Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 15, 2012, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A12 EDITORIALS WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2012 Freedom of Trade Liberty of Religion Equality of Civil Rights A 12 COMMENT EDITOR: Gerald Flood 697- 7269 gerald. flood@ freepress. mb. ca winnipegfreepress. com EDITORIAL B OB Rae is an effective interim leader of the Liberal party who has helped keep the party's head above water at a time when many Canadians would be content to see it sink beneath the waves. Even Liberals themselves seem ready to give up on the brand, according to a recent poll that found 67 per cent of party members favoured a union with the NDP. Mr. Rae, who opposes a merger, says the party will be better without him as leader, probably because he is a somewhat divisive figure within the party. So the search begins anew for a saviour to rally Canadians and drive out the proverbial Philistines under Stephen Harper. The problem with this analysis is it assumes the Liberals can be reborn, if only they can find the right leader. It also posits that Canadians want to turn away from the Conservatives, if only they have an alternative. The facts, however, are the Liberal brand is still damaged by a reputation as an arrogant and corrupt party of the past, while the Conservative image as the steward of the economy and low taxes is strong. Under these circumstances, the Liberals appear to be leaning on the false hope that a messiah can lead them to the government benches. How else to explain Liberal panting over the prospect of handing the reins to Justin Trudeau? He is a capable young man, but it's unlikely he would draw a crowd without the allure of the Trudeau name. Former Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff was recruited by the party because it was hoped he would be the second coming of Pierre Trudeau, but it was never entirely clear what he stood for, other than getting elected, which was always the prime directive for Liberals in the past. The problem with some Liberals today is they still regard themselves as the natural governing party that will return to power when Canadians wake up and discover the country has been hijacked by an alien ideology. Instead of waiting for their turn, however, party members need to decide what they represent and why they want to form a government. The Liberal party machine was successful in the past at appealing to the prevailing winds, but a reputation for blatant opportunism is a legacy that haunts the party still. Mr. Trudeau could develop into an impressive candidate if he decides to run, but the more important task is the development of policies and an identity for the 21st century. O TTAWA - So he's not a promise breaker after all. Well, now: Don't we all look silly. Bob Rae's prolonged cat- and- mouse game with the media and with his party, and effectively his career as a leading political figure in Canada, came to a dramatic conclusion Wednesday when the Liberal interim leader announced he will not seek the permanent party leadership. For the Liberals, facing an increasingly tough slog as the third player in the House of Commons and in public opinion, Rae's decision is both a gift and a curse. It opens the door to a new generation of leadership. It also takes the party's most talented orator and parliamentarian off the board. For months, Rae has been criticized for being deliberately vague about his intentions. In his announcement early Wednesday afternoon, he was anything but. He said he'd been moved by requests that he run; been profoundly torn about whether to do so; but eventually decided it was in his party's best interest that he not. It seems likely he was swayed by the knowledge that a run, despite his solemn promise not to do so, would have exposed him to constant, scathing charges of hypocrisy from the government side. This throws the race, believed to have been Rae's for the taking, wide open. And it sets up the next, big unanswered question: Will Justin Trudeau, 40, run? Wednesday afternoon he confirmed he might, saying he's considering his options. Should the eldest son of Pierre Trudeau overcome his stated reluctance to be separated from his young family by the burdens of leadership, he automatically becomes the front- runner. No other Liberal has anything close to Trudeau's public profile; no other has his combination of a solid base in Quebec, fluency in both languages, youth and family pedigree. Most obviously, no other Liberal - indeed no other Canadian politician - has Trudeau's seemingly effortless ability to galvanize media attention and public debate. His negatives, as always, are his inexperience and the common perception that he lacks intellectual heft. Though he is a two- term MP, Trudeau's views on the hard questions of economic policy are unknown. Given that Stephen Harper's personal brand and the Tory brand generally are built around economic management, this is a considerable obstacle. MP Marc Garneau, the former astronaut, is expected to jump in now. Garneau is well- liked within the party, fluent in both languages and also has a unique pedigree as Canada's first spaceman. Any candidate for high office who can legitimately pose in a spacesuit with the Maple Leaf on his shoulder is a contender. Garneau, 63, has age working against him. He has experience, including as a naval officer, working for him. MP David McGuinty, brother of the Ontario premier, has long been contemplating a run. He would bring to bear his brother's Ontario Liberal machine. On the other hand, the McGuinty political brand is not what it once was. Martha Hall Findlay and Gerard Kennedy, both of whom ran for the leadership last time and both of whom lost their seats in 2011, have also been contemplating bids. Ultimately though, it was about Rae and Trudeau; now it's about Trudeau. In effect, Trudeau becomes the new Bob Rae. At every public appearance in the days and weeks ahead, he will be peppered with questions about his intentions. It will be difficult for him to hedge for very long. Would a Trudeau run be a good thing for the Grits? In terms of visibility, obviously. But electorally? That's much less clear. The party faces stark choices. It can try to stay the course. It can reinvent the policy book and forge a new path. Or it can get serious about merging with the New Democrats. That applies to Trudeau, as much as to anyone else. None of it is easy. Door No. 3 would likely require concessions that, while certainly not impossible, will be difficult for senior Liberals to make, given they remember power. Door No. 2 is risky, in that it could push away diehard supporters. Door No. 1 is the safest course - but also the one least likely to bring success in a general election, it seems to me, because it presupposes continuing