Denis, Denis

By Andrew Coyne - Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 9:53 PM - 108 Comments

It was predictable enough that Denis Coderre would resign his position as the Liberals’ Quebec “lieutenant” in the wake of Michael Ignatieff’s decision to overrule him in the matter of who should carry the party banner in Outremont. Indeed, after such a public rebuff he could hardly do otherwise: his credibility was shot.

What was not so predictable, perhaps, was that he would do so in such a spectacularly destructive, and self-destructive, fashion: the political equivalent of a suicide bombing. To claim that he was the victim of a Toronto-based cabal — one that, by implication, also held Quebec in its grip — is a particularly incendiary charge in Quebec, ever alert to signs of Anglo domination.

It’s not true, of course: Coderre is not Quebec, and many if not most members of the Liberal Party in Quebec would prefer Martin Cauchon to Denis Coderre as their standard-bearer. Amongst those Liberals, I’d guess, would be a majority of the Quebec caucus, plus the party executive — and Jean Chretien. Continue…

The Commons: Gerard Kennedy has some questions

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 5:45 PM - 86 Comments

The Scene. The Prime Minister was pleading humble competence, all shrugs and up-turned palms. But then Michael Ignatieff, having tried his first two questions in French, had to go and repeat his accusations in English.

“Mr. Speaker, Canadians should be able to count on their government to help them find jobs no matter how they vote and no matter where they live, but instead we have a government that is using infrastructure money like a rewards program,” the Liberal leader alleged.

Mr. Ignatieff leaned forward and put his fingers together. The Conservatives groaned.

“Quebec’s unemployment rate is higher than the national average, yet Quebeckers are receiving the lowest per capita infrastructure funding in all of Canada,” he continued. “How does the Prime Minister explain this? How does he explain his own numbers?”

Turns out he explains it quite simply.

“Mr. Speaker,” Mr. Harper reported, “of course, that is completely false.”

“Your numbers!” a Liberal cried in confusion.

And soon enough, Mr. Harper’s pointy finger was back out, poking a hole in the air before him. Continue…

Au revoir

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, September 28, 2009 at 12:55 PM - 8 Comments

If, as has been reported, Denis Coderre will be resigning his post as defence critic in the Liberal shadow cabinet, let the record show that these were his last two contributions to Question Period in that role.

Mr. Speaker, the only climate change we have witnessed today is the change in the colour of the Prime Minister’s tie. It has changed from blue to orange. Although the NDP leader and the Conservative Prime Minister are trying to invent a new dance, known as the SOCO or socialist-conservative dance, Quebeckers are no fools. They have no faith in this government. Tomorrow, the Prime Minister will be in Washington. Will this be another Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? We would like to know who will be the real Prime Minister? Will it be the friend of the reformist dinosaurs, who we heard speaking in Sault Ste. Marie, or the smiling Conservative charlatan?

Mr. Speaker, what I find interesting about this minister’s tie is that now that it is almost blue, it is turning orange. At the meeting of the three amigos this summer, President Obama pushed aside, even trivialized, the issue of the “Buy American” clause. He even said that it was not that serious and not to worry. At the time, the Prime Minister had the opportunity to protect the interests of Quebeckers and Canadians, yet he did nothing. Tomorrow marks one month of silence. It has been seven months since he said anything. He will have another opportunity to assert our interests. How can we have confidence in this Prime Minister when he is rendered speechless by President Obama?

Coderre's old habits die hard

By Philippe Gohier - Monday, September 28, 2009 at 12:31 PM - 31 Comments

The Star‘s Susan Delacourt combs the archives:

The executive of the Quebec youth wing of the Liberal Party will ask for the resignation of party leader John Turner at a news conference scheduled for Monday in Montreal.

Time has run out for Mr. Turner, Denis Coderre, the president of the Young Liberals of Quebec , said in a telephone interview yesterday.

Mr. Coderre, once a strong Turner loyalist, co-ordinated the pro-Turner youth movement at the convention that confirmed Mr. Turner’s leadership last November, and was also youth organizer during his 1984 leadership campaign.

