Saturday, September 13, 2008

Commentary -- The Toronto Star

No Stars In Quebec Skies For Dion

Tall poppies are few and far between in every political field this year in Quebec.

To get a lay of the scorched Liberal land in Stéphane Dion's home province, suffice it to say that the only big stars in his lineup are two candidates he did not recruit.

Astronaut Marc Garneau – who failed to launch in an opposition-held riding in 2006 – was given a soft landing in the cushy seat of Westmount-Ville-Marie after he threatened publicly to walk away from the party last year.

Running in Montreal's Papineau riding, Justin Trudeau has the distinctive honour of being one of only a handful of Liberal candidates who were put through the hoops of a nomination battle to earn the dubious privilege of taking on a Bloc Québécois incumbent.

To a man and a woman, just about every other Liberal candidate was appointed/conscripted, sometimes very late in the game and often in ridings where the party is in a dead heat with the Greens for last place.

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