If you had enough of the "will he or won't he" speculation of MP Peter MacKay check out this column from Greg Weston on MP MacKay and New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord. The most intriguing part comes at the end. (h/t NealeNews)
...On top of it all, Lord holds the promise of giving the Conservative party something it has not seen in a very long time -- substantial seats in Quebec.
Sources tell us that two weeks ago, Lord had a private lunch with Mario Dumont, head of the Action Democratique party in Quebec, popular with voters who don't like either the Liberals or the separatist Bloc Quebecois.
Rumor is Dumont has all but agreed he would run for the federal Conservatives with Lord as leader, a move some Quebec political analysts say could hand the Tories at least 10 seats in the province.
Whenever it comes time to choose another Conservative leader it looks like there will be some solid choices. And substantial seats in Quebec will be a hard thing to pass on. Since it sometimes seems that Ontarians have taken on the roleof keeping Quebec happy in Confederation, would 10 seats translate into dozens more in Ontario?
While we are the subject of future leadership campaigns, check out this article in the Toronto Star.
...Liberal leadership contenders such as John Manley and Frank McKenna face an uphill battle. Their small but powerful networks of Bay Street high rollers are a dwindling asset when corporate donations are banned and individual contributions drastically curtailed. The same problem — the lack of a broad network of small donors — looms even larger for Quebec-based candidates.
The winners under the new legislation will be leadership hopefuls who can raise funds from big public interest groups and ethnic communities.
For the Tories, this could herald a turn to the right as candidates who resonate with social conservatives could, as in the U.S., outdo their "mainstream" fundraising opposition. The ability to drum up large amounts of money through small individual donations could also see a strong immigrant candidate such as Joe Volpe thrive in an era of strict spending limits.
I really don't see MP Joe Volpe having a chance, regardless of campaign reform. He is just too acerbic to win.
