Former astronaut Marc Garneau has decided to run for the federal Liberals after all.
But now Dion is set to announce Friday that he's appointing Garneau to carry the party's banner in the Montreal riding of Westmount-Ville-Marie, one of the safest Grit bastions in the land.
Dion spent a lot of time persuading Garneau to change his mind.
Insiders say Dion was never indifferent or hostile towards Garneau. He simply had not turned his attention to the matter of his candidacy until recently, being more focussed on the three Quebec ridings where byelections were held last month.
Insiders credit Dion's new principal secretary, Johanne Senecal, for striking the rapprochement between the two men. Garneau's about-face is a ray of good news for Dion...
Just to add, there wasn't one pundit today who didn't concede this was objectively good news for the Liberals. With rumors of more potential candidates in Quebec set to take a pass, bringing Garneau back into the fold sends a positive signal. Dion now has a photo-op moment in Quebec, and no matter the riding, it can be spun as a turning point.
10 comments:
I agree - a good sign. Good on Dion for making amends.
Maybe now that they have been to the brink the rest will fall in line???
Frulla and Cauchon might also run. But these are safe ridings.
When you start getting popular mayors running in the regions, then you might start to see Quebec coming back.
The surprising thing is why Harper would give Dion all this time to regroup? 4 months of planning, and the first piece of legislation is some repackaged justice bills?! Baffling, imo.
I too think this is a good step, but I think it's one of many that need to be taken.
The pundits...that was what struck me. What a change in tone and it was greatly appreciated, by me anyway.
It's a day to mark, but I want to see more of this kind of stuff. Slow, sure steps, that traditionally define the Party.
:)
I imagine that a chicken with it's head cut off also shows signs of a pulse...
You're joking, right?
The astronaut, the UFO seer and the American Philosopher King are the problem here folks, not the solution.
dm...let the spin begin, yet again.
progress...
Johanne Senecal gets two thumbs up from me
It's the sign of detente, at least. And we need to hear more from the other Liberal federalists in Quebec, to show unity.
I saw William Johnson (wrote the book on Harper).
He said that Dion did the right and smart thing not pulling down Harper right now. He said Dion was considering the people of Canada, etc.
Johnson also said that Harper's crime package (which really had already been approved) was simply a strategy to get the city votes he didn't get - Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Vote buying!
He also said he wrote an article in The Citizen (I haven't read it yet) about how Chreiten has lied in his current book.
He doesn't seem to think Dion is the dud that our "lazy" press does. Have you noticed that they've nearly all gotten on the same bandwagon about Dion - nothing else to write about?
The polls are showing that Harper's Throne Speech (State of the Union Address) has not resonated with the public and that a large majority don't want an election.
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