Denis Coderre: Classy

By Paul Wells - Monday, September 28, 2009 at 11:18 AM - 90 Comments

“What I find disappointing is that we’re washing our dirty laundry in public”

— Denis Coderre, during a nationally televised news conference announcing his resignation as Michael Ignatieff’s Quebec lieutenant

The Coderre-Ignatieff two-step

By Paul Wells - Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 8:07 PM - 48 Comments

Martin Cauchon has been offered the Liberal nomination in Jeanne-Le Ber, which was contested in 2008 (I was at the nomination meeting. It was very entertaining), on a platter, by Michael Ignatieff at Denis Coderre’s recommendation. Renewal being, apparently, a higher priority for the Liberal party in the northern part of downtown Montreal than it is in the western part.

I suppose they could simply have contested nomination meetings. But that would be wrong.

UPDATE: More. Sheila Gervais, who here criticizes Ignatieff’s eminently criticism-worthy wave of candidate appointments, supported Bob Rae for the Liberal leadership in 2006 and was national director of the party when Jean Chrétien appointed several candidates, but I offer that context only to anticipate obvious rebuttals to the point she’s making, which remains valid.

UPDATER: The Gazette seems to  believe Liza Frulla was the Liberal in Jeanne-Le Ber in 2008. She wasn’t.

Chantal Hébert endorses Trudeau!

By Paul Wells - Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 9:32 AM - 76 Comments

Not quite. But then, around here we like the spicy headlines. Here’s what friend Chantal actually says in her column today about the Cauchon-Coderre hijinx:

Both of them might be better advised to pay more attention to Justin Trudeau, a rare rising Liberal star who actually beat a Bloc incumbent to get to the House of Commons. His stock has quietly been going up since then.

In a future succession battle, Trudeau is at least as likely to be a threat to both Cauchon and Coderre as they are to find each other’s names on the final ballot of a leadership vote.

And now you all get to argue in the comments.

Martin Cauchon, you're not alone

By Philippe Gohier - Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 3:49 PM - 10 Comments

Hélène Buzzetti has the scoop: “According to information gathered by Le Devoir, four Quebec Liberal MPs are being asked by Denis Coderre to leave politics and hand over their safe seats to a star candidate.”

They are: Bernard Patry (Pierrefonds-Dollars), Raymonde Folco (Laval-Les Îles), and Lise Zarac (LaSalle-Émard). Not exactly household names to those who don’t follow federal politics. The real kicker, though, is the last name on the Coderre hitlist: Stéphane Dion.

Of course, it seems doubtful Ignatieff would install Dion in some sort of leading role should the Liberals win the next election, so shedding him isn’t a huge problem as far as the party’s starting lineup is concerned. Neither are the three others for that matter. (Booting Cauchon, on the other hand, may be a riskier proposition.) Still, there’s something unseemly about letting an overgrown Young Liberal like Denis Coderre do the housecleaning—especially when it comes to showing a former party leader the door. You’d think Ignatieff could find a moment to do that himself.

The widespread thinking is that Coderre wants to install a bunch of yes-(wo)men who’ll do his bidding when he decides to take a run at Ignatieff’s job. (Shudder.) With friends like Coderre, Ignatieff hardly needs enemies.

Today in unsolicited advice

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 12:32 PM - 14 Comments

From James Moore’s Twitter feed.

mpjamesmooreDennis Coderre, perhaps, should lead by example with his retirement idea for his colleagues. Just a thought.

To get more women into Parliament, we've got to get rid of some of the women in Parliament

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 11:03 AM - 51 Comments

With all the usual caveats whenever anonymous Liberals are involved, a novel theory is attributed to Denis Coderre here.

Coderre has pressured some long-serving MPs with safe seats to resign, according to a number of Liberal sources. They told CBC News the party wants those seats for star female candidates as part of its renewal process. The sources said former party leader Stéphane Dion, along with Bernard Patry, Raymonde Folco, and Lise Zarac, have all been asked to step aside.

Two of those MPs are publicly downplaying the suggestion. Patry said he did speak to Coderre about his future candidacy, but when asked by CBC News if he felt pressured to resign, he said, “Not really.” ”He asked me if I thought I would run again and I told him yes,” Patry said.

In an interview, Folco said she had heard rumours that she was going to be asked to resign, so she made an appointment to meet with the leader. ”I said, ‘I want to stay’ and he said, ‘It’s true, I want renewal, but you will stay in the party and be the candidate for Laval-Les Îles.’”

Speaking of renewal, Lise Zarac was first elected all of eleven and a half months ago. Change moves swiftly these days.

The Commons: This is a crucial time, apparently

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, September 15, 2009 at 6:15 PM - 61 Comments

The Scene. Having not had the opportunity a day earlier to add his unique voice to the discussion, Conservative Gord Brown stood a few minutes before Question Period with a bulletin.

