SQLFusion - Marie Josee Lapointe an aide to Bachand

PUBLICATION: The New Brunswick Telegraph Journal
DATE: 2004.01.13 SECTION:
News PAGE: A1 COLUMN: Politics
BYLINE: RICHARD ROIK Telegraph-Journal
PHOTO: Harper DATELINE: OTTAWA
DATE: 2004.01.12CATEGORY:National general news
BYLINE: BRUCE CHEADLEPUBLICATION: cpw
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Harper not worried about lack of leadership rivals; wants to take on Liberals
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OTTAWA (CP) _ Stephen Harper says he isn't worried about contenders _ or the lack thereof _ in his bid to become leader of the new Conservative Party of Canada.

In fact, following a general election-style launch to his campaign Monday evening, the former Alliance leader was almost dismissive of his undeclared rivals for the crown of united right with the former Progressive Conservatives.

``I want to take on Paul Martin,'' Harper told reporters following a sharp-elbowed speech that repeatedly attacked the reputation of the new Liberal prime minister.

``I didn't unify the parties to start a new fight with a bunch of other Conservatives.''

Harper was already considered the person to beat in a field that _ with just 10 weeks to decision day _ currently has but one declared candidate.

Earlier Monday, one leadership rival bowed out, the campaign of another appeared to be fizzling, and a pair of high-profile MPs seemed on the verge of quitting the new party.

But Harper refused to dwell on the downside.

``We're going to be ready for the election at the end of this race,'' he said of the widely anticipated election call which could come within days of the March 19-21 Conservative leadership vote.

``And we've got to be ready because we don't have time to fight each other and we don't have time for a lot of honeymoon and healing afterwards. We've got to get on with the job right now.''

Asked if a small field of candidates would hurt a new party attempting to broaden its base and heal Tory-Alliance rifts, Harper was blunt.

``A lot of the normal rules don't apply . . . . . We don't have any luxuries to experiment with on-the-job training here.''

Calgary lawyer Jim Prentice, who has never held elected office, left the leadership field Monday, citing a lack of funding. Prentice finished second in the Tory leadership race last spring and was considered the most organized opponent Harper would face.

Former Tory leader Peter MacKay, Harper's co-negotiator of the merger, called a news conference for Tuesday to announce his leadership intentions. Several insiders are predicting he would decline to run.

Former Ontario health minister Tony Clement, auto-parts magnate Belinda Stronach and British Columbia MP Chuck Strahl have all said they're interested in a bid _ although Harper said Monday he'd wait and see.

``We've had so many phantom candidacies announced in the past weeks,'' sniffed Harper.

But he and the new party face challenges from other fronts. At least two MPs appeared poised to rain on Harper's parade.

Andre Bachand, the former Tory deputy leader and the lone Quebec MP in either of the merged caucuses, has called a news conference for Tuesday where it is expected he will formally quit the Conservatives.

He said last month that he could not participate in the new party.

``He's already left the Conservative party,'' said Marie-Josee Lapointe, an aide to Bachand.

Asked whether he would bolt to the Liberals, run as an Independent or leave politics entirely, she said: ``Those are three scenarios. I can't discuss the details.''

And Keith Martin, an Alliance MP from British Columbia, has called a news conference for Wednesday ``regarding his political future,'' his parliamentary office said Monday. Martin has been heavily courted by the Liberal party for months.

For good or ill, the series of competing news conferences and events this week mark a sharp escalation in the new Conservative party's public profile following the Christmas break.

Harper was turning up the rhetoric Monday night.

He decried Paul Martin's privileged upbringing ``playing in the corridors of power,'' intimated the prime minister dodges paying Canadian taxes, called him a product of ``an empire of pollsters and media managers,'' accused him of raiding company pension plans and linked him to a growing political scandal in British Columbia.

``You know, Paul Martin is one of those CEOs who does takovers one year and downsizes the next _ but always does well on the stock options for himself,'' Harper said in one caustic line.

He received roaring applause at every full stop in his speech to more than 500 partisans packed in a room beneath the bleachers of Lansdowne Park, home of the CFL Ottawa Renegades.

At the end, more than 30 of the 51 MPs endorsing his bid crowded around the podium. While Harper does have some support from Ontario Progressive Conservatives _ including former cabinet minister John Baird and Bob Runciman _ none of the MPs endorsing him are from the old PC party. ====