Angry in the Great White North

Recall that just over a week ago, Michael Ignatieff is coming down hard on insider leaks, the kind that bedeviled and embarrassed Stephane Dion on a regular basis:

Mr. Ignatieff told his caucus members during their two-day retreat this week that he would be calling MPs with their new assignments. He also stressed discipline, impressing upon his MPs and senators the need not to leak information to reporters and to remain united.

So how's that discipline thing going?  Let's check.  Today we found out that there is no chief of staff in the Opposition Leaders Office.  Why is that?

Officially, it's because the right person hasn't been found yet.  But according to an insider leak, it's because the Liberals have run out of money, a combination of a reduced budget because of the poor showing in the last election, and the added costs of clearing out Stephane Dion's people.  Those people had to be let go, of course, as a result of Michael Ignatieff's takeover of the Liberal Party in December, six months earlier than planned:

New Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff can't hire a chief of staff because the OLO has spent a significant portion of its $3.2-million office budget after doling out an estimated $350,000 in severance and separation packages in December to laid-off OLO staffers who worked for former leader Stephane Dion, say Liberals.

"They don't have money to pay the new chief of staff. They are facing some challenges, but the situation will change after the new fiscal year starts," one Liberal insider told Hill Climbers recently.

Jill Fairbrother, a spokesperson for the Liberal leader, denied that the new chief of staff's position has not been filled due to financial reasons.

"No, that's not the case. We're undergoing a search for a chief of staff. We're talking to a number of individuals. It's not budgetary considerations," said Ms. Fairbrother last week in an interview in the foyer outside the House Chamber.

It looks like Michael Ignatieff is being embarrassed by an insider leak.  Thanks to this insider leak, a reporter might ask Michael Ignatieff and other Liberals if the Liberal Party would have been better served to allow Stephane Dion to run out his time as interim leader through to May.  Michael Ignatieff would then have been appointed (oops, I mean elected) leader in May, after the start of the fiscal year.  By appointed Michael Ignatieff early and so incurring the costs of purging the Liberal Party of Dion appointees, this reporter would point out, the Liberal Party seems to be under extra financial stress, which has led to key staff positions remaining unfilled after the purge.

Then again, if no one in the press bothers to ask questions based on this information, then the leaks won't really matter.

From the I-Files:  "I" for Irony, of course.  On the day that we are treated to a leak about the staffing of Michael Ignatieff's own Opposition Leader's Office, we are told that the plea for more discipline is coming from the OLO:

Since Mr. Ignatieff took over as party leader in December, he and his senior OLO aides have been stressing the need for caucus discipline and a tight control over the message.

Liberal Whip Rodger Cuzner (Cape Breton-Canso, N.S.) recently told The Hill Times that for years the Liberal caucus has faced the challenge of eliminating leaks about discussions that take place behind closed doors and it remains to be seen if the new leader will be able to overcome this issue.

"It's the reports from the unnamed sources, or a high-ranking 'Liberal official,' it's been certainly a problem and it's been a challenge in every caucus that I've been in since 2000, and I don't know if we're ever going to eliminate it," said Mr. Cuzner.

So let me think this through.  Leaks from "unnamed high-ranking Liberal officials" are bad.  These leaks hurt the party and discredit the leader.  And on this very day, a "Liberal insider" leaks to the press that the leader's office lacks a chief of staff.  The position has not been filled as a consequence of of the Michael Ignatieff's rush to replace Stephane Dion ahead of an actual leadership vote, perhaps to avoid that vote completely.  As part of the takeover of the Liberal Party, Michael Ignatieff spent party money to purge Stephane Dion's staff, resulting in the shortfall in cash and the incomplete team.  Any leak undermines the Michael Ignatieff, but this leak undermines the leader directly.

Do you think the Liberals are taking this seriously enough?