“Mr. Speaker, throughout my great riding of Leeds-Grenville there are shovels in the ground, there are roads, sewers and other infrastructure works being built and repaired and folks are looking forward to the future. Everywhere I travelled in my riding this summer the people told me they are pleased with the direction our government has taken to help position Canada to face tomorrow,” he reported. “My constituents have one message: ‘Remain focused on the economy and do not have an expensive and unnecessary election.’ ”

No doubt. Our last exercise in electoral representation cost the national treasury some $280 million. Even with a drop in the price of oil, another one might add approximately the same to our already overdrawn account.

Mind you, that surely pales in comparison to the cost of sending several dozen men and women to Ottawa after each election so that they might stand in their places every so often and repeat the rote partisan rhetoric of the day.

Not that one should fuss too much over the numbers. For who among us, really, can put a price on precious democracy?

Continue…

Kid Coderre

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 4:47 PM - 5 Comments

Denis Coderre embraces his parody.

The “mini-consecration,” as Mr. Coderre called his coming appearances on the Quebec equivalent of Spitting Image , is remarkable given that most characters on the show are current or former party leaders. “I think that it’s an honour to be a part of a show like that,” said Mr. Coderre, who is the first backbencher to get his computerized double on Et Dieu créa … Laflaque…

Getting a spot on Laflaque is only natural for Mr. Coderre, according to the program’s creator, who describes him as a prototypical “old-style politician.” “He is a human caricature,” award-winning cartoonist Serge Chapleau said while introducing the animated version of the glad-handling Mr. Coderre recently.

At last check, Mr. Coderre was using the cartoon as his Facebook photo.

The Commons: Private peace, public war

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 6:35 PM - 8 Comments

The Scene. In the sandstone bunker named for John A. Macdonald’s public works minister, a man one biography describes as having left politics in “utter disgrace,” Michael Ignatieff and Stephen Harper honoured their forefathers with a meeting. According to one account, Mr. Ignatieff entered the building, home to the Prime Minister’s Office, around 2pm and exited about five minutes after three. A Canadian Press reporter on the scene claims the Liberal leader left through the Elgin Street exit, skillfully avoiding said reporter’s attempt to question him.

Requests for details of the proceedings would not go completely ignored though. Indeed, in short order there were identical statements from those assigned to speak on behalf of both men. The meeting was described as “productive”—a word that would seem to indicate there was a minimum of swearing and likely a complete lack of physical violence. There are vague promises, as of this writing, that the two will meet again later today. The adjective used to describe those discussions will surely be the subject of intense negotiation.

Across the street and up the hill, the business of Parliament was compelled to proceed without them. And not yet sure of how “productive” the negotiations would be, the parties of Messrs. Ignatieff and Harper were compelled to loudly and forcefully make their claims. Continue…

Sign language

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, June 15, 2009 at 4:09 PM - 10 Comments

Scrumming after QP, Denis Coderre, John McCallum and reporters debate the Prime Minister’s disposition. Continue…

The Commons: So much to answer for

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 7:11 PM - 26 Comments

The Scene. The good news for the Finance Minister was this: a full 45 minutes of Question Period passed this day without a single query about a federal deficit that may now be on track to total upwards of $170 billion. Not until after QP, surrounded by reporters, did the increasingly gaping hole in the national treasury come up. At which point, Jim Flaherty’s response was as follows.

“Well, you know, economists at TD and economists at the other banks are entitled to their view. I’m sure different economists will have different views. All of them were on average more optimistic than I was in the budget in January but they’re on the low side of the private sector forecasters right now.”

Er. Well, don’t get too worried about that $170 billion then. Indeed, it could be worse. For sure, it might be worse.

That though will be for whoever the Finance Minister is in 2014. Mr. Flaherty, no fool, will have surely bequeathed the position to someone else by then. Denis Coderre, say. Or Thomas Mulcair. Or Pierre Poilievre. Or whoever Prime Minister Gilles Duceppe decides to let handle the books.

In the meantime, the bad news for Mr. Flaherty was this: even without, apparently, the time to prepare some questions about our increasing indebtitude, the opposition still arrived for Question Period ready to press all sorts of issues said to demonstrate some failing or another in the minister. Continue…

The Commons: 'Why do you hate ShamWow?'

