Some six months after crossing the floor, Eve Adams’ time as a Liberal is at an end as she was defeated in her nomination race in Eglington-Lawrence. Marco Mendicino, a former federal Crown prosecutor who put away terrorists in the “Toronto 18” plot, handily won the riding, and will go on to face Joe Oliver in the upcoming election. Of course, now comes all of the pundits who will question whether Adams’ defeat will also damage Justin Trudeau, but I will say that I’m unconvinced by those arguments. While Scott Reid wrote in the Citizen on Friday that loyal Liberals should hold their noses and vote for Adams to avoid damaging their leader, I think that he entirely misread the situation. When Trudeau accepted Adams into caucus, the reaction was pretty muted. When he did it, it was to take a boot to the Conservatives, and to have Adams talk about how the Conservatives were no longer the party of the Progressive Conservatives (never mind that she never was one). It was about playing up that Red Tories had a home in the Liberal Party. But after that, she faded to the background. Instead of putting her up in QP the next day to great applause, Adams didn’t even show up in the House for days. When she did, she stuck to the background, wasn’t given slots in QP or during Members’ Statements, and was pretty much kept out of the limelight. Trudeau, for his part, stuck to his line of open nominations and didn’t endorse her. And when the process played out and Mendicino won, Trudeau’s hands were clean. Yes, he accepted her into caucus, but that was it. He let the grassroots decide without any interference, and that says a lot, in an age of a lot of bellyaching about the rougher edges of the open nomination process (and seriously, people, the people who have complained about being red-lighted have pretty much proven why that was the case). If anything, things played out in the very best light for Trudeau – he has a strong local candidate that won in a fair race, and he still got in a few punches at the Conservatives when Adams crossed the floor. I have a hard time seeing how this is a negative for him in any way. Meanwhile, BuzzFeed Canada collects your tweets in response to Mendicino’s win.
Good reads:
- Joe Oliver musing about quantitative easing was him overstepping his authority, as that’s the call of the Governor of the Bank of Canada, and NOT the finance minister.
- CSE is concerned about internal threats, like another Jeffrey Delisle or a Canadian Edward Snowden.
- An analysis by The Canadian Press shows that longer campaigns favour those with more cash – generally the Conservatives.
- Polling in the North is tough, yo.
Odds and ends:
Flora MacDonald, the first woman to become foreign affairs minister (in Joe Clark’s government), passed away yesterday. She won Maclean’s Parliamentarian of the Year lifetime achievement award this past fall.
I mourn the passing of Flora MacDonald, whose compassion, leadership & example changed lives across our country & around the world #cdnpoli
— Rt. Hon. Joe Clark (@RtHonJoeClark) July 26, 2015
Hon. Flora MacDonald has died at 89. A great lady & force for good in Canada & the world. Am grateful to have "stood on her shoulders". RIP
— Kim Campbell (@AKimCampbell) July 26, 2015
Growing up I knew that Flora MacDonald was a Cabinet Minister originally from Cape Breton. What I understand now is how impt that was. 1/2
— Hon. Lisa MacCormack Raitt P.C. (@lraitt) July 26, 2015
Min. MacDonald demonstrated that any career was possible – even for a girl from Whitney Pier. She cleared our path and I am grateful. 2/2
— Hon. Lisa MacCormack Raitt P.C. (@lraitt) July 26, 2015
Flora MacDonald will be dearly missed. Her leadership blazed a trail in Canada & her humanitarian work improved lives around the world. —TM
— Tom Mulcair (@ThomasMulcair) July 26, 2015
Deeply saddened by the passing of Flora MacDonald, a great Canadian whose leadership and compassion will be sorely missed.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) July 26, 2015
Sad to learn of the passing of the Hon. Flora MacDonald, a pioneer, an inspiration to many, and a true progressive.
— Scott Brison (@scottbrison) July 26, 2015
Sad to hear of the passing of Flora. She was a stateswoman ,a pioneer who broke down the barriers of a male dominated parliament. #cdnpoli
— Jim Munson (@SenatorMunson) July 26, 2015
Flora MacDonald's legacy is profound, including leaving us the term "the Flora Factor." http://t.co/VoVE0VJz8O pic.twitter.com/24ExWEH4eq
— Parli (@parlidotca) July 26, 2015
Programming note: I’m on vacation for the next two weeks, so expect posts to be sporadic until then.