Stephane Dion showed some backbone today in turfing sometimes liberal MP Joe Comuzzi out of Caucus. Dion showed some real leadership today in the face of Comuzzi's public musings:
"The Hon. Joseph Comuzzi, Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay - Superior North, has been expelled from the Liberal Caucus. This is not a decision that I, or anyone in the Liberal caucus, takes lightly.
I encourage the discussion of opinions on matters of policy. However, it is not possible to support this bad Conservative budget and to be a member of the Liberal caucus. Mr. Comuzzi has made it very clear that he will vote in favour of the budget. A vote on a budget or a Throne Speech is always a vote of confidence. The unavoidable consequence of voting against the caucus on these votes is to no longer be part of the caucus."
Despite his near 2 decades in Parliament, Comuzzi is best known as the MP for Boca Raton as he seemingly spends more time in Florida than Ottawa and for his knuckle-dragging stance opposing equality rights for gays and lesbians which saw him leave Paul Martin's Cabinet.
Comuzzi had already announced that he was not seeking re-election and was only seeking to undermine the Liberal leader. It's time to separate the wheat from the chaff. Goodbye Joe and good riddance.
2 comments:
Whether or not it is a good idea, how does Dion defend that the Liberals are the big tent party? He arguably forced Khan out the door with an ultimatum. Now he's forced Comuzzi out over approval of one small portion of the budget. This does not sound inclusive, so I'm curious how he will try to spin that.
Also, by kicking Comuzzi out, would you not say this is a serious lack of judgment? Dion has essentially handed this seat over to the NDP next election (Comuzzi won by only 400 votes) and, considering the strong possibility of another minority parliament where every seat counts, shouldn't Dion have shown more prudence?
So much for Harper being the dictator.... we know who really has a taste for authoritarianism now!
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