01.11.2012 01:00 AM

In today’s Sun: Grit good news and bad

But for beleaguered Grits, there’s good news, too — and it’s big, big news. On Tuesday morning, the best-known Liberal in Quebec, Denis Coderre, pulled off a massive coup: He helped lure a Quebec NDP MP to cross to the Liberals. St. Maurice MP Lise St. Denis abandoned Team Orange to join Team Rouge — and it is a huge blow to the NDP, whose popularity has been slipping in Quebec.
For years, St. Denis’ riding belonged to Jean Chretien.

The 71-year-old parliamentarian said she left the Dippers because she was unhappy with their approaches to defence policy, public-private partnerships and the Senate.

For Bob Rae, the news couldn’t have come at a better time. And for Coderre, it solidifies his position as the federalist King of Quebec. “In Quebec, Coderre’s an organizational master,” former MP Paul Zed marveled.
“And he never gives up. He’s again shown why Conservatives fear him in Quebec.”

So, as Grits gather, the good news outweighs the bad for the once-mighty Liberal Party. For them, 2012 is already looking better than 2011.

22 Comments

  1. James Curran says:

    My head is going to explode.

  2. dennymac says:

    Wow! Another unscrupulous politician. She’ll fit right in with the Liberal caucas. Maybe cross benchers should resign their seats first and then have a by-election to let the people decide with all election expenses picked up by their new found political party.

  3. Pat says:

    Is that picture normally there? Or is it some new thing that the Sun chain is doing – white shirt, white background is a little weird…

  4. Pat says:

    Which one will raise money and shut up? Has Copps been too close to power on the elected side to stay in the background? Crawley has already shown that he is capable of doing that type of job in Ontario (though without you outlining how much success he had, I don’t know if he was any good at it – Ontario has tanked recently on the federal side) – since I’d never heard of him before, he obviously knows how to stay out of the spotlight.

    Personally, I like Copps because I have a ton of respect for her, but I’m afraid that she’ll breack the Kinsella Rule for Party Presidents – she won’t stay quiet. She was a politician who was used to being the centre, or near the centre, of attention. If she can avoid the media in order to not become Apps II, then great, but if she can’t, she shouldn’t be President.

  5. Cath says:

    I thought that the title of this piece in the Sun isn’t great…something about the Grits being off to a positive start this year? The body of your column paints a very different picture.

  6. Lance says:

    For Bob Rae, the news couldn’t have come at a better time. And for Coderre, it solidifies his position as the federalist King of Quebec. “In Quebec, Coderre’s an organizational master.

    Nice piece…..for Coderre. Not sure if Rae is really THAT happy about it; as “Federalist King Of Quebec” Coderre might feel more apt to run for the leadership. Rae is old, has a ton of baggage, and is playing coy about the interim/permanent leadership issue. Coderre might not deliver Ontario right away, but Rae never will, and at least Coderre has a good shot at improving prospects in Quebec; Rae not nearly as much. And seeing as this is one province where the Liberals want, nay, NEED to grow to start the road to an eventual recovery, then Coderre as leader seems like a very attractive prospect. Outwardly, of course Rae appears happy for the impact on Liberal fortunes. But is he really personally?

  7. W.B. says:

    You wouldn’t want to downplay the importance of this.

  8. Judith Farrant says:

    Interesting, isn’t it? Folks’ spin on a event that is consistent with supporting their ‘party’. (Some folks thought Belinda Stronach lacked integrity when she crossed the floor; others thought she displayed it – any guesses which party each group voted for?) Interesting, too, is the way Canadians seem to read articles as though they are the event, instead of the writer’s interpretation of ‘what happened’. While the writers all have perspectives to offer, seeking to understand their values and ‘party’ as well as their background isn’t something readers seem to consider. Somewhere amongst the editorializing lies some truth – requiring energy, intelligence and time.

  9. Graham says:

    A “major coup?”

    Seriously Warren?

    Getting a Conservative MP, even a backbencher to switch would have been a coup.

    They got a 71 year old rookie MP to switch from the NDP to the Liberals. She was/is a nameless, faceless backbencher in the NDP and is just trying to get her name in the paper. If this is the best the Liberals can attract, they are truly dead.

    Her excuse? The Liberals policies are more in line with her beliefs. Well, she was a member of the NDP for more than 10 years. Their policies haven’t changed in those 10 years, but she suddenly doesn’t agree with them.

    Oh, and nice timing for the Liberals. Try to appear like they have some kind of momentum heading into their big weekend convention.

    She has until the next election, then she’s gone. The Liberals finished a very distant FOURTH in this riding last election with under 6,000 votes. Form 2004 until 2011 it was Bloc, and I suspect will go back to the Bloc in 2015. If they wanted a Liberal, they would have voted Liberal.

    Having said that, I agree the NDP surge in Quebec is just a mirage and died with Layton.

    And for the record, yes I am a Conservative voter, and yes I was also against David Emerson coming over to the CPC after his election as a Liberal. If an MP wants to do this, they should resign and have a by-election and run under the banner of his/her new party, or at the very least sit as an independant until the next election like John Nunziata (spelling?) did when he had his dispute with Chretien over the GST.

  10. Jon Powers says:

    What place did the Liberals come in during the election in the St. Maurice riding? Just wondering.

  11. frmr disgruntled Con now happy Lib says:

    Sorry Mr. Tulk…….but after watching Bob Rae`s speech to the Liberal caucus today, I can tell you we are far from disintegrating…..I believe we are united as never before……

    http://www.liberal.ca/newsroom/blog/watch-bob-raes-speech-at-winter-caucus-at-1pm-est/#comments

    Yes, much work needs to be done with the riding associatons, my own included, but we are enthused and eager to go forward…..

    But by all means keep believing what you believe, it will make our job of unseating the Harper cabal in 2015 that much easier.

  12. Lib observer says:

    The good news for Copps is that Herle is Crawley’s campaign manager. Given how he ran the Liberal campaigns when Martin was PM, Copps should be a shue in!!!!!! And was there a more inept political bunch than Martin’s!!!!!! The gang that couldn’t shoot straight!!

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