The Race for Stornoway: Maurizio Bevilacqua
Joe Who?
-Globe & Mail headline
Age: 45
Background: Maurizio was born in Sulmona, Italy. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from York University. He's pretty much been a career politician.
Political History: Maurizio is part of the Liberal class of 1988. Despite being the first MP to support Martin’s 1990 leadership bid, he made it into Chretien’s Cabinet as a Secretary of State, after a stint as a Parliamentary Secretary. Because of this unforgivable sin, and his unwillingness to take the knife to Chretien, Bevilacqua was snubbed from Martin’s Cabinet. He has spent the past few years as a former future Cabinet star.
Rejected Campaign Slogan: “Maurizio has single handedly eliminated Canada’s deficit” (this one needs some background. Maurizio has been sending out flyers to Liberal Party members across Canada for some time now. In them, he pretty much single handedly takes credit for Canada’s current economic situation)
Rejected Endorsement: Paul Martin
Pros: Young and bright, with a long history in the party. Hopefully he’ll find his way into the winner’s Cabinet.
Cons: Little name recognition.
In Person: I had the opportunity to chat with Bevilacqua on the phone a few weeks back and I was genuinely impressed with the guy. He's got political experience and has a clear idea of where he wants to take the country. And it's hard not to by sympathetic to the guy after the way he got absolutely screwed over by Team Martin. Everyone I know who has met the guy in person has always been impressed with him.
My Take: I like Maurizio and he certainly has a bright future in this party. Truth be told, he’s running to raise his profile, secure a Cabinet spot, and make a leadership charge next time. Because of that, I wish him the best of luck in this race, and it wouldn't at all surprise me to see him as Finance Minister should be Liberals return to the promised land anytime soon.
Chances: Hopefully we’ll learn a lot about him during this race, but I just can’t see him winning this thing, unless something really weird happens at the convention. Of note, Chretien's former pollster, Michael Marzolini, is apparently on board.
posted by calgarygrit at
7:44 p.m.
29 Comments:
Bevilacqua's first election was actually confirmed in a 1990 By-Election. Back in 1988, Maurizio and his Tory opponent almost tied for the number of votes. The result was subjected to a Judicial Recount, won by the Tory but appealed by Bevilacqua. On Appeal, the Judge threw out the November 1988 result and ordered a By-Election be called. By this time, his Tory opponent declined the nomination. That party, in turn, mounted a weak campaign in the face of disarray and dropping popularity, allowing Maurizio to win by a substantial margin.
As I have said before, let's see how he performs in Opposition. Marzolini, however, is a significant addition to his organization. I used to drink with Mike during our days at Scarborough College in the 70s.
David Imrie - dave.imrie@gmail.com
By
Anonymous, at 8:40 p.m.
He is not my first or second choice, but I'm glad he is running and I have a lot of time for him. I hope he sets himself up well for a senior post down the line. At the very least he is a Liberal, and unlike Volpe, or Fontona I think he is running to bring up some issues and not as an exercise in vanity.
By
Anonymous, at 8:42 p.m.
Wells puts him in the top 5 along with Rae, Dion, Ignatieff and Godfrey. He says maybe Kennedy.
By
Ted Betts, at 9:09 p.m.
Not to be pedantic, but I think it was a Toronto Star headline, not a Globe and Mail one.
By
Anonymous, at 9:19 p.m.
The guy is a joke. He screwed over Martin back in 2002 and paid a price.
Volpe will win most of the Toronto area delegates cause Volpe was loyal.
By
Anonymous, at 9:31 p.m.
He has more than just Mike M. For instance, Taras Zalusky has signed on to manage...
see here: http://harperbizarro.blogspot.com/2006/03/grit-leadership-buzz.html
By
Bizarro, at 9:33 p.m.
I'll withold judgment on Bevilacqua until he starts releasing some of his positions. Seems competent enough, though.
By
Ryan Ringer, at 9:53 p.m.
In terms of "cons" I might add that he supports letting Canada switch to the US dollar.
http://www.canada.com/national/features/chretien/story.html?id=DA3486CA-1D45-4650-A808-46BE1ABA451A
Then again, what does it matter right?
By
Anonymous, at 10:04 p.m.
I must say, he has a really fabulous web site; beautiful graphics, rich red colour scheme. It's not really relevant to the overall discussion, but it's pretty nice to look at.
Various senior local Party people that I know have been receiving Christmas cards from him for years (they assume he wants to build some goodwill for a future run).
By
IslandLiberal, at 10:44 p.m.
Don't know much about him, but I like his talk about dealing with Canada's lagging productivity. This is not the best vote winning idea, but is something we must challenge as we move into the 21st century. More spending on R&D, higher education, corporate tax cuts, capital tax reductions, and cutting red tape are some of the areas I believe could help increase productivity.
By
Monkey Loves to Fight, at 11:23 p.m.
Those flyers were pretty funny, perhaps a little too bold if you ask me.
It was kind of like "yeah we get it, you wanna be a Liberal star".
By
Anonymous, at 11:27 p.m.
Maurizio Bevilacqua is a funny name.
Canadians like simple non-etnic sounding names like Paul Martin, Steven Harper, Mike Pearson, Brian Mulroney. Even Diefenbaker our only P.M with an ethnic name at least had a normal sounding first name in John. Maurizio Bevilacqua has two funny names.
Maybe if he changed his name to Chris Smith he would stand a better chance.
By
Anonymous, at 11:35 p.m.
