The Haemorrhaging Continues

      In another turn of the political screw, John Bryden has quit the Liberal Party, and it's possible that he will join the ranks of the new Conservatives, or that he will run as an Independent in the next election. Bryden's departure from the party isn't too much of a surprise: he was a target of the Martin machine, as much as Sheila Copps has been, but he was always a pretty vocal critic of his own government's activities, partially the result of Bryden's own training as a reporter and editor. Oddly enough, these articles don't mention Bryden's book on the Canadian government's role in the development of chemical weapons which was headed up, in part, by Sir Frederick Banting, the lead-scientist in the discovery of penicillin. Bryden's always had as his pet-concern the access-to-information policy, a policy more frequently beached than observed. Bryden's defection is interesting, because perhaps more than most members of the disgruntled Chretienites (Sheila Copps, John Manley, etc.), he's always been a kind of outsider, a kind of internal critic, and so his defection may be seen more as an act of conscience than of political expediency, however much the latter may indeed be an issue. It'll be interesting to see the reaction, especially from the editorials, later today and tomorrow. Surprisingly enough, Bryden's debarkment from the Liberal ship of state even made its way, briefly, into the New York Times. Oddly enough, as I've been writing this entry, John Ibbitson's column has just been published, and, ever more oddly, Ibbitson seems unusually right on this.

      But I think Mr Bryden's departure from the Liberals will have greater resonance than, say, if Sheila Copps were to jump ship. There's a very strong degree to which Bryden is a "plain speaker," a direct and not-necessarily couth politician whose concerns have never been entirely in line with any political stripe. This story, though, of the implosion of the Liberal party within the scope of just over a week, just seems to get more and more interesting, and more and more insidious. And, it seems, if Dr J's extended metaphor about the current Canadian political climate being a great deal like Richard II is true, then we've just discovered another character in the play: Mr Bryden has become the Bishop of Carlisle, except that Mr Bryden is leaving of his own free will, and not being jettisoned as Carlisle was. Word to Mr. Bryden: if you're going to run in the next election, do so as an Independent. Tempting as it may be to join another party and its backup mechanisms, if there's ever been a situation for breaking-through on your own, this is it. The way it seems to me, an all-out war between the Liberals and the Conservatives in your riding will be pyrrhic. Stand outside it all, and run on your own, as the figure who's been on the inside, and will not serve any dominant ideological structure. That appears to be the only way to be re-elected, to ride through as the incumbent dark horse. To join the Conservatives will only serve to suggest that you're just playing political musical chairs, and that your defection is one of political expediency. Stand on your own, and stand with the credibility of an individual; this is your way to speak to the voters, while the politicos go after each others' throats.