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 6:22 PM - 26 Comments

The Scene. Ralph Goodale stood looking dapper and displeased.

“Mr. Speaker,” he began, “a third of a million Canadians have lost their jobs under the Conservative government.”

“You’re next Ralph,” chirped Conservative Jeff Watson from the further reaches of the government side.

“Tens of thousands cannot get the employment insurance they paid for, because Conservatives insist on eligibility rules designed for the beginning of a boom,” Goodale continued undaunted. “But the boom has gone bust. The C.D. Howe Institute, the Conference Board, the TD Bank—these are not socialist organizations—and they all say the Conservatives are wrong on EI. Why will the Prime Minister not help all of the jobless workers who are suffering through his recession regardless of where they live?”

“Oh Ralph,” moaned a Conservative at Goodale’s assigning our current predicament to our current Prime Minister.

Unfortunately, Mr. Harper was not present. And though normally that would’ve been the cue for Diane Finley, the Human Resources Minister, to stand and dismiss the Liberal complaint, this time the government sent up Tony Clement. Continue…

The Commons: The good ole hockey game

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 7:30 PM - 17 Comments

The Scene. Bob Rae was lingering near the microphones after Question Period, taking questions on Ruby Dhalla’s nanny troubles, when he decided to venture an analogy

“I’ve said many times that politics is more like hockey than it’s like ballet,” he mused. “If you perceive a weakness, then it’s no surprise to anyone that people would try to take partisan advantage of that.”

The government side has taken a few opportunities these past two days to raise the matter of Ruby Dhalla in the House. On each occasion, a backbencher was sent up solemn-faced and seemingly on the verge of tears to read into the record details of the various allegations and ask that a minister rise to explain in further detail how precisely abhorrent the whole thing is. Today, both Helena Guergis, minister of state for the status of women, and Jason Kenney, the immigration minister, were given the chance and carried out their duties with obvious concern.

“Having been at this business for nearly 30 years, I’m not surprised by anything that I’ve seen or heard in the House of Commons the last couple of days,” Rae continued. “I think the point has to be made though that we don’t do public show trials in Canada and we don’t try and hang people on the floor of the House of Commons.”

Indeed, Canada did away with public hanging shortly after it became a country. Thus, we were left with hockey and politics to satisfy our need of bloody spectacle. And so Question Period still serves some purpose. Continue…

Navy Appreciation Day

By Mitchel Raphael - Saturday, March 7, 2009 at 6:42 PM - 20 Comments

MPs hit a special reception with navy officers for Navy Appreciation Day. Newfoundland Liberal MP Siobhan Cody (centre).

(Left to right) Tory Senator Hugh Segal, Jay Paxton, the press secretary to Defence Minister Peter Mackay, and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

Continue…

The Commons: Words, they just get in the way

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, March 2, 2009 at 6:14 PM - 18 Comments

The Scene. Whatever the resulting impact on our democracy and the institutions of our governance, one thing is increasingly clear: this would be a much happier, and perhaps even more efficient, place if everyone would stop insisting on paying any mind to the words that come out of the Prime Minister’s mouth.

“Mr. Speaker, last September the Prime Minister said: ‘If we were going to have some kind of crash or recession, we probably would have had it be now,’” John McCallum reported to open Question Period today, taking the place of an absent Michael Ignatieff. “We know he said this on the eve of the biggest contraction of the Canadian economy in almost 20 years. Will the Prime Minister apologize to the thousands of Canadians who have needlessly lost their jobs because of his utter misreading of the Canadian economy?”

Mr. Harper grimaced at Mr. McCallum’s demand for an apology. The Prime Minister then rose, buttoned his jacket, adjusted his left cuff and offered his defense—a stirring call to our nation’s not fairing quite as poorly as others.

“Mr. Speaker, everyone will know that the Canadian economy contracted in the fourth quarter. At the same time they should also know the American economy contracted twice as quickly, the European economy twice as quickly, the Japanese economy four times as quickly,” he observed. “Our economy remains in a position of relative strength.”

Undaunted, McCallum persisted. The Prime Minister eventually felt it necessary to point out that he had foreseen our current predicament long before he had missed it. “I will remind the honourable member for Markham—Unionville,” he said, “when I told Canadians in Christmas 2007, there would be a significant slowing of our economy, that member said we were being unrealistically pessimistic.”

