Dawson jumps from Sun Media to National Post
Dawson’s Creek… Parliamentary Press Gallery President Anne Dawson kept quite a secret while presiding over the nibs and nobs at the Gallery Dinner. Unbeknownst to almost everyone else, it was her last big public appearance as Ottawa bureau chief for Sun Media. Ms. Dawson, who took over the Sun job from yours truly 18 months […]
Lib leadership review critically important to Martin’s future
After the recent showdown between Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Paul Martin, the upcoming leadership review will be of critical importance for the former finance minister, especially if Mr. Chretien is successful in getting a decent percentage of approval from Liberal delegates. One Liberal insider said it will be deemed as a failure on the […]
Old hacks say Gallery dinner no longer booze fest
Guess who didn’t come to dinner… With all the buzz about the then undecided fate of finance minister Paul Martin that weekend, one might have thought scalpers could have had a field day selling tickets to the Gallery dinner to hobnob with ministers and hear Prime Minister Jean Chretien speak. In fact, tickets went begging […]
Party execs to PM: lose one vote and you’re out: MPs suspect last leadership review not run on the up-and-up [Delegate vote and riding vote]
In a dramatic twist, top officials in the Liberal Party have decided that a leadership convention will be triggered if the Prime Minister loses either the review vote by party members or the review vote by elected delegates. “If he loses one vote, we go into a leadership convention,” said Aurele Gervais, the federal Liberal […]
From now on, the official term is ‘sack-ignation’ [Press Gallery dinner]
Hits and Misses… I hear Stephen Harper was pretty funny at the Gallery Dinner — with the highlight being his impersonation of Brian Mulroney in the role of Darth Vader. However, I’m told nothing he did was as funny as the garish golf shirt he wore for his television appearance the next day to respond […]
PM pressured to step down: Leadership review risks dividing us to the extent that our party has never been divided before’: MP
Paul Martin’s supporters hope Prime Minister Jean Chretien steps down before next year’s leadership review in order to avoid an ugly, nasty confrontation between the two political titans that could split the country’s “natural governing party” for years to come. “I wouldn’t recommend him to go through [the review],” said Liberal MP Janko Peric (Cambridge, […]
Chretien obsessed with legacy
The partnership between Prime Minister Jean Chretien and former finance minister Paul Martin died when Quebec separatism died. The partnership might have still continued. Miscalculations and unrestrained ambitions on both sides brought about its actual dissolution. But Quebec separatism kept the two together because it kept them a certain distance apart. Once the threat of […]
Liberals’ $1 memberships a big boost for Martin’s camp [Ontario wing]
A move by supporters of Paul Martin to drop the price of party memberships from $10 to $1 in the all- important battleground of Ontario has significantly increased their ability to defeat the Prime Minister at the upcoming review vote, say Martinites. Furthermore, they say the move means they can offer free memberships to new […]
Who’s supporting who? Yes and No camps for upcoming Liberal leadership review (Last updated Tuesday, June 11 at 11:30 am]
(Last updated Tuesday, June 11 at 11:30 a.m. Numbers differ from print copy of The Hill Times on Monday, June 10. Watch for complete updated list in next week’s issue.) CHRETIEN SUPPORTERS *Herb Dhaliwal (Vancouver South-Burnaby, B.C.) *Rey Pagtakhan (Winnipeg North-St. Paul, Man.) *Dominic LeBlanc (Beausejour-Petitcodiac, N.B.) *Claudette Bradshaw (Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe, N.B.) *Robert Thibault (West Nova, […]
Media ignore Harper’s impact
Whatever impact the current Liberal self-destruction has on the next round of public opinion polls, it’s pretty unlikely that the ruling party will maintain its current lead over the opposition. Indeed, even before Jean Chretien displayed the awesome level of his blinding arrogance and forced Paul Martin out into the cold — from where he’s […]
