Dion Facing Revolt In Quebec Ranks

Dion facing revolt in Quebec ranks

Liberal Leader heads to Montreal to douse concerns as senior party organizers voice criticisms over 'poor Stéphane'

DANIEL LEBLANC
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
March 25, 2008 at 1:00 AM EDT

OTTAWA — Senior federal Liberals are publicly questioning the party's lack of election readiness in Quebec, placing the blame on Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion and his key organizers in the province.

Mr. Dion will face the criticism head-on at the end of the week when he spends two days in Montreal.

Steven Pinkus, the party's vice-president for Quebec's anglophone community, went public on the weekend in the Quebec media with recriminations against the Liberals' recruiting, fundraising and communication efforts.

“The party is hurting itself if no one is willing to step up to the plate to put together an organization strategy,” he said in an interview Monday.

Mr. Pinkus said he is “sounding the alarm” because Mr. Dion's “hand-picked people” don't seem to have learned lessons from the bitter defeat in a by-election in the former Liberal stronghold of Outremont six months ago.

Asked about projected Liberal results in Quebec if there is a general election this spring, Mr. Pinkus said, “It won't be pretty.”

He was joined by other Liberals who said the party faces stiff problems in Quebec, starting at the top with Mr. Dion.

“He has no instinct,” former Liberal minister and political commentator Liza Frulla said in an interview.