Chretien Insider Reignites Liberal Civil War With Harsh Portrait Of Martin

It paints an unflattering picture of Martin as an ambitious, conniving and inept politician whose "colossal over-reaction" to the sponsorship scandal - at least in Goldenberg's view - destroyed the Liberal brand name and reignited separatist forces in Quebec. Goldenberg, who counselled Chretien for more than 30 years, 10 of them as senior policy adviser in the Prime Minister's Office, also delves into Chretien's rocky relationship with U.S. President George W. Bush. But it's his assessment of Martin that is likely to create the most waves. The book reveals that Chretien wanted to shuffle Martin out of the finance portfolio after an attempted leadership coup in early 2000. Goldenberg says he and Jean Pelletier, then Chretien's chief of staff, advised against a shuffle, fearing that Martin would quit cabinet altogether, splitting the party and hurting the government's credibility with financial markets. "Over the course of the next two years, it became clear that Pelletier and I were wrong and that Chretien's political instinct to lance the boil immediately was the right one," Goldenberg writes. http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/09/24/pf-1889855.html

Note: http://cnews.canoe.ca/C...