Dion team working to beef up party's organization

by CAMPBELL CLARK — August 6, 2007

Stephane Dion's chief lieutenants are conducting a charm offensive to bring in organizers from the campaigns of rivals in last year's Liberal leadership race, as they seek to rebuild the makeshift campaign machine they put together during a spring election scare.

Stéphane Dion's chief lieutenants are conducting a charm offensive to bring in organizers from the campaigns of rivals in last year's Liberal leadership race, as they seek to rebuild the makeshift campaign machine they put together during a spring election scare.

Many of the Liberal Leader's strategists believe that the party dodged a bullet when Prime Minister Stephen Harper chose not to call an election this past spring, when the federal Liberal ground organization was in disarray.

Now, believing an election will probably not come until next spring, Mr. Dion's senior advisers have launched a series of dinners and meetings with organizers in several cities in a second run at reconstructing the party's organization.

Mr. Dion's chief of staff, Andrew Bevan, and senior political adviser Herb Metcalfe have teamed up to play host to groups of Liberal organizers in Toronto and elsewhere. Vancouver-based campaign co-chair Mark Marissen is similarly plying the Liberal circuit.

On Wednesday, for example, Mr. Bevan and Mr. Metcalfe held a casual dinner where organizers from several camps met at Al Frisco's in downtown Toronto to munch $10 entrées and give advice on party plans.

The guests included Tom Allison, who was Michael Ignatieff's Ontario campaign director and is now chief of staff to Ontario Attorney-General Michael Bryant; Tenio Evangelista, another Ignatieff supporter; Chris Koddermann, Bob Rae's campaign manager in the Toronto-Centre riding; and Matt Certosimo, a lawyer for Mr. Rae's leadership campaign.

"They asked, 'So, what's working well, and what's not working well?' That was kind of the opening question. It was quite positive. And we were told this wasn't a one-off," Mr. Allison said.

"They said, 'we thought there was going to be an election, or at least we knew we had to be prepared in case there was one, but now we've got some time, we can actually take a couple of steps back and ask some questions and consult.' "

Mr. Allison noted that others not from leadership camps were there as well. But others viewed the charm offensive as an effort to bring players from rival camps, especially those of Mr. Ignatieff and Mr. Rae.

Although the common wisdom is that Mr. Harper pulled back from triggering an election in the spring because polls showed he was still short of majority support, a number of senior Liberals believe they would have been crushed.

Mr. Dion's team had named national and provincial campaign chairs, but it was done in a mad scramble and there was little real ground organization beneath that, said one Liberal. And the networks of party organizers and volunteers who are key to successful campaigns were dispirited and still divided.

The recent "outreach" efforts show that Mr. Dion's advisers realize the problem and are now taking a second run at restructuring the party machinery, and want to include people who felt left out the first time.

Stephane Dion's chief lieutenants are conducting a charm offensive to bring in organizers from the campaigns of rivals in last year's Liberal leadership race, as they seek to rebuild the makeshift campaign machine they put together during a spring election scare.

Source:The Globe and Mail