Liberal leadership campaign already quietly underway to replace Martin?
Some Liberals brace for the worst
OTTAWA — With 10 days to go in the federal election campaign, some veteran Liberals are openly conceding defeat, while others have begun quietly laying the groundwork for a leadership contest they believe will “renew” the party.
At the same time, senior Liberals are undertaking what amounts to a pre-election postmortem on Paul Martin’s two-year tenure as Prime Minister and the current campaign.
“People are talking to me and saying, ‘Well, who do you think can do well,’ ” former Liberal cabinet minister Herb Dhaliwal said. “I think if Paul Martin is defeated, he’ll have no choice but to leave, particularly if there’s a strong minority for the Conservatives.”
Canada’s ambassador to Washington, Frank McKenna, former finance minister John Manley, former fisheries minister Brian Tobin, Ontario cabinet minister Joe Volpe, Toronto-area MP Maurizio Bevilacqua and author Michael Ignatieff were quietly testing the leadership waters before the campaign began, and several have become more active since, insiders say.
“There’s no question it’s happening,” said former Liberal MP John Nunziata, who held a Commons seat for 16 years, eventually sitting as an Independent, before losing in 2000. “There are people meeting surreptitiously—certainly nothing very public. But each of the candidates, potential candidates, are working the lines. People are putting organizations together.”
Mr. McKenna, in particular, appears to be gathering support. While he has been careful not to say that he’s running for the leadership, he has been keeping in touch with key Liberals, insiders say.
“For a guy like McKenna, if he’s calling people, it sends a message,” one Liberal operative said. “I hear people are pushing him, promoting him and willing to work for him.”
[…] Not surprisingly, much of the internal criticism of the Martin team comes from loyalists of former prime minister Jean ChrÃ
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