The speculation is also suggesting Mr. Rock and Heritage Minister Sheila Copps will soon announce. Liberal MP Dennis Mills has already said he is interested but he also believes that it¹s way too soon to start a campaign for a race one year away. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien¹s announcement that he would step down in February, 2004, has created complete and utter chaos in Ottawa and it¹s effecting the government¹s agenda.

"There is not much coordination within the Liberal Party these days," a Liberal strategist told me last week. Of course I considered his unflappable comment the understatement of the year. In fact, what¹s going on within the governing party right now is crazy.

Basically Prime Minister Chrétien has surrendered his control over the party retaining only the minimum required for the functioning of the government. On the other hand, Paul Martin, considered the leading contender in the upcoming leadership, has neither the official authority nor the will to jeopardize a political organization, the Liberal Party, which basically belongs now more to the future leader than the present administration.

The latest example of this confusion are the changes over the election of the House of Commons committee chairs on Parliament Hill. The opposition motion will be put to a vote in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Nov. 5 and I predict the government will lose the vote. "The Prime Minister," said a Liberal strategist close to Jean Chrétien (Saint-Maurice, Que.) is not really interested in this change, but he believes it¹s wrong and hopes that is not going to go ahead."

On the other side, the position is speculating differently: Said a strategist: "Mr. Martin is on record saying that the vote should be secret but it is not something that is on the top of his priorities at the present time." Considering he is on record on the subject, most likely Mr. Martin might vote for the changes, and Mr. Chrétien against. It is not the first time the two men have been on the other side of an issue, the difference is this time that the showdown is not of their own making and they¹re not leading, they¹re merely following their own supporters.

In fact, if you take a closer look at the people voting for and against, you see that they are from both leadership camps and are now on the same side. This is the most recent example of the changing times within the Liberal Party. Is it democracy in action, or just simple and plain chaos?