IDES OF MARCH LOOMING AS ADAMS DEFECTS TO LIBERALS
Will Soudas turn rat?
Someone had to say it and midway through the press conference Justin Trudeau obliged.
“It’s all about Eve this morning,” the Liberal leader told reporters, as he unveiled Eve Adams as the latest addition to his caucus.
He’s obviously never watched the Bette Davis movie — the ultimate tale of female ambition and betrayal. The reference undermined the impression he was trying to convey of a political ingénue, whose values and integrity had been compromised by, in her words, “mean-spirited leadership.”
It was also misleading. This is not all about the defection of a mid-ranking, scandal-plagued MP — the more interesting sub-plot involves her partner, a human enigma machine named Dimitri Soudas, the former executive director of the Conservative party, who knows the most intimate secrets of the Harper government since it was sworn into office.
The Cinderella story presented by the Liberals was self-serving drivel.
The reality is that the floor-crossing Ms. Adams had already been rejected by Stephen Harper — the “grumpy boss” — and the Conservative party.
She had decided to leave her Ontario riding of Mississauga-Brampton South to run for the Conservatives in the new nearby riding of Oakville-North Burlington. After an increasingly nasty nomination fight with Natalia Lishchyna, the Conservatives moved to disqualify both candidates. Ms. Adams pre-empted that disqualification by taking herself out of the race for health reasons, following a concussion. Curiously, there was no mention of health problems during Monday’s press conference.
John Walsh, the Conservative party president, told Ms. Adams she would not be permitted to run for the party because of “misconduct” during the nomination race.
With no chance of running for the Tories, she was in danger of losing the opportunity to recoup the six months severance that even losing MPs can claim.
For the Liberals, the upside comes from having a Conservative MP vindicate the narrative they have been peddling of an autocratic and imperious prime minister — leading a nar- row, exclusive party — in contrast to the “welcoming and inclusive vision of Canada” presented by Mr. Trudeau and the Liberals.
“Our growth depends on bringing people together,” he said.
The press conference had a soap opera-ish quality, similar to the day another blond Conservative joined a Liberal leader in the National Press Theatre to declare she no longer shared the values of Mr. Harper’s brand of conservatism. Belinda Stronach’s defection was comparable in its naked opportunism, but far exceeded in importance the tawdry sight of Ms. Adams lauding the Trudeau Liberals and disowning the income-splitting policy she ran on in 2011.
In the Stronach tale, the love interest was provided by Peter MacKay, jilted and bitter, protesting betrayal from his potato patch with a borrowed dog.
In the 2015 redux, questions were asked about Mr. Soudas, Ms. Adams’ partner and the now very ex-executive director of the Conservative party. Upon his appointment to the $300,000-ayear job, he was told he had to recuse himself from the Oakville-North Burlington race, where Ms. Adams was a candidate. When it turned out he was using party resources to help her win, he was fired. He was alleged to be behind the scheme to sign up party memberships for people who said they hadn’t paid for them, which helped get Ms. Adams disqualified.
In the midst of their troubles, the two rolled out the old borrowed dog routine themselves, taking two onloan pugs for a walk when the paparazzi came to call.
Now the very strong suggestion from Ms. Adams and Mr. Trudeau is that Mr. Soudas will help her campaign for the Liberals in whichever safe berth they find her.
“I look forward to working with her and everyone she brings with her,” said the Liberal leader.
That would certainly bolster suggestions that it was Mr. Soudas who approached the Liberals a week ago and brokered the deal announced Monday. In a tweet, he said he “fully supports” Ms. Adams’ decision.
Her departure will be greeted with a degree of equanimity, even enthusiasm, in Tory circles.
But if, as seems likely, Mr. Soudas has turned rat, it will be a cause of great consternation in the upper reaches of the Conservative party. He knows where the bodies are buried because he buried many of them himself. As executive director, he was charged with masterminding the Conservative party’s re-election. That plan is now seriously compromised.
With the Ides of March looming, Mr. Harper could be forgiven for wondering who will be next to betray him, after John Baird and the man he personally installed as executive director of the party. Et tu, Dimitri, et tu?