Chretien's Revenge

[maldon_road]

And the shiv goes in deeper and deeper...

Nobody would have expected any less from Big Jean. Not once as PM did he ever acknowledge that he had made mistakes. It was always somebody else's fault. And to a great degree it seems to have fallen into the lap of Paul Martin - who becomes the fall guy for both the Kyoto fiasco and Afghanistan. Not surprisingly, Conrad Black and George Bush don't come out squeaky clean either.

Not a legitimate history by any means but the timing is impeccable. Just what the Libs need two days before the next session of Parliament starts.

Chretien's Revenge

Wide-ranging book rips into Martin over Kyoto, Afghanistan

OTTAWA - Former prime minister Paul Martin is responsible for Canadian troops ending up in the "killing fields" around Kandahar because he took too long to make a decision, ex-PM Jean Chrétien charges in a new book.

In a memoir likely to rip open old Liberal wounds and exacerbate divisions within the party only days before a possible plunge into a federal election, the former leader attacks Martin on several fronts, from his scheming to force Chrétien out of office to Martin's handling of Canada's Kyoto Protocol commitments.

He also argues that Martin has only himself to blame for the grief he suffered as a result of the sponsorship scandal.

When they were teammates Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin put up a united front at a news conference on Nov. 18, 2003, only weeks before Chrétien announced he would step down as prime minister. According to Chrétien's memoirs, all had not been well between him and Martin.

When they were teammates Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin put up a united front at a news conference on Nov. 18, 2003, only weeks before Chrétien announced he would step down as prime minister. According to Chrétien's memoirs, all had not been well between him and Martin.

And the former prime minister offers intriguing tidbits about such figures as former media baron Conrad Black and Queen Elizabeth II.

But Chrétien, long described as a political brawler, takes off the gloves when it comes to Martin. He says manoeuvring by Martin and his supporters to push him out of the prime minister's office actually steeled his resolve to stay.

He doesn't mince words.

"I was damned if I was going to let myself be shoved out the door by a gang of self-serving goons," Chrétien writes after describing the hurt and betrayal he felt on learning in the spring of 2000 of a meeting Martin supporters had held in a Toronto airport hotel....

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He also reveals media baron Conrad Black, desperate to persuade the Canadian government not to block his appointment to the British House of Lords, proposed an unusual solution.

"You could allow me to become a lord in England and at the same time make me a senator in Canada. ... I'd serve in both. I'd even be willing to sit as a Liberal," he quotes Black as saying....

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news...87a&k=14039

Edited October 14, 2007 by maldon_road

[Leafless]

The only people Chretien seems to be critical of are English speaking, being, Paul Martin, Conrad Black, Queen Elizabeth are the main targets according to the article.

Glad to see Chretien's Francophone friends are all good honest Liberals.

[Michael Hardner]

It sounds like a good summary of his long years in office - a long litany of ego battles between megalomaniacs, while nothing was done.

Chretien could have used his time in office to completely re-engineer government, and make it more efficient. Instead, the healthcare bureaucracy festered and service deteriorated, the civil service remained immune to changes in the business world, promises were signed for photo opportunities and nothing was done.

[old_bold&cold]

I have not read the book and I am sure it will make many accusations from a bitter man who is now without any power or influence. The same can be said for Mulroney's book as well. I think they will both be a waste of paper, but many will not let that stop them from buying them. But then again the news will tell all the juicy things any way, so why waste the money.

[August1991]

I have not read the book and I am sure it will make many accusations from a bitter man who is now without any power or influence. The same can be said for Mulroney's book as well. I think they will both be a waste of paper, but many will not let that stop them from buying them. But then again the news will tell all the juicy things any way, so why waste the money.

I have only seen newspaper quotes of Chretien's book so I can't judge.

I am currently reading Mulroney's book and I find it very good. He refers to his diary and notes taken at meetings so it is thorough. Mulroney discusses policy in the context of getting it done. Nevertheless, it reads like the Secret Mulroney Tapes but without the expletives. Mulroney understands Canadian politics very, very well and he's capable of explaining it too.

I suspect Chretien's book was dictated or ghost-written. His first book was.

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Duceppe has already taken to task Chretien for claiming in his memoirs that he wouldn't have respected a yes vote in the 1995 referendum. Yet, just before the vote itself, Chretien gave a speech claiming that a yes vote would mean Quebec's separation from Canada. Indeed, one of the problems of the referendum was the tactics used by Chretien for the no side.

Such license with the truth (or interpretation of events) illustrates well Chretien's approach to politics.

Chretien's claim that Martin's reaction to the sponsorship scandal was like an elephant running from a mouse is another example.

[Canuck E Stan]

Such license with the truth (or interpretation of events) illustrates well Chretien's approach to politics.

Chretien's claim that Martin's reaction to the sponsorship scandal was like an elephant running from a mouse is another example.

Why would the bending of truth by any Liberal leader surprise you?

Liberals are the masters of saying one thing and doing another,it's been proven over and over again.Even when with a total majority.

Chretien,Martin,Dion...being the leader in power is the most important issue.It's the Liberal way.

[Michael Bluth]

Chretien,Martin,Dion...being the leader in power is the most important issue.It's the Liberal way.

Dion is holding true to form for the most recent run of Liberal leaders.

Three of the last four couldn't win a majority Government. As Andrew Coyne has stated this is the end of the concept of Canada's natural governing party.

Dion was such an uninspired choice as leader it is easy to understand why Canada has really become a competitive political environment. The pendulum has swung in favour of the Conservatives.