In fairness, the opposition did not let the Prime Minister’s general pessimism go entirely unnoticed. Indeed, much of the rest of the afternoon was spent trying to make sense of Mr. Harper’s televised assertion to an American cable audience that our foes in Afghanistan could not actually be, in the strictest sense of the term, defeated. Continue…

Zing?

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, March 2, 2009 at 4:54 PM - 26 Comments

Shadow defence minister Denis Coderre on the Prime Minister’s recent habit of discussing Canadian foreign policy through the American media.

“I’ll check the Martha Stewart Show tomorrow and we never know, maybe the Prime Minister will be there and we’ll have a new recipe.”

An industry minister named Sue

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, February 26, 2009 at 9:12 PM - 23 Comments

Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre rose this afternoon to ask Peter MacKay about the proposed purchase of some military aircraft. After MacKay had dismissed the question, Coderre turned to Industry Minister Tony Clement to ask about a potential conflict of interest.

“We know that there is a delay caused by the industry minister,” he said. “We already know that the former minister of defence worked for Hill & Knowlton, the lobby firm that promoted EADS’ CASA-295, a competitor of Alenia’s C-27J. Interestingly enough, now, the current chief of staff of the industry minister, William King, has been senior vice-president for the very same firm. Would the Mindistry of Industry assure this House that his chief of staff was not involved in any meetings with Public Works and National Defence for that bid and that he recused himself from that file?”

Clement was unimpressed. Continue…

The Commons: Michael Ignatieff and the herd

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 7:36 PM - 41 Comments

The Scene. The early reviews are in and Michael Ignatieff is a disaster. A blight upon our democracy. A threat, no less, to the very notion of this nation we hold dear. Ottawa, it is safe to say, is unimpressed.

“Just who is running the Liberal caucus?” begged the Globe and Mail’s editorial board this morning, thoroughly perplexed at Mr. Ignatieff’s decision to let half a dozen Liberal MPs from Newfoundland vote of their own volition. “Whether or not this proves to be a ‘one-time pass,’ as Mr. Ignatieff has claimed, it could have far-reaching consequences for him, for his party, and potentially for the country.”

“I think it’s a total lack of leadership,” concurred Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe, he of nearly two decades in Ottawa.

“It can be described lots of ways but it can’t really be described as leadership,” scolded the NDP’s Jack Layton, speaking from his 26 years of political experience.

“Certainly,” chirped baby-faced Conservative Pierre Poilievre, a keen student of this stuff, “Prime Minister Harper is a strong leader and you’ll notice that his caucus is unanimous in voting with him. I think that is the mark of a strong leader.”

Anonymous Liberals were said to be perplexed. The men on the CTV nightly news were positively aghast, shocked at the Liberal leader’s unprecedented decision to emasculate himself so publicly.

Trying to grasp the sheer enormity of Mr. Ignatieff’s misstep, the Globe consulted professor Tom Flanagan, a former associate of Mr. Harper’s and, consequently, a man intimately familiar with the mystical qualities that make one a proper leader of men. ”It is a sign of weakness in the brutal world of politics,” the professor concluded. ”Harper, would never do something similar.”

No doubt Mr. Ignatieff thought that last bit a compliment. But then he and the herd don’t know quite what to do with each other. Continue…

Your Team Iggy starting line-up

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, January 22, 2009 at 5:23 PM - 43 Comments

Posted without comment for the moment. Some attempt at analysis to follow after some consideration now offered below.

Intergovernmental Affairs Michael Ignatieff
House Leader Ralph Goodale
Deputy House Leader Marlene Jennings
Whip Rodger Cuzner
Deputy Whip Marcel Proulx 
Finance John McCallum
Foreign Affairs Bob Rae
Defence Denis Coderre
Environment & Energy David McGuinty
Health Carolyn Bennett
Industry, Science & Technology Marc Garneau
Public Safety & National Security Mark Holland
Natural Resources Geoff Regan
Justice and Attorney-General Dominic LeBlanc
International Trade Scott Brison
Public Works and Government Services Martha Hall Findlay Continue…

The Final Day: Keeping score

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 10:35 PM - 0 Comments

Ralph Goodale re-elected. Belinda Stronach’s riding goes to the Conservatives. Bonnie Brown is out.

Looks like Denis Coderre, Raymonde Folco, Marlene Jennings, Irwin Cotler, Bernard Patry, Francis Scarpaleggia, Pablo Rodriguez and Massimo Pacetti will all be re-elected around Montreal.