Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff speaks with reporters after his caucus meeting on Parliament Hill on Wednesday December 9, 2009.Adrian Wyld
As Gloria Galloway writes in today's Globe the Liberal dominated Senate gutted a key government crime bill related to mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug crimes.
What adds an extra dimension of interest to the story is the original bill had been supported by Liberal MPs. Yet the elected leadership of the Liberal Party was not able to sway or direct the appointed members to come in line with them. This is not a good thing for Michael Ignatieff.
During a period when his leadership has been publicly challenged, questioned and speculated about, having Liberal senators go out and openly defy the wishes of the elected Liberal caucus is a whack in the face. While all leaders to succeed must be able to take shots as well as give them - and Ignatieff has taken more than Tie Domi recently - there is a fine line between being a battler and punch drunk.
I don't want to belabour the point, but this latest stunt by the Liberal senators does again raise questions about how much control Michael Ignatieff really exercises over the Liberal Party. It is little wonder he wants to keep the detainee debate going, as much as the government wants it to go aways, because it keeps the focus off his never ending leadership challenges.