The last several days have been a debacle for Clark, beginning Wednesday afternoon when the NDP dropped a bombshell in question period: a secret government plan to win ethnic votes by misusing public resources.
The plan to compile Liberal Party contact lists by utilizing taxpayer-financed staff and resources - including publicly paid "outreach workers" and government translation services - shook the government to its core.
The 17-page document - passed among senior government staffers through private email addresses - has produced a backlash in the very ethnic communities it was designed to woo.
The most insulting element of the plan: offer official government apologies for "historical wrongs" like the Chinese head tax, to produce "quick wins" for the Liberal Party.
Now another backlash is brewing, this one inside the Liberal Party itself.
Many Liberal insiders see the ethnic-outreach scandal as the last straw for a party leader and premier who seems determined to lead them over a cliff in the May election.
The unhappiness within the Liberal caucus was on full display at the legislature, where deputy premier Rich Coleman read a grovelling apology on Clark's behalf.
That Clark refused to return to the legislature to deliver the apology herself only rubbed salt in the open wounds of her bitter MLAs.
In a bid to calm the outrage, Clark offered up the head of her deputy chief of staff on Friday. But the resignation of her longtime friend Kim Haakstad - who distributed the secret ethnic strategy - does not make the crisis go away.
One of the Liberals' biggest fears: there are more secret documents out there, and more damaging revelations to come. Many Liberal insiders I consulted want Clark to resign, and there was furious research underway to see if there was a way to force her out.
Wasn't Margaret Thatcher forced out as British prime minister when her own MPs turned their backs on her? And wasn't Australia's Kevin Rudd done in by his own rebellious crew, too?
It's conceivable Clark could be forced to quit if enough Liberal MLAs were to band together and demand she leave. But with the election so close, wouldn't a last-minute mutiny just make things worse for the Liberals?
Not everybody sees it that way. "Imagine you are on a plane," one insider tells me. "You notice the pilot is flying erratically and the plane is heading straight into the side of a mountain.
"At that point you really have nothing left to lose by storming the cockpit, overpowering the pilot and letting someone else take the controls.
"Even a crash landing that produced a few survivors would be better than the plane slamming into the mountain with all lives lost."
Who could take over the nosediving plane? The name mentioned most frequently is likable Shuswap MLA George Abbott, the third-place finisher in the Liberal leadership race.
But there are many problems with such a plan. For one thing, Abbott has announced his retirement from politics, and someone else is now running for the Liberals in his riding. (Ditto for Kevin Falcon, another rumoured last-minute saviour.)
There's also the numbers game at the legislature. If a faction of rebellious Liberals were to pay a visit to the lieutenant-governor, and ask her to recognize a new premier, they would need near-unanimous numbers to pull such a stunt off.
Christy Clark doesn't have many friends in that government caucus. Only one Liberal MLA supported her for leader. But she could presumably round up a few to back her up.
And if things got really hot, Clark could call all their bluffs, and pay a visit to lieutenant-governor herself, and ask her to call the election early.
In other words, getting Clark to leave will be difficult if she doesn't want to go.
There was talk late Saturday of an emergency cabinet meeting to be held as early as today in Vancouver. If Clark gets through that, she'll have to face the entire Liberal caucus Monday, when she finally returns to the Legislature.
One thing is for sure: The New Democrats sure hope she survives. Christy Clark is the NDP's best weapon now. The last thing they want is a new leader to come riding to the rescue, and turn their slam-dunk election victory into something much more unpredictable.
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Michael Smyth
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