Frulla me twice...

I'll deal in more detail later with how the news over the last couple of days has signalled a complete lack of confidence in Stephane Dion and his new signature policy even on the part of the party which is putting him forward as its leader. But for now, let's note one very interesting tidbit from the Globe and Mail's coverage of the current Lib infighting:

Mr. Marissen also insisted that the party is ready to bolt out of the starting blocks the moment the election is called.

"We are ready on every front," he said.

Some veteran Liberals disagree, especially when it comes to Quebec where some Liberals remain furious with Mr. Dion's Quebec lieutenant, Senator Celine Hervieux-Payette. They blame her for failing to find candidates for half the ridings in the province while blocking potentially strong candidates, such as former MPs Liza Frulla and Helene Scherrer.

Now, the mere reality of internal Lib problems in Quebec hardly qualifies as news. But the fact that Frulla's name is coming up again is noteworthy considering what happened just last year when the party's electoral committee tried to put her name forward without bothering to check with her:

Adding to the chaos, the Quebec wing's electoral commitee, worried about losing key ridings, decided this week to recommend former heritage minister Liza Frulla be named the Liberal candidate for LaSalle-Emard, Marc Bruneau for Westmount-Ville-Marie and Brigitte Garceau for the southwest riding of Jeanne-Le Ber.

The problem is, Frulla says nobody asked her first and she has no intention of being a candidate at this time.

"I almost died," Frulla said, after hearing the news on radio yesterday morning. She said she hasn't spoken to Dion in a year - and Dion is the person who will choose the candidate to succeed former prime minister Paul Martin in LaSalle-Emard. "No, (I'm not running). I've got a life," Frulla said.

It could be that Frulla has changed her mind in the meantime without that being made public. But at least some coverage from a recently as last week cites her discussing the Cons' arts funding cuts without any indication that she planned to return to politics. And a schedule posted just this Wednesday lists Frulla as one of ex-politicians who has signed on for a weekly current affairs discussion panel for 2008-2009 - which would seem to reflect some intention on her part that she'd be otherwise occupied during a fall election.

Of course, one can hardly blame Dion personally if his intra-party opponents are trying to push Frulla's name forward without her agreement even after what happened the last time that was done. But it would seem to serve as an indication that the anti-Dion forces are no more competent than the Dion loyalists who have already managed to put the party's Quebec strongholds in play. And the Libs' civil war only figures to take even longer to resolve itself if neither side can shoot straight.