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January 5, 2004 | BACK | NEXT
LIBERAL WARFARE
Fights over Grit
nominations will be warfare
If the fight for the
Liberal leadership was a war, the fight over the Liberal nominations
for the upcoming federal election can be compared to warfare.
Dozens of Liberal
MPs will have to fight to win their seats back not only from attack
coming from the NDP and the newly-formed Conservative candidates,
but also from fellow Liberals all poised to battle for the Liberal
Party nomination.
The upcoming warfare
is shaking down due to the following reasons: Prime Minister Paul
Martin announced a long time ago he will not protect MPs from being
challenged; there is still bad blood between the Martin and Jean
Chrétien loyalists after a bitter leadership race within the party
members and, to make things worse, the new electoral boundaries will
change the races in many of the country¹s ridings.
This is hyperbole,
but for many Liberal MPs the streets that lead to their nomination
are less safe than the streets in Baghdad. This is true especially
in Ontario where, according to information obtained by The Hill
Times, at least 30 MPs will have their nominations challenged, and
the situation is evolving on a daily basis.
Here¹s how it looks
at the beginning of the year 2004 for the MPs who will see their
nominations challenged by fellow Liberals.
The nastiest fights
are shaping up in the 905 area, including the Niagara
Peninsula.
The most celebrated
are taking place in the Hamilton area. The mother of all fights is
the one already under way between former Heritage minister Sheila
Copps and minister of Transportation Tony Valeri. Part of Valeri¹s
riding of Stoney Creek and Copps¹ Hamilton East will be merged to
form the new riding of Stoney Creek-Hamilton. Both MPs claim that
the most of their old ridings are part of the new one. However, some
believe the cause of this fight is a spill over from the tense
leadership race between Paul Martin and Jean Chrétien.
Copps is considered
a strong supporter of the former prime minister, while Valeri is one
of the closest advisers to Paul Martin. But Martin¹s organizers
strongly deny the team is orchestrating a direct attack on
Copps.
Also in the Hamilton
under attack is MP Beth Phinney (Hamilton Mountain, Ont.), a former
Chrétien supporter who is being challenged by former city councillor
Frank D¹Amico, a Martinite and strong supporter of Mr.
Valeri¹s.
Because of the
redistribution of ridings, four MPs will fight each other for only
two ridings: Tony Tirabassi (Niagara Centre, Ont.) John Maloney
(Erie-Lincoln, Ont.) will fight for one riding in the Niagara
Peninsula, while as Steve Mahoney (Mississauga West, Ont.) and
Carolyn Parrish (Mississauga Centre, Ont.) will be battling for the
same riding.
This will be a
particularly lively fight between Mahoney and Parrish.
Mahoney, former
minister of Jean Chrétien Cabinet, said that Parrish, a strong
supporter of Paul Martin¹s has embarrassed Canada with her
statements during the Iraq war against the Americans. Parrish said
she is taking all of this in stride. She supports Martin¹s decision
not to protect MPs¹ nominations arguing that it is good for the
party to stimulate new support.
As for the reason
why Mahoney is running against her she told The Hill Times that he
is just "scared" to fight against Wajid Khan, a strong Martin
organizer who is running in the new riding of
Mississauga-Streetsville which, according to Parrish, encompasses
most of his former constituency.
Also being
challenged in Mississauga will be MP Paul Szabo, for the riding of
Mississauga South. In this case the challenger is businessman and
Martin supporter Charles Sousa.
In Oakville, Ont.,
Bonnie Brown, another former Chrétien loyalist, will most likely to
be challenged. In Brampton Centre, Ont., Sarkis Assadourian, a
Martin supporter, is on shaky ground because he is being challenged
by a local community activist.
Toronto MPs are also
headed for some trouble. The one in a "clear and present danger" is
Davenport MP Charles Caccia. He has represented this riding since
1968, but has had his nomination protected in the last two elections
by Jean Chrétien and by Liberal Senator David Smith, a former top
Chrétien organizer. Caccia is being challenged by two strong Liberal
organizers from the Portuguese community, former trustee Tony Letra
and former city councillor Mario Silva, who also happen to be
supporters of Paul Martin.
Mr. Caccia, a
longtime Chrétien supporter, has already lost control of his riding
association and has told The Toronto Star that he will run as an
Independent if he loses the Liberal nomination.
Jean Augustine in
Etobicoke-Lakeshore, Derek Lee in Scarborough-Rouge-River, and MP
Sarmite Bulte in Parkdale-High Park are al headed for challenges. A
supporter of Sheila Copps, Bulte has been able lately to retain
control of her riding association but the challenge is tough. Some
are mentioning the name of a former Toronto city councillor, Chris
Korwin-Kuczynski. There is also the possibility of a challenge for
former minister of transport David Collenette in his Toronto riding
of Don Valley East. He is credited, however, to have a good
organization and the challenger might find a strong resistance.
There are also rumours that Mr.
Collenette might not
run in the next election.
Longtime Liberal MP
and former Chief Government Whip Marlene Catterall is rumoured to be
in for a challenge in her riding of Ottawa West-Nepean.
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