Has it swung enough for the Conservatives to win a majority? That's what the polls indicate.

[capricorn]

Any freekin' politician who writes a book will not get a plugged nickel out of me for buying their books. I'll stick with the press reports to get the tid-bits, thank you very much.

They received taxpayer funded salaries plus perks and prestige while in office, and left public life with a fat retirement pension. Chretien, Mulroney, no matter, all come back to milk more money from the politically curious. It is so typical of politicians.

These so-called memoirs do nothing but attack their opponents and stroke the egos of their friends, dead or alive. Mind you, Chretien and his ilk are so full of their own self importance, it's disgusting but not surprising.

I find it despicable that Chretien would launch a book underlining past internal problems in the Liberal party knowing full well that the party is presently in flux and fighting for survival. Talk about loyalty to your ideology and beliefs.

[kengs333]

Why would the bending of truth by any Liberal leader surprise you?

Liberals are the masters of saying one thing and doing another,it's been proven over and over again.Even when with a total majority.

Chretien,Martin,Dion...being the leader in power is the most important issue.It's the Liberal way.

I'm not a Liberal, but it always gets me when certain people single out the Liberals for being liars... Frankly, the biggest one of the lot was a Conservative, John G. Diefenbaker, whose memoirs are notorious for distorting the facts. By the sounds of it, Mulroney is not much better. It doesn't matter what party they belonged to, each former PM has the same goal when they write their memoirs.

[kengs333]

Any freekin' politician who writes a book will not get a plugged nickel out of me for buying their books. I'll stick with the press reports to get the tid-bits, thank you very much.

I wait for them to show up in the thrift stores after a few years.

These so-called memoirs do nothing but attack their opponents and stroke the egos of their friends, dead or alive. Mind you, Chretien and his ilk are so full of their own self importance, it's disgusting but not surprising.

Relax. That's what makes politics interesting. Who would follow politics if it wasn't for all of this intrigue, plotting, back-stabbing and bad-mouthing?

I find it despicable that Chretien would launch a book underlining past internal problems in the Liberal party knowing full well that the party is presently in flux and fighting for survival. Talk about loyalty to your ideology and beliefs.

Are you even a Liberal? I think this may have had more to do with Mulroney, but if you expect him to wait for the Liberals to sort things out, the book would have to be published posthumously. He really owes nothing to the current manifestation of the Liberal party. The party turned on him and ousted him and his supporters. The party may have the same name but it certainly isn't the same in terms of "ideology and beliefs".

[Topaz]

Well, next year Martin will bring out his own book and then the media and try to find out who really sent the Canadian troops into southern Afghanistan! My question is anyone who could answer it, is who started the talks on the NAU, Chretien or Martin. I know Martin signed it but who was behind the starting of it. I know Chretien weren't that friendly towards Bush, so I'm thinking that Martin was behind the NAU, he was more friendly with Bush, so he could have been the one to send the troops into the south of Afghanistan.

[Michael Bluth]

Yet another blow to the Liberal Party of Canada.

Lawrence Martin said it well in his column in today's Globe.

Mr. Martin, who hounded Mr. Chrétien out of office, will be fuming. He is in the course of writing his own book. After taking this drubbing, he will be altering his text, rolling out his own bazookas. The fracturing of Canada's natural governing party will proceed.

Chretien will leave it to others to rebuild the party.

[old_bold&cold]

I will say that over the next two weeks, with all the news giving the juicier Chretian quotes etc, that those long term Liberal supportters will start to show up in the polls as now voting CPC. I still do not think that there will be an elction this fall, but if there is, it will be the Liberals who will take the fall big time, and that would happen even if the other parties gave them a pass completely. They just are not very party like, just ask Julius Ceasar

Dion is by now wishing he could just hand the leadership over and run from the room, I bet. I do not see this getting any better soon. But then again I support the CPC, so I can enjoy watching this happen, from the side lines.

[fellowtraveller]

Does this book explain what ultimately happened to the $200 million or so involved in Adscam?

I'd really like to see a forensic accounting of the money, an intensive examination of accounts of the ad agencies to see just where the big bucks went from there. Either that or I'll have to subscribe to the Liberal Party line: A rogue bureaucrat(Chuck Guite) working indepenently and without any oversight, decided one day to select Montreal ad agencies at random out of the Montreal Yellow pages and give them $200 million.

The political book I'd like to read would be an expose authored by Jean Pelletier and Jacques Corriveau, written from a jail.

[maldon_road]

Does this book explain what ultimately happened to the $200 million or so involved in Adscam?

I'm sure Chrétien will claim to know nothing about it. As he did before the Gomery Commission.

Edited October 15, 2007 by maldon_road

[Higgly]

It sounds like a good summary of his long years in office - a long litany of ego battles between megalomaniacs, while nothing was done.

Chretien could have used his time in office to completely re-engineer government, and make it more efficient. Instead, the healthcare bureaucracy festered and service deteriorated, the civil service remained immune to changes in the business world, promises were signed for photo opportunities and nothing was done.

Jeez. Sounds like government as usual.

Whatever you might say about the man, he did pass elections funding legislation that will ensure we will not have the same kind of bought system that we see in so many other parts of the world.

As for the civil service, he extended benefits so the civil service will now get full benefits after retirement. Would that we all could suck on that fat teat.

[M.Dancer]

I think the intresting aspect of his book is how much help he is giving Harper. Chretien confirms what we have known all along, that the reason that Canada is in the hostile south is that Martin dilly dallied till that was the only post left.

Harper can say all he is doing is fulfilling the promises made by Martin.