Peter Donolo, who used to be Jean Chrétien's director of communications, was at a birthday party, when he came across Karl Littler, Paul Martin's chief organizer in Ontario.
"Karl, what are you doing here?" Mr. Donolo kibitzed, "aren't you supposed to be out there destroying the Liberal Party?"
Everyone laughed and Mr. Donolo, when contacted, says the two ended up having "a very friendly, sociable chat."
No doubt. But the incident tells a tale. The civil war between Paul Martin and Jean Chrétien is corroding the foundations of the Liberal Party, threatening its hopes for a majority government in the federal election.
We all know about Sheila Copps's allegations of chicanery by the Martin-dominated party machine in Hamilton East-Stoney Creek. (Yesterday, she complained to the RCMP.) But Hamilton East-Stoney Creek is hardly unique. In recent days, campaign workers in ridings across the country have phoned or e-mailed with hair-raising complaints.
Here's one of the best examples: The new riding of Brampton-Springdale takes in most of the old riding of Brampton Centre, held by Liberal MP Sarkis Assadourian. He is being challenged by, among others, Andrew Kania, a Brampton lawyer who was Ontario co-chairman of John Manley's aborted leadership campaign.
Mr. Kania's forces control the riding executive, and are reportedly well ahead in signing up members. For more than a month, the executive has been pleading with Mr. Littler, who is the Ontario campaign chairman, to call a nomination meeting. Not only will Mr. Littler not call the meeting, Mr. Assadourian reportedly pleaded with Mr. Martin last week in caucus to offer him protection from challenges in his riding. (Mr. Assadourian's office did not respond to a request for an interview.)
Mr. Kania is guarded with his language -- he professes loyalty to the party and the Prime Minister -- but when asked whether he felt the nomination meeting was being delayed to give Mr. Assadourian more time to counter Mr. Kania's challenge, he replied: "Yes, I do." Regardless, he says, "No matter when the meeting is called, I will win the nomination."
Mr. Littler insists there are no conspiracies; the Brampton-Springdale nomination meeting promises to be contentious, and he is short of staff to manage it.
Mr. Kania at least has had his application to run as a Liberal candidate approved. In the riding of Vancouver Centre, Taleeb Noormohamed can't even get that far. Mr. Noormohamed is one of two candidates challenging incumbent Hedy Fry. The other is Lynne Kennedy, a former city councillor.
Mr. Noormohamed is young and, to be blunt about it, ethnically correct, but he is also male and Ms. Fry and Ms. Kennedy are female, and the party is anxious to bolster the number of women in the House. So while Ms. Fry and Ms. Kennedy have had no difficulty in getting their candidate applications approved, Mr. Noormohamed can't get the green light to save his life. He's been interviewed (the others haven't), his education credentials have been questioned (Princeton and Oxford, by the way), and the committee responsible for vetting his application never seems to be able to meet.
"We've built up very strong support from a lot of people who have never been involved in politics before, at a time when the Liberal Party is facing challenges," Mr. Noormohamed said in an interview. "My concern is that if something is seen to be amiss, a lot of people are going to get turned off, not just from politics, but from the Liberal Party."
Mark Marissen, B.C. campaign chairman, said that the party is hoping to have an answer soon to Mr. Noormohamed's application.
When Mr. Martin refused to protect incumbent MPs, in the interest of democratizing the party, he doubtless felt his overwhelming control over riding associations and the provincial wings of the federal party would allow him to ensure political friends were promoted and enemies frustrated. It hasn't worked that way. Instead, the riding fights have turned into yet another front in the epic contest between Mr. Martin and Mr. Chrétien, left and right, legacy and agenda.
For Liberals, the tragedy could be that the ridings are left so weakened and divided that they fall to the opposition. The Conservatives, for example, have high hopes for Brampton-Springdale, and Vancouver Centre isn't immune to
challenge.
We may need to disinter Shakespeare: Only he could do justice to a conflict so epic. Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin claw at each other without surcease, while the sands dissolve beneath them, swallowing both, each still clutching the other's throat.
John Ibbitson