Conservative caucus roils over Brian Mulroney

The Conservatives' iron-clad discipline suffered several cracks last week as party members bickered behind closed doors over Brian Mulroney -- the former prime minister who divides them still.

MPs and senators feuded privately over the Harper government's treatment of the former leader as a public inquiry begins looking into his business dealings with arms dealer Karlheinz Schreiber. Some are now going public.

Sources in the Conservative caucus have told The Canadian Press that their meeting last Wednesday was pocked with bitter exchanges about the man who delivered the last Tory majority government.

snip

One outraged Mulroney supporter strode into the caucus room and straight to the podium to address fellow Conservatives after consulting with the former PM by phone.


more, well worth the read, lol

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090405/conservatives_mulroney_090405/20090405?hub=TopStories

I find this sooooo delicious, Mulroney is causing havoc in the party and I could NOT be happier! He is scum but, then again, so are they. I hope they continue to eat their own.

Piece.

Sinc Stevens has been on Harper's tail for years. Wonder if the fellow from Newfoundland will pipe up.

And yet on the other hand I have to be a bit skeptical. Is it all a put on to make to investigation appear fair?

Hope this ends up giving some politicians some spine and have them represent the wishes of the population and not just their fearful leader.

It is understandable that the federal Conservatives wish to put some distance between themselves and Brian Mulroney as he faces an inquiry into his controversial business dealings with Karlheinz Schreiber. But the eagerness with which they seem to be doing so is a shabby way to treat a former prime minister.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper need not invite Mr. Mulroney to speak at the next Conservative convention, or invite him for lunch at 24 Sussex Drive. But it is insulting for Mr. Harper's officials to announce on Mr. Mulroney's behalf that he has severed ties with the party – particularly when it may come as news to the former prime minister, who has responded through a spokesman that he will remain a Conservative for as long as he lives, and was reportedly a generous financial donor to the party as recently as last year's election. Even if it proves true, as Conservatives claim, that Mr. Mulroney specifically asked to be removed from the membership rolls, the party's needless publicity on this point would be unseemly.

Mr. Mulroney has not been charged with any crimes. There remain important unanswered questions about the money given to him by Mr. Schreiber after he ceased to be prime minister, which Mr. Harper has commendably called an inquiry to help resolve. But Mr. Harper appears to have prejudged the inquiry's findings for the sake of political expediency, and to have overreacted in a way that is dividing his party.

History has shone favourably on many of Mr. Mulroney's achievements in office, including the introduction of free trade. Less than two years ago, Mr. Harper appeared alongside Mr. Mulroney at a public event and went out of his way to praise his international leadership. To a large number of Tories, he is as formidable and influential a figure as Mr. Harper. His support was crucial in facilitating the merger between the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance, and he reportedly played a key role in the appointment of Michael Wilson as Canada's ambassador to Washington.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090402.weMulroney03/BNStory/Front

The article came out on Friday. The new information comes out on Sunday.

Reporters aren't reporters anymore. They just write history.

QUEBEC — There are murmurs in business and political circles in Toronto and Ottawa that Jean Charest could be up to the job as next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Ever since he resigned as leader of the old Progressive Conservative party to take over the Quebec Liberals in 1998, it is believed that Mr. Charest never abandoned his dream of one day becoming prime minister of Canada. The Quebec Premier is never more at ease then when he can share the national stage on federal-provincial issues or step into the international spotlight whenever the province's role, however minimal, allows it. His weekly cabinet meetings often begin with an overview of what is going on the rest of the country.

In fact, the political timetable may now be working to Mr. Charest's advantage. After barely winning a minority in 2007, Mr. Charest came back in the December, 2008, election to win a slim majority. He won as the recession was only beginning to take hold in Quebec and before voters had a chance to take their wrath out on his government.

He now has four years to plan his next move. All the while watching how Stephen Harper manages his way through the recession with a minority government that has probably less than a year to survive before the next federal election.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090403.wPOLquebec0403/BNStory/politics/home

party. It is still, by and large, the Reform Party regardless of the multiple name changes and having a French leader would not be in the cards, imo. It seems there is a simmering rift between the old Conservatives and the Reform members exacerbated by this latest Mulroney kerfuffle. I hope it blossoms into something concrete.

And Quebec have a lot of votes. And the east coast has to be included.

Maybe a split is happening in a reverse way then?

Do you mean the former Conservatives becoming a major power within the party as opposed to the current situation with the Reform Party members holding the power? That is the only way in which I think Charest would have a chance at the leadership regardless of the number of votes in Ontario and Quebec. I could see Quebec NC party members supporting him but not those in Ontario. My take on the NC supporters in Ontario are those who have the same anti-French attitude the Reform Party grassroots had and still has.

The Progressive Conservatives splitting from the Conservatives.

If that were to happen, the Reform Conservatives would return to being a regional party and all bets would be off re Charest as he could well win the leadership of a Progressive Conservative party, imo.

Though, no doubt Harper's motives are cold blooded and calculated. Still, Mulroney started us on the current situation, which frankly just doesn't seem to be working out (FTA-->NAFTA-->globalization).

Then, there's the money in envelopes. That is a reminder that the elites no longer consider themselves to be within the rule of law. Mulroney is a minor case, but such thinking eventually leads to Bushian war and chaos.

and it is coming back to bite his ass, to what extend we have yet to see. Finger in the wind harper will make nice with mulroney if the uproar is big enough to endanger needed support, I have no doubt.