incompetence in government ranks, which is not a given. It also presupposes that Canadians will vote for a platform they have three times rejected since 2005. It is interesting that Rae has taken himself off the board, he says, in hope that pawns will become knights. But that is very much an expression of hope. Any way one looks at this, the Liberals have lost a star. They will find him difficult to replace. Michael Den Tandt is a columnist for Postmedia News. B RISBANE - It took more than 30 years but on Wednesday, a coroner finally declared the claim " a dingo has got my baby" was true - as the mother had said from Day 1. That Lindy Chamberlain- Creighton was officially exonerated of the heinous death of her nine- week- old daughter Azaria, however, won't entirely stem the flow of absurd theories attached to the events of Aug. 17, 1980. Australians like to think they're not given to bouts of mass hysteria, but in the Chamberlain case, we abandoned all perspective and regressed to a medieval village, complete with flaming torches, hotly in pursuit of a terrified witch. The world, of course, likely knows the story as a result of the film A Cry in the Dark , which begins when Azaria is taken by a dingo while camping with her family at an appropriately spectral location - the giant desert rock Uluru, known then as Ayers Rock. Azaria's parents, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain, were obviously distraught. But sympathy and the horrific image of a wild dog carrying off a baby quickly morphed into intense debate over guilt and innocence after Lindy refused to play the part of the hysterical mother. Instead of wailing, she held her emotions in check on camera and spoke in a matter- of- fact way about her baby's disappearance from their tent in a crowded campground. That refusal to meet expectations, together with the couple's Seventh Day Adventist religious beliefs, sparked a hostile reaction in the public inevitably reflected in the media. Soon many Australians were openly questioning whether the young mother was a murderer. A host of sick jokes were aired across the nation, while an almost biblically inspired hysteria was fuelled by a ridiculous rumour suggesting the name Azaria meant " sacrifice in the wilderness." Instead of being allowed to grieve, the Chamberlains were brought to criminal trial. Lindy was accused of slitting her child's throat in the front seat of the family car, disposing of the body, then raising the now famous cry: " My God! My God! A dingo has got my baby!" Among the crucial evidence amateur sleuths pondered was Lindy's insistence her child was wearing a jacket. No such jacket was found among the child's clothes later retrieved. Six years later, as Lindy languished in jail in the northern capital of Darwin on a life term for murder, a twist came in the narrative that even Hitchcock would have tipped his hat at. A young Englishman plunged to his death at Uluru and a search party stumbled upon the vital jacket. Lindy was released and the simpletons among us began a barrage of criticism of the prosecutors, the media, the police and, in some cases, the entire Northern Territory where the whole sorry drama was played out. Wiser souls, even those among her most virulent accusers, took a sharp breath and lapsed into a much- needed bout of introspection, wondering what on Earth possessed us all to behave like a grand jury at a Salem witch trial. Comedian Wendy Harmer, who ridiculed Lindy in a standup routine in the 1980s, was one of the few noble enough to make a public apology this week. " Such was the firestorm of hatred, all rationality was lost," Harmer wrote in an apology to Lindy and Michael. " I acknowledge that the horror for your family has been unending. You have always conducted yourselves with the utmost dignity and composure. The very qualities that saw you damned, accused and convicted." The sort of people who cling to absurd conspiracy theories may still insist on her guilt. But at the conclusion of a fourth inquiry, the legal record is now clear. Lindy was finally fully exonerated Wednesday morning when a Darwin coroner found that a dingo killed Azaria Chamberlain. With her now ex- husband Michael and son Aiden, Lindy heard the cause of her baby's death formally changed from " unknown." Coroner Elizabeth Morris was understandingly emotional as she read out her findings. " The cause of her death was as the result of being attacked and taken by a dingo," Morris said. " I am so sorry for your loss. Time does not remove the pain and sadness of the death of a child." Michael Madigan is the Winnipeg Free Press correspondent in Australia. He writes mostly about politics for the Brisbane- based Courier Mail. Liberals without Bob Rae I T is a shame that while so many Winnipeggers put this city on the map, globally, the city is reticent to mark such legacies. Legendary paddler Don Starkell is among the many renowned deserving a marker at memorable sites. The city would do well to join in on the proposal by a small group hoping to see him commemorated. Mr. Starkell, who died earlier this year, is best known for the paddle to the Amazon with his sons, Dana and Jeff, in 1980, in a canoe crafted by the late Winnipegger Bill Brigden, once Canada's best- known canoeist. The two- year trip to Belem, Brazil, was at times harrowing, and its length of 19,600 kilometres earned Don and Dana ( Jeff bowed out in Mexico) a spot in the Guinness Book of Records in 1986. The book Paddle to the Amazon inspired people around the world and was followed by Paddle to the Arctic , a trip that saw Mr. Starkell rescued amid ice and slush and on the edge of death by helicopter near Tuktoyaktuk, N. W. T. Frostbite took his fingers and some toes. Yet, indomitably, he paddled until shortly before his death. Don Starkell was a man of extremes; he did nothing in half measure and his reputation was almost as large as his life. Yet nowhere in Winnipeg is there a testament to this man whose spirit is imprinted on the paddling community here and far beyond. He began his paddle to the Amazon near Bronx Place, on the banks of the Red River at Senior Citizen's Park. That would be a fitting place for a life- sized bronze of this man, carrying his canoe to the water's edge. But the long stretches of the Red were his second home; there is ample room for a marker. It is time to get it done, a start on recognizing those who left their marks. MICHAEL MADIGAN Can Liberal pawns become knights? MICHAEL DEN TANDT A dingo really did get her baby Starkell statue THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES That Lindy Chamberlain- Creighton was officially exonerated of the heinous death of her nine- weekold daughter Azaria won't entirely stem the flow of absurd theories. A_ 14_ Jun- 15- 12_ FP_ 01. indd A12 6/ 14/ 12 8: 23: 21 PM ;