Will the Liberals flip-flop on Dingwall’s severance? What are the consequences for Paul Martin if he does? Is it a lawsuit, or does Dingwall sing on Adscam? After all, Dingwall was the one who hired Chuck Guite. Could Dingwall be the linchpin upon which the fortune of Paul Martin’s government rests? It could very well be lose-lose for Mr. Martin, but does protecting Dingwall do the most to protect the electibility of the Liberal party?
A poll (fresh off the Blackberrys), indicates that l’Affair Dingwall has cost the Liberals 50% of their leading margin over the Conservative Party.
OTTAWA (CP) _ Recent spending scandals may have hurt the federal Liberals in the eyes of voters, a new poll indicates.
The Pollara poll suggests the gap in public favour between the Liberals and the Conservatives has narrowed. Despite failing to gain any ground in crucial Ontario ridings, Pollara says Stephen Harper’s Conservatives saw their national popular support numbers inch to within six percentage points of the Liberals in late September.
Pollara surveys conducted over the summer months indicated a 10- to 12-percentage point gap between the Grits and Tories.
But the Paul Martin government has been hammered recently by controversy over David Dingwall. Dingwall quit his job as president of the Royal Canadian Mint amid allegations of overspending and improper lobbying.
Is Paul Martin in disaster management mode? Is this why we’re getting vague, recited and repeated answers from Revenue Minister John MacCallum in the House? Particularly startling is the dissent on Paul Martin’s insistence on Dingwall’s severance from voices within his own cabinet and from within the Liberal caucus. In other words, is the secret so damaging that senior Liberal ministers of the Crown aren’t even in on the gameplan?
Paul Martin hasn’t blinked at wasting untold wads of taxpayer cash in the past and if denying Dingwall’s severance would result in a lawsuit (against the government, not against the Liberals), then why isn’t he going up against Dingwall? It’s surprising that one man could make the government blink with the threat of a lawsuit. Perhaps it is the Liberal Party proper that is blinking at what Dingwall knows about Adscam.