Welcome to the Dark Side

Would you like to hear a story? It's a very exciting tale. It features loyalty and betrayal, manipulation and machination, and it warns how the hunger for power consumes and destroys those who seek it. It's about the fragility of trust, and how those closest to you can cut you the deepest. It's a story that has been going on for a long time, and the latest chapter unfolded with much fanfare and media coverage this week.

The main character is a rising star who was seen by many to be the chosen one who would bring unity and balance. But this character's true loyalties are revealed unexpectedly by an almost unthinkable act of betrayal by joining the dark lord and tipping the balance of power in his favour. And power is of course at the core of the reason for the betrayal. The traitor had sought greater power in the past and was denied, at least for the time being. The dark lord promised great power if only the traitor would join him, and did indeed grant this power. Of course, the traitor may well want the dark lord's job, and so this was a step in that direction.

Most everyone is taken off guard by this betrayal. Of course, some may have known that something was wrong, but those closest to the traitor are among the most surprised, and the most deeply wounded.

Have you guessed what the name of this story is yet? Well, in case are aren't quite sure, this story doesn't feature any droids, light sabres, or star destroyers, and not even a single wookie. No, this is the story of how Belinda Stronach left the Conservative party and became a Liberal Cabinet minister.

For those unfamiliar with Canadian politics, here's what happened. Apparently one of the highest profile members of the opposition Conservative party, Belinda Stronach, defected from her party to join the government Liberals. For jumping ship she was rewarded with a cabinet job — she was sworn in as minister of human resources within hours. What makes her so significant are a trio of facts: she ran for the leadership of the Conversatives last year, she is a social moderate from Ontario, where the Conversatives have been striving to make gains for years, and she happens to be dating the deputy leader of the Conversative party. Apparently she was having some issues with the Conservative party leader, and decided to jump ship and join the Liberals. Prime Minister Paul Martin was very glad to have her, as she narrowed the gap between the vote gap enough for him to win a confidence vote.

The parallels with Star Wars: Episode III are downright uncanny. Of course, no one actually dies in this story, and Paul Martin is hardly a Sith Lord. But as Prime Minister he has been very concerned with power, and more specifically the maintaining of power. Martin has barely managed to hold on to power between having a minority government, dissention in his own ranks, and the multi million dollar sponsorship scandal. He only survived this confidence vote by making a deal with the social democrat NDP (You can read all about his leadership, or lack thereof, in the Wilhelm Awards nominations from a few weeks back). But this story isn't about the dark lord — it's about the traitor.

Traitor is such a harsh word. When applied to politics one could argue that loyalties are bought and sold all the time, so really, what's the big deal that one politician decided to change sides? While there is some truth to the matter, the fact is that Belinda Stronach almost certainly wants to be Prime Minister some day, and she has the financial resources to back up her ambitions. It's hard to say what precisely is going on in her head, but it really looks like she saw an opportunity to grab the spotlight and get a nice cabinet job and she took it. That this was a betrayal of her party, her constituents, and the man who was (and may still be) in love with her was, at least in her mind, outweighed by the magnitude of the opportunity.

How will this ultimately turn out for Stronach? It's far too early to tell, but history is generally not kind to turncoats. Already there is a Globe and Mail poll showing that two thirds of respondents think that she did not do the right thing. And Paul Martin and Liberals, despite what they might like to believe, will not be in power forever. When that day comes, it may well be that Belinda finds that she jumped ship unto the Titantic.

That doesn't mean that she won't get her wish of being Prime Minister some day. In fact, should Martin see that the end is nigh, he could step down as leader, and someone will have to take the reins. Who better than Stronach? She could well be the next Kim Campbell or John Turner.

You're probably scratching your head and saying "Who are those people?" Each was was Prime Minister of Canada for less than a year, and has since faded into complete obscurity. We seem to have one of these footnote PMs every decade or so, and it's been twelve years since the last one. We're due for another any time now.