will address the same question.
The prime minster is expected to unveil conflict-of interest guidelines Tuesday that will require all sitting cabinet members to disclose immediately all the political donations they have received since they entered cabinet.
"I want to see what those (guidelines) are before we start reinventing them," said Mr. LeDrew.
The hitch is that the cabeint rules won't apply to Mr. Martin, who no longer is a minister. But the Chrétien camp hopes there will be public pressure on Mr. Martin to comply voluntarily, or face the embarrassment of explaining why he refuses to do so.
Mr. Martin was on the hot seat earlier this year when it was revealed that Jim Palmer, a Calgary lawyer, was raising money for his undeclared leadership bid while simultaneously serving as an adviser on tax policy to the Finance Department.
Howard Wilson, the federal ethics counsellor, ruled the arrangement put Mr. Martin in a potential conflict of interest.
Mr. Palmer later severed his ties with the Finance Department. The Martin camp also returned a cheque for $25,000 that Mr. Palmer had solicited from TransAlta Corp., a Calgary electricity company whose coal mining subsidiary stood to benefit from any relaxation of resource industry tax rules.
