MP Owen bites own ass

Georgia Straight, Canada
June 10 2004

STEPHEN OWEN, THE federal public works minister and Vancouver Quadra
Liberal MP, appears to have talked himself out of a future cabinet
position if the Paul Martin Liberals form a government and he wins
his seat.

Owen did himself in, according to a federal Liberal source, when in a
June 4 Globe and Mail story he accused the Jean Chrétien government
of direct involvement in the $100-million sponsorship scandal. Owen
added that civil legal action against former government officials
could be launched “very soon”.

“There was clearly some political influence,” Owen said. “You’ve
got [former minister Alfonso] Gagliano already identified, [former
Chrétien chief of staff Jean] Pelletier already identified. So you
clearly have got political involvement at the highest levels.”

With Martin desperately trying to put the damaging sponsorship scandal
behind him and gain needed help from the Chrétien crew, Owen’s actions
might have been the last straw.

The sponsorship reminder, pounced on by Owen’s Conservative opponent,
Stephen Rogers, fits into an Owen pattern of poor political judgment.

On April 21, Owen strongly angered Martin and his cabinet colleagues
when he skipped a vote on a motion condemning the 1915 Turkish massacre
of 1.5 million Armenians.

The motion passed, but Martin had ordered all cabinet ministers
to vote against it, fearing it would harm relations with Turkey.
Environment Minister David Anderson voted against the motion, but
Owen was nowhere to be seen.

Meanwhile, when she voted for the resolution, Vancouver Centre Liberal
MP Hedy Fry didn’t improve her chances of returning to cabinet if
reelected.