Liberal Party Stephane Dion has a remarkable ability to take something as simple as a meeting and turn it into a battle of wills.

A battle of wills between himself and no one else.

And then Stephane Dion still manages to lose.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is likely to lead the Conservative Party into an election to be called this week.

In making the decision to call for an election, Stephen Harper wanted to meet with opposition leaders Stephane Dion of the Liberal Party, Jack Layton of the NDP, and Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Quebecois.

Over the last two days, Stephen Harper has met with Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe.

But what of the leader of the opposition, Stephane Dion?

Well, this past Wednesday, August 27, Stephane Dion was suggesting September 9:

[The] head of the biggest opposition party, Liberal leader Stephane Dion, has suggested September 9.

"We have proposed September 9. Nothing has changed," Dion spokesman Mark Dunn said.

September 9 is one day after the three by-elections, but all indicators are that Stephen Harper will call an election before that, canceling the by-elections altogether.

Nevertheless, Stephane Dion was holding out for September 9, figuring that Stephen Harper would not dare call an election without having that meeting.

On Friday, August 29, Stephane Dion was even more adamant that September 9 was the only day Dion was available:

Harper, whose government won power in January 2006, will meet Jack Layton, leader of the leftist New Democratic Party, on Saturday though Layton has called the exercise a charade.

Liberal leader Stephane Dion has said he is available to meet only on September 9.

Today is August 31, and Stephen Harper has made it clear that a meeting with Stephane Dion is not a factor:

The prime minister did not, under such circumstances, feel obliged to wait for a meeting with Dion to call an election, said the official, who did not want to be identified.

So what does Stephane Dion do?

He blinks: 

Dion will sit down with the prime minister despite asserting that he had no time in his schedule before September 9th. Government officials have said Harper is prepared to call an election any time after Tuesday.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will meet with his Liberal rival Stephane Dion in a Labour Day showdown that will almost certainly precede an election.

Harper's spokesman says the afternoon meeting will take place Monday at the prime minister's residence at 24 Sussex Drive.

Perhaps Stephane Dion was tired of playing this game of political chicken by himself.  See, chicken is played with two people heading to a collision, to see who will veer off first.

Stephane Dion was resolutely holding out for a September 9 meeting.  Stephen Harper, Jack Layton, and Gilles Duceppe simply ignored him, had meetings, and planned for an election.

And so Stephane Dion, somewhat desperately, makes himself available for a meeting on a holiday Monday.

Phew!  Stephane Dion managed to get a meeting before the election was called without him.

Do you think anyone at Liberal Party headquarters is congratulating Stephane Dion at pulling this off?

Or do you think that someone is telling Stephane Dion the honest truth?  That he's managed to turn something as straightforward as having an important meeting with the prime minister into another embarrassment for the Liberal Party, and another verse for the Stephane-Dion-is-not-a-leader theme the Conservatives have been composing for two years now.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 11:14 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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