Monday, October 20, 2008

My Conversation With Stephane Dion Today

As many of you know, I met with some unnamed, activist, anonymous, strategist, insider, close to the leader, reliable source, Laurier Club, lifelong Liberals in front of Stornoway this afternoon. Stephane Dion wasn't there. You see, he went home to Montreal to relax with his family and close friends.

I began to think that perhaps all the hype and internet support and the hundreds of emails were all for not. Then my phone rang.

It was "someone close to the leader" on the other end. Within minutes I was put through to the leader (yes, as of the time of the call he is still the leader).

We talked about the outpouring of support he has been receiving from the grassroots members of our party. He talked about his family. More talk about the possibility of staying and the ramifications of going.

Naturally I suggested many of us were ready to defend, but there was a need for change to take place. Much talk of this and that ensued. Lots of passion.

10 minutes later the leader said all that I needed to hear:

I love the Liberal Party. I love my country.

I didn't need to hear anything else.

Mr. Dion, I said, we are here to support you. We hope you will hear the voices of the many rather than the shrills of the few. We would like to see you stay.

"Thank you Jim, for all you have done. I will consider all you have said when I make my decision."

Thank you Mr. Dion. We all await your answer.

Picture above taken by anonymous Liberal photographer.

Later I post on the ramifications of M. Dion staying or going.

13 comments:

Tania said...

Yes, thank you, Jim, for all you've done!

That's fantastic.

I truly hope he decides to stay, but I understand if he decides to leave.

He's put so much of his own personal life on hold for a bunch of ungrateful backstabbers and there's a time where one says, "enough".

Saying that, I greedily want him to stay.

WesternGrit said...

And now he should put the screws to those f'ers at CTV by giving an exclusive interview to a loyal blogger, then the CBC - rather than let CTV make one penny off his time...

F'n useless corporate media!

penlan said...

Tania wrote:

"He's put so much of his own personal life on hold for a bunch of ungrateful backstabbers and there's a time where one says, "enough"."

One thing to keep in mind, Tania,is that he did not put his "life on hold" for a group of backstabbers. He put it on hold for his love of our country & everyone who lives here. That is much, much bigger than a minority backstabbing group. In comparison that group is a tiny pond in a huge ocean.

Just another way of looking at it. :)

northwestern_lad said...

well said Jim... we may not agree on this point, but well said none the less.

Anonymous said...

Glad you had a chance to talk to Mr. Dion. I can't imagine what he's been going through. Nothing left to do now but wait and see.

sassy said...

I'm really pleased to read that you and Mr. Dion had this conversation, as one Canadian to another.

Anonymous said...

I only wish that the LPC had people like yourself working on their rebuilding instead of the twits they do have. Thanks for brightening what seems will be a sorry day for the party and the country.

S.K. said...

If Stephane steps down, we will have a Conservative Majority in a year, or less. It is the weakest possible move we could make as a party. Dion must stay on as leader. We need to clean house. That doesn't mean getting rid of the leader.

red and proud said...

Just to remind people: a Facebook group has been created called 'Liberals (and others) Opposed to Stephane Dion's Removal as Leader'. Here's the link:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=40161095228

There is also a petition--Stephane Dion is a Leader--for people to sign. Here's the link for that:

http://www.petitiononline.com/Dion/petition.html

farwestie said...

This petition for Dion to stay on originated in Montreal:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/mod_
perl/petition-sign.cgi?Dion

red and proud said...

maudie bones: Your link is wrong. The correct link is as I posted it above:

http://www.petitiononline.com/Dion/petition.html

Red Tory said...

For whatever it's worth, the poll I ran was 60% in favour of Dion staying as leader. There was a lot of very strong support in the comments too.

Personally, I see no reason for him to leave.

Given the circumstances, he could have done a lot worse.

Lorelei Cohen said...

I too support Mr. Dion as leader of the Liberal party. I do not see that any other leader could have produced a better result under the circumstances of this election. I too blog on his behalf.

I offer my vote to you Mr. Dion.
http://www.squidoo.com/stephane-dion-honorable-man

Ladymermaid