Funny about the name thing. That's what advisors told Barack Obama. He will be U.S. president someday, if not very soon.
By
S.K., at 11:23 a.m.
I like Bevilacqua, always have. He'd be my first choice for leader. His time frame is also good since I don't expect the Libs to return to government for at least 7 years, if not longer.
By
Anonymous, at 12:16 p.m.
Barak Obama as President? Anytime soon?
Sorry s.b he is the wrong colour. This is still the US of A chicky. No women or black men need apply. At least not for another twenty years.
Mitt Romney wins it for the Republicans.
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Anonymous, at 12:33 p.m.
If Joe Volpe even comes CLOSE to winning any support for the Liberal Leadership, it will no doubt be due to the fact that HIS mob connections are stronger than the other crooks vying for the title.
James Halifax.
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Anonymous, at 1:06 p.m.
I thought he got into a lot of trouble with student politics at York.
Didn't used to go by the name Mario?
By
Anonymous, at 1:19 p.m.
Accusing Volpe and Bevilacqua of having mop ties is just xenophobic and intollerant. Both men have served their country for many years and the only reason any one assuses them of having mob ties is because their last names end with vowels.
You're not doing anyone any favors by perpetuating these sterotypes of Italian Canadians.
By
Anonymous, at 2:11 p.m.
So - not to hijack this thread but I just got a tasty piece of gossip.
A certain female leadership candidate...let's call her Belinda S. for the sake of anonymity...was hanging out at the Junos this weekend...later in the evening she was dancing at a party being put on by EMI...while lots of music industry types were taking a run at, um, supporting Belinda, who was she being all kissy kissy with on the dance floor?
A certain former beau/current foreign affairs minister - Peter McKay.
Pictures will follow in the days to come.
By
Anonymous, at 2:53 p.m.
I knew Bevilacqua when he was Secretary of State for Financial Insitutions at the Finance Dept. The Deputy Minister asked us to arrange a series of roundtables in various cities with financial market types in order to give the SoS a chance to get out and make connections. The SoS chaired the meetings and from what I am told did OK. I would not be surprised if he got into some sort of conflict of interest trouble one day, however. He once asked me to help out a constituent who was trying to raise money for his business. I was a civil servant and I was supposed to be non-partisan so I had my reservations about that...
- Ottawa Man
By
Anonymous, at 3:55 p.m.
Off topic:
But this is good news.
When will the Kennedy profile appear (as I'm sure it's prepared) ?
By
Anonymous, at 5:21 p.m.
Patrick;
I'll get around to Gerard within the next couple of weeks. I've already writen up his, Dryden's, Dion's and Belinda's but I'm hoping to listen to the field a bit more this weekend in Edmonton.
By
calgarygrit, at 7:02 p.m.
why is it when I come here, I'm always stumbling on Liberals discounting people's chances of winning because they are gay or black or handicapped or whatever.
Condi will be president in 2009.
By
Tarkwell Robotico, at 7:15 p.m.
Anon:
Mob connections to the Liberal party are not MY invention. The Liberal Party has a long history of involvement with organized crime.
Have you already forgotten the "made man" Alfonso Gagliano who once cooked, er, I mean, who once handled the accounting for one of the most notorious Mob bosses in the city? What about Alfonso's connections to the mob hit-man who he tried to get into Canada (and eventually did). What about Joe Morselli (the recently dear departed) who was considered to be a major suspect in the murder of a rival mafia Don in Montreal. Old Joe got a car-bomb in his driveway for that escapade........investigation still pending of course. However, since "Joe" seemingly had a heart attack (I'd want an autopsy report) he won't be testifying about anything will he? How convenient.
The Liberals have a long history of being involved with organized crime........and the Canadian Media has a long history of ignoring it.
Oh....let's not forget Paul Martin's ships which, when not dumping oily bilge over the side......have been caught with bags full of cocaine stashed in the holds. Does anyone remember Meriam Bedard? She testified about this behaviour, complete with the warnings she received by senior people who know the Liberal Party. SHe was told her life would be in danger if she told of the drug-running, money laundering, and whatever else she heard.
Hmmm.....it's a wonder she didn't have a "heart attack"
As for the last name ending in a vowel.....just come out and say it. They were ITALIAN.
That shouldn't be a surprise....since the MAFIA is an ITALIAN organization.
If it was a group who like to chop peoples heads off or kill kids in pizza parlours........I"d say look for someone named Mohammed.
James Halifax.
By
Anonymous, at 3:18 p.m.
Does anyone know about his days in student politics?
I thought he had to resign for something?
By
Anonymous, at 6:43 p.m.
James Halifax is the kind of racist bigot that loves to vote CPC and post on blogs concerning future Liberal Prime Ministers.
By
Anonymous, at 8:57 p.m.
James Halifax you are an asshole, I can't believe that people like you still exist. Please don't have children and don't dilute the gene pool any further. I would much rather have a prime minister named mohammed of maurizio then have you enjoying the very freedom that foreigners fought for. As far as i'm conserned you are a pompass ass who will surely make it nowheres.
By
Anonymous, at 9:50 p.m.
James Halifax you are an asshole, I can't believe that people like you still exist. Please don't have children and don't dilute the gene pool any further. I would much rather have a prime minister named mohammed of maurizio then have you enjoying the very freedom that foreigners fought for. As far as i'm conserned you are a pompass ass who will surely make it nowheres.
By
Anonymous, at 9:50 p.m.
ba-da-boom, ba-da-bing!
By
Anonymous, at 11:45 p.m.
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