.. and the hits just keep on comming.
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Lord Chretien of Double-Crossharbour
PETER JACKSON
The Telegram
He doesn't get an honorific in front of his name, or get to wear sumptuous robes, but Jean Chretien has just been reduced to the same level of buffoonery as his nemesis, Conrad Lord Black of Crossharbour.
Last week, the former prime minister was named to the Order of Merit, an exclusive club of leading lights appointed by Queen Elizabeth II. As a member, Chretien joins the ranks of Albert Schweitzer, Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa. There can only be 24 living members at any one time.
Reaction has been swift. Columnists across the country have taken the opportunity, once again, to measure the man's meritoriousness. And in most cases, Jean Chretien O.M. comes up sorely lacking.
It's hard to argue with the fact that Chretien led majority governments for 10 straight years. But it can be said his politically longevity had more to do with his agility in side-stepping scandals than in any great achievements as prime minister.
And there were certainly scandals.
There was the near-breakup of the country in 1995 - the referendum in Quebec that, despite voting irregularities, came perilously close. Chretien's response? The Clarity Act, a piece of federal legislation that supposedly limits the ability of a secessionist majority to secede.
There was the famous Shawinigate affair, which was never properly investigated. Chretien admitted to pressuring the head of the Business Development Bank to approve a loan to a golf course he once co-owned, and Chretien's alleged ties to the business - money still owed to Chretien by the new owner - were never firmly established or discredited.
There was the pepper-spraying of innocent protesters in B.C., the throttling of a lone protester in Ottawa, and the messy feud with his own finance minister.
For defenders, salvation of Chretien's legacy lies primarily in his early years, the years he spent as a senior minister under Pierre Trudeau. Indeed, sources say the Queen was especially charmed by then-justice minister Chretien during the patriation of the Constitution in 1982. She liked his feisty, "little guy" style.
But that era in Chretien's career is hardly any more attractive to many Canadians, particularly those in provinces affected by Trudeau's centralist energy policies.
Chretien quite flagrantly deceived the government of this province in the early '80s when, as federal energy minister, he reached a verbal agreement on offshore oil with his provincial counterpart, Bill Marshall.
After breaking bread at Marshall's house and publicly toasting the deal, Chretien returned to Ottawa and sent federal negotiators down to hammer out the details. The original agreement had evaporated. Marshall and then premier Brian Peckford were left to defend their refusal to sign on to the altered text. It was a dirty trick, one that rivals anything Stephen Harper has done in recent years.
As for patriating the Constitution, that was also rife with controversy. As Trudeau's justice minister and senior henchman, Chretien backed his prime minister's efforts to radically alter the structure of the country by diluting provincial powers. At one point, even some British politicians were questioning whether they should rubber-stamp Trudeau's unilateral efforts. In the end, the final agreement famously excluded Quebec's signature.
Chretien earned few merit points in Canada, but perhaps the Queen can be forgiven for having a soft spot for him. After all, unlike his boss at the time, Chretien at least resisted the urge to dance a pirouette behind her back.
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