University Students across Canada -- except, perhaps, at Laval -- ought to be very thankful today as they read the Facebook note recently written (and deleted) by Janine Krieber, the wife of Stephane Dion.
Krieber, who teaches political science at Laval University, wrote a leter insisting that the Liberal Party simply didn't comprehend the "political genius" that is her husband.
"If the Toronto elites had been more in tune, humble and realist, Stéphane would have been willing to take all the time and absorb all the hits needed to rebuild the party," Krieber wrote. "But they couldn't swallow the 26%, and now we are at 23%.""The Liberal Party is falling apart, and will not recover," Krieber fumed. "Like all liberal parties in Europe, it will become a weakling at the mercy of ephemeral coalitions. By refusing the historic coalition that would have placed it at the helm of the left, it will be punished by history."
Yet when one looks back at the brief episode that was the Liberal/NDP/Bloc coalition, this merely reveals precisely how out-of-touch Krieber is with reality.
Not only did Canadians vehemently reject the notion of a Liberal/NDP coalition, but that coalition -- involving a party that has, as its goal, the separation of Quebec from Canada -- could never have survived.
The trouble with the Liberal/NDP/BQ coaliton (and, despite the dishonest objections of the pro-coaltion crowd, the Bloc Quebecois very much was part of the coalition) was that its greatest weakness -- the national unity issue -- was a wedge built directly into the coalition.
All it would take is a single unity-related issue -- such as a confidence vote on the government's ability to enforce the Clarity Act -- to reveal the extent to which the Liberal/NDP/Bloc coalition would have been an absolute betrayal of Canada. Some would likely suggest that the introduction of such an issue by a Conservative Party looking to break that coalition would be irresponsible. By point of fact, when faced by a government mortgaged to a separatist party, it would actually be the only responsible thing to do.
Yet Krieber insists that the party should have continued to support that coalition -- which would have quickly ended in an absolute disaster -- out of mere ideology.
Ironically, Krieber writes that "I will not give my voice to a party that will end up in the trashcan of history."
Yet it's her husband's ill-conceived coalition -- which she herself endorses in her note -- that would have committed the Liberal party to the ashcan of history.
Not that Michael Ignatieff has done any better. He accepted the Party leadership after the party aborted a critically necessary leadership convention in lieu of a comprehensive rebuilding process.
But at least it's possible that the Party will survive -- and possibly even succeed, in time -- under Michael Ignatieff. Under Stephane Dion, the Liberals would have been finished long, long ago.
The ideological-at-the-expense-of-reality musings of Janine Krieber, in their own way, help to confirm this.
Other bloggers writing about this topic:
David Climenhaga - "Has Dion's Wife 'Gone Rogue'? Gone Rouge, More Like It!"
Canadian Thinker - "Mrs and Mrs Krieber-Dion"
Accidental Deliberations - "Real Reason to Smile"
Yappa Ding Ding - "Response to Janine Krieber"
Great post. She is really upset her husband was thrown under the bus by the LPOC.
ReplyDeleteI imagine with several MP's starting their leadership race informally she felt it was appropriate to throw a grenade into the party.
I wonder if her husband had any part in the post or the deletion.
The meetings for MI going forward must be awkward with polls so low.
To be honest with you, I get the impression that Krieber is a bit of a cold-hearted shrew, and that no one puts baby in the corner, if you catch my drift.
ReplyDelete