At a time when the federal Liberals should be focused on preparing for a battle with Stephen Harper's Conservatives, they appear more interested in fighting with each other. Uneasy with Stéphane Dion from the moment he won the Liberal leadership, Quebec Liberals are growing increasingly brazen in their attacks on him. If they're not careful, an already fractured party will become too broken to seriously compete in the next election.
To an extent, the scale of Liberal unrest has been exaggerated by Quebec media that smells blood. Yesterday, Le Journal de Montreal breathlessly reported that someone named Pierre-Luc Bellerose - misleadingly identified as the "ex-Liberal candidate in Joliette," despite never having stood for election in that riding - was calling for the party to revoke Mr. Dion's leadership. But amid such absurdities, there are enough legitimate signs of growing unrest among party executives and caucus members that Mr. Dion will attempt to calm the storm this afternoon with a press conference in Montreal.
It is not difficult to understand Quebec Liberals' frustration. With Mr. Dion having failed to impress voters across the country, the party is in a particular shambles in their province. It is woefully behind in nominating candidates, its organization is skeletal in many ridings, and Mr. Dion's Quebec lieutenant, Sen. Céline Hervieux-Payette, is seemingly at war with party executives. Having surrendered their former stronghold of Outremont in last September's by-election after falling to just 13 Quebec seats in 2006, further losses would be likely if an election were held soon.
To continue attacking Mr. Dion, however, will not prevent that result - it will make it an inevitability. Some of Mr. Dion's Quebec critics, many of whom supported Michael Ignatieff against him for the Liberal leadership, have fantasies that he can be replaced before the next election. But in the unlikely event that Mr. Dion were persuaded to step aside, the party would be in worse shape than it is now. It lacks the time and resources to stage a proper leadership convention, and whoever emerged as Mr. Dion's replacement would be plunged into a campaign he or she could not possibly be prepared for. And while some Quebec Liberals - mistrustful of Mr. Dion since he authored the Clarity Act last decade - might sooner sabotage the next election than win it with him at the helm, they should be careful what they wish for. Already teetering on the brink of irrelevance in Quebec, the Liberals could be virtually wiped off the province's electoral map by the time the next leader takes over.
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The best hope for Quebec Liberals, whether they like it or not, is that Mr. Dion will put in a better effort rebuilding the party in their province. But it will be impossible for him to do so if he is forced to spend all his time there dodging friendly fire.
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