- Reaction score
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060314.LIBERALS14/TPStory/National
Rae's pitch: Let's unite the left
Former Ontario NDP premier says he'll soon decide on Liberal leadership bid
CAMPBELL CLARK
With a report from Canadian Press
OTTAWA -- Former Ontario NDP premier Bob Rae cast his first public -- but unofficial -- pitch for the federal Liberal leadership yesterday, suggesting that Canada's progressives must consider joining together to win a majority in the Commons.
Although he said he has not decided whether he will run to succeed former leader Paul Martin, Mr. Rae told a Winnipeg audience he is considering a bid and will "have a decision to make about that over the next while."
But he told reporters he is worried about "what a Harper majority government would do" and suggested that it is time to unite the left in Canada to win power.
"I think it's important for people who call themselves progressive to really think about the situation.
"There's a progressive record that's shared by a majority of Canadians, but so far, we have not succeeded in becoming a majority in the House of Commons, so we must think a bit about how that can happen."
The pitch might appeal to some Liberals who feel they lost the last election because New Democratic Party voters refused to rally behind Mr. Martin when the Conservatives were heading toward victory. It also might upset diehard New Democrats.
Mr. Rae may face a difficult time convincing Liberals he is the man to deliver the pitch as their new leader, however. Many Liberals remember with distaste his tenure as NDP premier from 1990 to 1995, and he has never been an active Liberal.
But senior Liberals say Mr. Rae has essentially decided he wants to run and now must determine his chances of winning.
In his speech to Winnipeg's Canadian Club yesterday, he suggested he has become more attuned to the need to expand the economy, and argued education and learning is the key.
"We do not have time for an agenda which says, we can take the pie for granted, all we have to do is decide how to divide it up. What we have to recognize as a country is that the key to our future lies, above all, in the space between our ears."
He also argued against one-off deals between Ottawa and individual provinces and suggested the federal government cannot simply send its money to the provinces to spend.
"If the federal government just becomes a cheque-clearing service for the provinces, then we won't have that much left to really build a strong and united Canada."
Mr. Rae has built a core group of supporters, drawn in part from the inner circle of former prime minister Jean Chrétien, and perhaps more surprisingly, from the ranks of provincial Liberals in Ontario -- once Mr. Rae's opposition.
The links to Mr. Chrétien come through his brother, John Rae, the hard-knuckled Power Corp. executive who ran Mr. Chrétien's election campaigns; and Eddie Goldenberg, Mr. Chrétien's long-time senior adviser and a friend of Bob Rae since both went to university in Europe in the 1960s.
But veteran Liberal insiders say that at Queen's Park, Mr. Rae also has the support of two senior politicians with networks they have already started to mobilize on his behalf: Health Minister George Smitherman and former finance minister Greg Sorbara.
Although Mr. Sorbara was forced to resign from the provincial cabinet in October after he was named in a search warrant for an RCMP probe into Royal Group Technologies Inc. -- he insists he is innocent -- he has an extensive and powerful network in the Ontario Liberal Party.
"He's got tentacles, he's got a network," said a senior federal Liberal.
Mr. Sorbara said yesterday that he is a Rae-booster, even though he sat in opposition to the government that Mr. Rae led.
"I think the most important thing is his evolution between 1995 and 2006," Mr. Sorbara said, arguing that Mr. Rae is now an advocate for the "extreme centre."
The support of Ontario Liberals for a former NDP premier is perhaps more unusual because one of their own, Education Minister Gerard Kennedy, is still being touted as a possible contender for the federal Liberal crown.
"If he is in the race, [Mr. Kennedy] will be the guy to beat, because he brings more to the table than any other candidate," argued Senator Terry Mercer, former national director of the Liberal Party and a Chrétien loyalist.
He said Mr. Kennedy is a bilingual standard-bearer for the "progressive" wing of the party, and is drawing calls of support not just from Ontario but from B.C. and Alberta.
Rae's pitch: Let's unite the left
Former Ontario NDP premier says he'll soon decide on Liberal leadership bid
CAMPBELL CLARK
With a report from Canadian Press
OTTAWA -- Former Ontario NDP premier Bob Rae cast his first public -- but unofficial -- pitch for the federal Liberal leadership yesterday, suggesting that Canada's progressives must consider joining together to win a majority in the Commons.
Although he said he has not decided whether he will run to succeed former leader Paul Martin, Mr. Rae told a Winnipeg audience he is considering a bid and will "have a decision to make about that over the next while."
But he told reporters he is worried about "what a Harper majority government would do" and suggested that it is time to unite the left in Canada to win power.
"I think it's important for people who call themselves progressive to really think about the situation.
"There's a progressive record that's shared by a majority of Canadians, but so far, we have not succeeded in becoming a majority in the House of Commons, so we must think a bit about how that can happen."
The pitch might appeal to some Liberals who feel they lost the last election because New Democratic Party voters refused to rally behind Mr. Martin when the Conservatives were heading toward victory. It also might upset diehard New Democrats.
Mr. Rae may face a difficult time convincing Liberals he is the man to deliver the pitch as their new leader, however. Many Liberals remember with distaste his tenure as NDP premier from 1990 to 1995, and he has never been an active Liberal.
But senior Liberals say Mr. Rae has essentially decided he wants to run and now must determine his chances of winning.
In his speech to Winnipeg's Canadian Club yesterday, he suggested he has become more attuned to the need to expand the economy, and argued education and learning is the key.
"We do not have time for an agenda which says, we can take the pie for granted, all we have to do is decide how to divide it up. What we have to recognize as a country is that the key to our future lies, above all, in the space between our ears."
He also argued against one-off deals between Ottawa and individual provinces and suggested the federal government cannot simply send its money to the provinces to spend.
"If the federal government just becomes a cheque-clearing service for the provinces, then we won't have that much left to really build a strong and united Canada."
Mr. Rae has built a core group of supporters, drawn in part from the inner circle of former prime minister Jean Chrétien, and perhaps more surprisingly, from the ranks of provincial Liberals in Ontario -- once Mr. Rae's opposition.
The links to Mr. Chrétien come through his brother, John Rae, the hard-knuckled Power Corp. executive who ran Mr. Chrétien's election campaigns; and Eddie Goldenberg, Mr. Chrétien's long-time senior adviser and a friend of Bob Rae since both went to university in Europe in the 1960s.
But veteran Liberal insiders say that at Queen's Park, Mr. Rae also has the support of two senior politicians with networks they have already started to mobilize on his behalf: Health Minister George Smitherman and former finance minister Greg Sorbara.
Although Mr. Sorbara was forced to resign from the provincial cabinet in October after he was named in a search warrant for an RCMP probe into Royal Group Technologies Inc. -- he insists he is innocent -- he has an extensive and powerful network in the Ontario Liberal Party.
"He's got tentacles, he's got a network," said a senior federal Liberal.
Mr. Sorbara said yesterday that he is a Rae-booster, even though he sat in opposition to the government that Mr. Rae led.
"I think the most important thing is his evolution between 1995 and 2006," Mr. Sorbara said, arguing that Mr. Rae is now an advocate for the "extreme centre."
The support of Ontario Liberals for a former NDP premier is perhaps more unusual because one of their own, Education Minister Gerard Kennedy, is still being touted as a possible contender for the federal Liberal crown.
"If he is in the race, [Mr. Kennedy] will be the guy to beat, because he brings more to the table than any other candidate," argued Senator Terry Mercer, former national director of the Liberal Party and a Chrétien loyalist.
He said Mr. Kennedy is a bilingual standard-bearer for the "progressive" wing of the party, and is drawing calls of support not just from Ontario but from B.C. and Alberta.
