MP Denis Coderre... Experienced Liberal Assassin?

Well, Liberal MP Denis Coderre seems to be an experienced hand at offing Liberal leaders... he helped lead the charge to ditch former Prime Minister John Turner, so why not go 2 for 2?

The morning of Aug. 31, 1987, the chief organizer for the federal Liberal youth in Quebec called a press conference in Montreal to announce publicly what Grits everywhere were saying in private -- John Turner was a lost cause as party leader and should resign.

"Canadians have never followed weak, indecisive and inconsistent leaders," the organizer said. "We have to save the party."

That organizer was Denis Coderre, one of the Liberal MPs now stoking the fires of discontent threatening to engulf the Liberals' latest master of misfortune, Stephane Dion.

Last week, as Dion desperately tried to bring order to the growing chaos in the Liberal ranks, Coderre and at least one other MP embarrassingly turned down the leader's invitation to be the party's Quebec lieutenant.

The unspoken message was stinging: Who would want to assume responsibility (read: take the blame) for a province that is turning into a Liberal wasteland under Dion's leadership?

No one has called a press conference yet to demand Dion's resignation for "weak, indecisive and inconsistent" leadership, but don't rule it out.

In his six years in office, Turner endured almost rotating mutinies, including three by his own sitting MPs.

Today, Gritdom is again alive with the sounds of wringing hands and gnashing teeth as the party confronts its worst leadership crisis in the nearly 20 years since Turner's last near-execution.

And how's this for a confidence boosting line about halfway down in the article?

As one prominent Liberal insider told me this week: "If there are still people in this party who honestly think we can win an election anytime soon, they should probably change their medication."

Welcome to Opposition boys... enjoy your LONG stay.

h/t to Dr. Roy