Open Thread – Dion Wins Liberal Leadership

Part of me wonders if this is a deliberate continuation of the Liberals’ historic Anglophone/Francophone rotation in party leaders… ;)

As for how well Dion will play with voters, I’ve got a few concerns:

1. I understand few people in Quebec like him, due to his Chretien-era federalism, even though he managed to avoid the taint of the sponsorship scandal.

2. He is a boring policy wonk, like Harper. Whether the Liberal spin doctors can do something about that is anyone’s guess. The Conservatives managed to transcend Harper’s robotronics by working within his limits and portraying him wherever possible as an Android With A Human Heart.
This might also work for Dion.

3. The Liberals, like the Democrats south of the border, are great for talking about the environment and presenting themselves as the more ethical alternative, but when it comes down to actual legislation, they roll over dead for big business with “voluntary self-regulation” and other such twaddle.

The only way Dion can recover the moral high ground from the Conservatives, who at least have the decency not even to pretend to care about the environment, is if he follows up his pro-Kyoto rhetoric with real policy: strict and progressive industrial anti-polluting laws with no exceptions for the worst polluters, like the Tar Sands; federal transfers directly to cities to build cleaner transportation systems; beefed-up incentives programs to improve building insulation and energy conservation – especially for low-income and rental buildings, whose tenants are the most susceptible to high energy costs and the least able to do anything about them; and a national program in cooperation with the provinces to link metro areas by fast, modern rail.

According to the Globe:

“Mr. Dion’s mother, Denyse, was a real-estate agent. Born in Paris, she gave her children their dual citizenship; Léon Dion would joke he was the only one in the household to be solely Canadian.

(Mr. Dion does not have a French passport and has not voted in a French election, his staff says.)”

Dion brings a new persona to the forfront of the parliamentary dynamic as the Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. Everyone in political Ottawa was quick to point out that Dion is impervious to the kind of character attacks that might have plagued Rae or Iggy. See John Ibbitson’s Globe column today for a summary example of the logic.

Dion is only remotely tainted by the sponsorship scandal – he is actually on record criticizing the unity tactics of the Chretien era. He may be less popular in Quebec than he is elsewhere in Canada, but that is part of his appeal. Many hard-working folks don’t know or care any longer about the impact of the sponsorship scandal. It’s like soooo 2004.

Collectively, English and French Canadians can both rally around Dion’s environmental pitches. He really doesn’t even have to do much to outshine the Tories on this front. He can ride the issue to the ballot box without much trouble at all.

The only important, and relevant factors defining Stephane Dion’s success over the next six months are these:

– How well his newly assembled shadow cabinet performs in the media vis-a-vis the tight-lipped Tories.

– How well the Tories adapt to a political battle with the Liberals that is not confined to character attacks, but rather a real policy debate (the Liberals had no policy in the last election). Rest assured, the next election will not be a referendum on the relative crediblity of the federal political parties (much to Jack Layton’s dismay). The next election will be a debate on issues the likes of which Canada has never seen. If I was a betting man, I’d likely say those issues were: environmentalism, federalism and the tax agenda.

Speaking of getting personal, the first shot on that front is Dion’s French citizenship (Levant was right). Dion is getting prickly over the matter:

He snapped when a reporter raised New Democrat MP Pat Martin’s opposing opinion on the matter: “He may keep his opinion to himself. I am proud of who I am, and I am fully loyal to my country. I think I have proven it, and no one will question it.”

Of course, people will question it, particularly people who want to score political points. That said, I’m not sure how much it will play with Canadians, although I’d be willing to bet that most Canadians feel Dion ought to renounce his French citizenship if he wants to be PM. It just doesn’t feel right.

I welcome an election that revolves around the issues and I sincerely hope the Libs stop spin-doctoring and start addressing what Canadians are really thinking about.

Dion on TV last night:

“I’m born like that. It’s part of me. It’s my mother who gave that to me. And like all sons, I love my mother and I love what she gave to me. And so to remove that from me, I’d be sad,” Mr. Dion said. “This being said, if I see that it’s a liability for our winnability, I will do it.”

I feel embarrassed for people who bother to attack Dion like this:

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/editorial/story.html?id=981a5ce6-f447-4e96-ae67-a8fc145693f7

So much for multiculturalism. Well, that is, multiculturalism that means anything.