Today, all eyes are on Stéphane Dion and his hundreds of thousands of dollars of outstanding leadership debts.
Tomorrow, June 3rd, is the Elections Canada deadline for candidates from the 2006 Liberal leadership race to have paid off their loans and outstanding debts.
Otherwise, they will run afoul of Canada’s election laws.
As of his last required reporting period, Mr. Dion still had, by far, the largest outstanding debt of any former Liberal leadership candidate.
Mr. Dion’s inability to meet his legal obligations is just one more example of his weak leadership and lack of priorities.
Will Stéphane Dion pay back the money he owes to powerful Liberal insiders? Or will Mr. Dion desperately seek an arbitrary extension from Elections Canada? If he does so, it will be the responsibility of Elections Canada to justify why Mr. Dion’s massive debts should be exempt from the rules.
All winter and spring, Mr. Dion has abdicated his role as Leader of the Opposition. Liberal MP’s have routinely abstained and missed key votes on the key issues facing Canadians. Instead, they have focused their energies and attentions on chasing headlines and manufacturing outrage.
The Dion Liberals have offered Canadians no constructive solutions, no new ideas, and no new policies with the exception of a massive, permanent new carbon tax that would drive up the price of gas, electricity and everything else Canadians buy.
The Liberals have spent the past month furiously trying to conceal their true carbon tax plans. As of tomorrow, will they have to cover up Mr. Dion's outstanding debts as well?
Whether he is abdicating his responsibilities, promising to raise taxes, chasing sensational headlines or failing to pay off his own debts, Mr. Dion has a lot to answer for. No wonder more Canadians are coming to the same conclusion:
Stéphane Dion is not a leader. And the Stéphane Dion Liberals are just not worth the risk.