Cancer and the Liberals

Warren Kinsella, whom we alluded to yesterday, expands on his account of Paul Martin’s tactics against politicians suffering from cancer (or their loved ones) in today’s National Post (subscription required). After detailing the Herb Dhaliwal affair that we noted yesterday, he observes:

I am no fan of Mr. Martin or his circle of advisors, so you should not simply take my word for it. Ask John Gray, the PM’s official biographer. In an analysis he recently authored for another newspaper, Mr. Gray wrote:

“It was always said of Mr. Martin that he loved public policy but hated politics. That may be the happiest explanation of the crudeness of his leadership campaign, where the only art was shooting the enemy wounded. He shrugged Sheila Copps out of politics and allowed his lieutenants to hijack the riding of a cabinet colleague whose wife was dying of cancer. The people who won him the leadership were skilled in the craft of regicide, but governance was not in their curriculum vitae. Yet those are the people who are now his aides and advisers in government.”

Jonathan Ross, a former Liberal aide to Mr. Dhaliwal and the driving force behind a popular web log (tdhstrategies.com), has a similar view. Says Mr. Ross on his site: “Having worked for Minister Herb Dhaliwal, and been privy to much of the dirty and underhanded techniques used against him by the Martinite crowd, [I agree] that cancer, or any other illness for that matter, has never mattered to those surrounding the Prime Minister. If you’re going to stand on your record, then you must be ready for it to bite you right in the ass. This is one of those occasions.”

But ask yourself a question: If, as Mr. Gray wrote, the federal Liberal leader’s lieutenants were permitted “to hijack the riding of a cabinet colleague whose wife was dying of cancer,” would they then hesitate, even a moment, to take advantage of the illnesses of two MPs who aren’t cabinet colleagues?

You don’t have to be pious to know the answer to that one.

John Ivison reports on the Conservative claim that Liberals were phoning around trying to find out when Darrell Stinson’s surgery was to be scheduled:

One Conservative said the Liberals have been calling around in British Columbia seeking information on Stinson’s treatment and that Albina Guarnieri, the Veterans Affairs Minister, raised the issue with Chuck Cadman, the Independent MP who is also fighting cancer. “Some of the more aggressive tactics used by Martin’s people offend [Harper's] sense of fair play,” the Conservative said.

For its part, Guarnieri’s office denies even discussing Stinson’s health with Cadman. But who out there believes that this Liberal government wouldn’t boil their grannies down to make glue if it helped them stay in power?

And remember, nice guys don’t oust Jean Chretien as the sitting Prime Minister.