New book looks at Liberal leader
Recently the federal Liberals lost their fifth MP since Stéphane Dion became leader of the party. Conservative attack ads paint him as silly inept and oh-so-wrong on everything. He appears uncomfortable seizing the spotlight and has done little to improve his image. It is easy to discount him. According to Linda Diebel author of a new biography on Dion Against the Current (Viking Canada 288 pp.) this would be a mistake. “I would never say never about Dion because he’s been underestimated all his life” she says. “I think he can come out of the shadow of the Conservatives. If anybody can he can.” Though not a critical book Diebel strives to paint an honest picture of a man that has overcome every obstacle in his path facing challenges and to everyone’s surprise coming out on top. The crowning as leader of the federal Liberal party is simply the most recent example. So why would anyone want to write a book on Dion? It all happened after Diebel a journalist with the Toronto Star finished covering the leadership race. “When I got back to Toronto from Montreal a lot of people asked me about him. In English Canada a lot of people didn’t know who he was and in French Canada there was sort of a set idea of who he was. So I thought it would be kind of interesting to write about him” said Diebel. Dion was hated in Quebec. As the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs he was Jean Chrétien’s point man for an aggressive push against the separatists. Many in Quebec considered him a traitor and didn’t shy away from telling him so — though in recent years that hatred has subsided. The surprisingly engrossing book allows readers a glimpse into the pre-politics life of Dion the quiet professor Dion the active federalist professor and finally Dion the MP. “His life is interesting. He had a life before he became a politician — he wasn’t aching his whole life to be a politician and it happened sort of by accident” says Diebel. “But he had a really interesting life as a professor. He went to Peru to adopt their child and stayed there by himself for five months looking after his baby even though he never had any experience with children. So there was a lot about him that was fun. I don’t think my next project will be as much fun as this.” One striking trait revealed in the book is just how naive the new leader can appear despite being in the middle of the political game for just over 10 years. But Diebel believes he also has the political wherewithal to survive as leader of the party. “Even though he can be naive I think he can also be politically astute” she says. By all accounts he will need to be in order to run a successful campaign in the next election. There are still tensions in the caucus lingering from the leadership race. “I think all the other camps — not necessarily his rivals but other camps people who followed his rivals — they have to coalesce and work for Dion because if they’re still quietly working behind the scenes for their guy then Dion hasn’t got a chance” she says. There is also a surprising Alberta connection with the new leader. During the leadership race he was supported by the president of the Alberta chapter of the federal Liberals Adam Campbell who made Dion promise to visit the province often if he was to receive Campbell’s support wrote Diebel. “He’s got a commitment to Adam Campbell that he’s going to make Alberta a special priority” she says. For anyone surprised at the election of this awkward francophone intellectual to the highest post in the Liberal party this book provides excellent background reading. It covers his early years his family his interests and the strange turns his life has taken. Considering that Calgary’s political values appear to be changing it might be a good time to catch up on him. Though one has to wonder if people have really gotten over that darned National Energy Program.
