Skip to main content
globe editorial

Liberal MP Denis Coderre announces he is stepping down as Quebec lieutenant and defence critic during a news conference in Montreal on Sept. 28, 2009.Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press

Denis Coderre's resignation as Liberal Party lieutenant in Quebec has caused short-term damage to Michael Ignatieff and shown Liberal machinations to defeat the government to be either insincere or foolhardy. But in the longer term, the federal party in Quebec needed to move beyond reliance on an old-style party ward-heeler, and Mr. Coderre's departure opens that door.

Some Liberal organizers in Quebec are reported to be furious over the treatment of Mr. Coderre, who was overruled last week by Mr. Ignatieff in the selection of a candidate for a key Montreal riding. Mr. Coderre is certainly unhappy. He resigned Monday saying he "lacked moral authority" to do his job, though he maintains he "has confidence" in Mr. Ignatieff. How munificent.

That confidence, however, does not extend to the Leader's inner circle. Mr. Coderre said you can't run politics in Quebec from Toronto - a swipe at the Toronto strategists with whom the Liberal Leader has surrounded himself, and hence really a swipe at the leader.

There is no requirement for representation by population among a party leader's advisers and staff, as long as they can see the country beyond the 416 and 905 area codes. And regardless, such a public attack on Mr. Ignatieff suggests Mr. Coderre had come to confuse his own interests with that of the federal Liberal Party in Quebec.

It suited Mr. Coderre well to appoint a star female candidate to the Liberal nomination in Outremont, because it sidelined a political rival, Martin Cauchon, a former justice minister under Jean Chrétien and the riding's former MP, who wanted to seek the nomination.

Such heavy-handed tactics do not build up the party's grassroots, in the same way that a fairly contested nomination battle would. Nor, really, does the concept of an omnipotent being in the form of a Quebec lieutenant, dispensing privileges and undertaking decisions that should more properly belong to the party leader.

If Liberal ranks in Quebec - such as they are - are now in disarray, Mr. Coderre must shoulder some responsibility for that. At least he has helped to make one thing clear: Given there is no hope for a Liberal victory without significant gains in Quebec, this appears to be a particularly inauspicious time for the Liberals to defeat the government and force an election. Mr. Ignatieff should concentrate on getting his own house in order.

Interact with The Globe