Paul Martin's all inclusive tent

As the continuing dispatch of old Chretien loyalists continues, a voice from the turbulent past has rejoined Les Rouges. Paul Martin today announced that Jean Lapierre has rejoined the Liberal party and will serve as his Quebec lieutenant. One can only assume that Mr. Lapierre has had a personal conversion, leaving the bosom of Quebecois seperatism to join in the Canadian mosaic once again. When we last saw him in Ottawa he was decidedly disenchanted with the federation, choosing to work to take his province out of the Canadian family.

Lapierre has been doing what all good politicians do when they aren't working a campaign, running a hot line radio show in Montreal. Keeping his finger on the issues of the day and of course making sure one and all knew where he placed himself on those issues. He also trained in law and did some television work to keep up a high profile in media mad Quebec.

Prior to his celebrity status as a media star, Lapierre was a founding member of a group of disappointed Quebec politicos, you may remember them banding together as the Bloc Quebecois. The Bloc which these days is a mere shadow of itself, at one time was perceived as a grave threat to the fiber of the nation. Mr. Lapierre was a charter member of that Lucien Bouchard brotherhood in quest of nationhood.

So how does a formerly committed seperatist, all of a sudden decide that the nation is one again? Most likely with lots of polling data and a good friend as the PM. Lapierre was the chair of Paul Martin's unsuccessful run for the Liberal leadership of 1990. With his guy the PM now, the time was right for a return to federal politics and in a topsy turvy landscape; where a Conservative becomes Liberal, a Liberal is wooed by socialists, what's one seperatist turned federalist again between friends. Paul Martin insists that the one time sovereigntist is now a fully committed federalist, having apparently talked a length about the goals and aspirations of the new Quebec inside, of the Liberal's brave new Canada.

It doesn't hurt that he becomes the number one guy in Quebec for the PM as well, dispensing the power and perks in the province where power counts. There should be wholesale changes in Liberal nominations in Quebec now, with the nationalist window now open, who knows who we may see offering their services. Far thinking Quebecois politicians will realize that the Liberal party alternating leadership will next tap a French Canadian, the smart ones are already placing themselves in line for the day that Paul Martin takes his walk in the snow.

For the likes of Stephan Dion, former star candidate in Quebec and a hard fighting foot soldier for the Chretien forces over the years, one sees only backbench purgatory. Lapierre's first comments after being introduced revolved around relations between Canada and Quebec, pouring scorn on the clarity act . Dion the creator of the controversial legislation, was rather dumbfounded by the vitriolic reaction to his work by the new flavour of the day. As he sits in his chair on the back fourty of Parliament, he'll be feeling as though his future is anything but clear.