THOMSON: Liberal dissidents blinked, as we knew they would

For days now Canada’s political commentariat have been writing feverishly about the drama surrounding this weeks failed Liberal caucus revolt. The general consensus attributes the botched coup to the Liberal party constitution which robs caucus of the power to force their leader to resign.But what they lacked wasn’t power, it was conviction and courage.If those disaffected Liberal MP’s are looking for an example to follow, then they need only look across the floor of the House of Commons at the Conservative Party and recall the details of their opponents’ origin story.Few will recall that the modern Conservative Party was essentially born from the actions of eight dissident MP’s from the Canadian Alliance Party. Those MP’s who likewise were frustrated with the direction of their party and the performance of their leader, Stockwell Day, and bravely stood before the blinding lights of the media in the Centre Block in May 2001 and called for his resignation.Their decision set in motion a cascading series of events which ultimately led to Stephen Harper winning the leadership race for the Canadian Alliance, a reunification of the Canadian political right, and then culminated in three consecutive Conservative governments.So it can be done, and the argument that the Liberals lack the constitutional rules to oust their leader is merely an easy way for them to shirk the hard, and lonely work of standing up and defending their convictions. The Canadian Alliance had no such constitutional rules either, yet it didn’t stop those who were committed to bringing about change from doing so.But standing on matters of principle are often the hardest battles to fight, both personally and professionally. The risks are great, and the margins for reward are fleeting and thin, especially in politics. The rebel Canadian Alliance MP’s who stepped out of line first had their privileges rescinded and later were expelled from caucus into political no-man’s land.Undoubtedly, the 40-plus Liberal MP’s who called for Justin Trudeau’s ouster went through the same agonizing mental and moral calculations in deciding whether or not to defy their leader, their peers, and their party. As a result it’s not surprising that the petition asking for Trudeau’s resignation as the Liberal leader was devoid of names, and why he didn’t acquiesce. It turns out the axiom is true, there’s no such thing as a bloodless coup.But while personal and professional relationships would certainly be put at risk by following the path of the Canadian Alliance rebellion, there is little other reason for Liberal MP’s not to.At present, the federal popular vote projection on the 338Canada website has the Liberals pegged to lose anywhere from 68 to 115 seats. That means that it’s likely whoever the dissident Liberal MP’s are, they probably aren’t going to be re-elected anyway.So why not take a stand and try and save the party instead of applauding the captain for steering the ship into the iceberg, because as Justin Trudeau once said, “better is always possible, but we have to choose to make better happen”.If the 40-plus disaffected Liberal MP’s found their courage and stood together in front of the press on parliament hill demand the PM resign and an interim leader take the reins until a fulsome leadership race occurred, there is nothing Justin Trudeau could do about it. He can’t kick 40 MP’s out of caucus, that would reduce his seat count to 113 which would be six less than the Conservative party. Even 20 would be too many.Not only that but those persona non grata Liberals could form their own caucus, like the Canadian Alliance dissidents did when they created the Democratic Representative Caucus and entered a coalition with Joe Clark’s Progressive Conservatives. Except in this Liberal scenario, with more than 12 MP’s they could apply for recognition by the House of Commons which would entitle them to all the benefits that come with holding official party status.And there is no doubt that ‘better’ waits in the offing for the Liberal party, and the potential risk may actually be worth the reward.With this I of course allude to the interest that former BC Premier Christy Clark has shown in leading the Liberal party. She is smart, tenacious, a seasoned political player, and highly likable. While she does comes with some baggage, as all former politicians do, hers is more like a carry on rather than a steamer trunk.Moreover Clark easily outclasses any of the current Trudeau tainted cabinet leadership contenders and blows Mark Carney (aka. Ignatieff 2.0) out of the water. I have no doubt that she would present a substantive challenge to Poilievre and if nothing else would prevent the Liberals from slipping to third or fourth place in the House of Commons and be a great leader under which to rebuild the brand.She would also be the Liberal Party’s first female leader which would be great because it’s 2024 after all… but I digress.This is a column about courage and conviction. Chuck Strahl, Deb Grey, Jay Hill, Val Meredith, Grant McNally, Jim Pankiw and Inky Mark embodied those characteristics at great personal and professional peril, but their actions changed the face of Canadian politics forever.The question now is does the Liberal party possess such people, and if so, when will they find their courage and conviction and act accordingly?

THOMSON: Liberal dissidents blinked, as we knew they would

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