Liberals Angry at May-Dion Deal

There's a pretty good rule of thumb when it comes to certian news stories... when the Toronto Star prints something negative about the Liberal Party of Canada, there is absolutely no room for doubt that the story is true!

They're known around here as "The Red Star", after all.

When there are Liberals saying things like this, you know there are problems in the Liberal HQ...

"Cuzner said the party now risks losing some of the 10,000 people who voted Liberal in Central Nova in the last election, and possibly some party loyalists who are essential to running election campaigns.

A Liberal strategist, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there is widespread anger at the deal in caucus, which Liberals feel could be used against them in a federal election. The strategist said the decision was another strike against Dion, whose leadership has come into question in recent months.

"The only reason this was not the final straw is because of the threat of an election," the strategist said.

Ray Heard, former communications director to Liberal prime minister John Turner, was one of the few to publicly express his anger with Dion, saying he would support party members who believe Dion should be forced out.

The deal with May "denigrates the tradition that the Liberals are a national party," he said in an email to the Toronto Star.

"Both (Liberal MPs) Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae are eminently qualified to succeed him before the next election and I cannot fault their supporters for plotting to dump him before it's too late."

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Central Nova Liberal riding president Allan Armsworthy said he would give no advice to party loyalists who will find themselves without signs to post or doors to knock on when the next federal election rolls around. It will be up to each person to decide what they want to do and who they want to support.

"Some will probably be working for the Green Party as you'll probably see some former Conservatives and some former NDP working," he said."

As I already pointed out today, there's some discussion amongst Libloggers about all this, and it's not all supportive of the move. There's actually some really good thoughts over at Fuddle Duddle that you might want to check out, about the 10,000 some odd Liberal supporters who have now been orphaned in Central Nova, and the larger implications across the nation for Liberal supporters.

It's going to be an interesting week... especially if the writ gets dropped, as some people think it will. Of course, I'm still out on this one... but if it happens, I'm ready to go.