All things Canadian.....

The leadership of the Liberal party is morally bankrupt. Today's example....

Paul Martin: “We will put an end to cronyism":

The Executive of the Etobicoke-Lakeshore Federal Liberal Riding Association learned late on Friday, November 25, 2006 that their Member of Parliament, Jean Augustine, has resigned her seat and that Ignatieff is to be parachuted in as the sole, uncontested candidate in a surprise nomination meeting scheduled for December 1, 2005. The speed with which the nomination meeting was called and the abridgement of all timelines suggests that the Liberal Party is discouraging all other contenders.
Despite the abridgement of time, and the difficult nomination filing requirements, two candidates were in fact able to prepare and submit the required forms, including police and credit checks, as well as the required 30 signatures in support of their nominations.
The two candidates delivered their nomination documents to Liberal Party headquarters in Toronto, only to find that the office was locked before the 5:00 p.m. filing deadline. Liberal party staffers could be seen through the second storey windows but they refused to answer repeated knocking on the doors and phone calls to the office.
The two potential candidates are more than qualified to seek the nomination. Marc Shwec, a bilingual (English/French) engineer and MBA, has been active in community and volunteer work. Ron Chyczij, also an MBA, is the president of the Etobicoke-Lakeshore Riding Association and is active in many community and volunteer projects.
Mr. Ignatieff, who had ample notice of Ms. Augustines resignation likely faced no obstacles in filing his nomination papers.

I expect the Liberal Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal will be very interested in investigating these allegations.

UPDATE: Saint Paul skirts around the issue of course; "We're not appointing anybody. People can run, and if they win it, they win it," he told reporters.

But, Saint Paul, can they really run?