Former friends can turn into tough political enemies

THERE is a certain guilty fascination in watching the public feuds of former friends and allies, the bitter aftermath of a relationship gone sour.

Sometimes, it makes for dramatic or poignant politics.

The rancor between them often has a more bitter tinge, injected with the sharp edge of perceived betrayal or disloyalty. The barbs often are more personal.

There is no lack of examples.

In 1992 when Bloc QuŽbecois leader Lucien Bouchard would rise in the House of Commons to question his one-time best friend and now political enemy Brian Mulroney, an almost indescribable current of icy electricity would flow as Mulroney stared down his Judas.

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When veteran Diefenbaker Tory Jack Horner became a Trudeau Liberal and joined the cabinet in 1977, his dealings with former Conservative colleagues dripped with sarcasm and insinuations about PC Party secrets once shared.

In this Parliament, few Liberals are as coldly dismissive of Independent MP and former Liberal leadership candidate John Nunziata as are heritage minister Sheila Copps and government House leader Don Boudria – once Nunziata colleagues in the infamous Liberal Rat Pack. He can get under their skin by hinting at his knowledge of the rabble-rousers they once were.

There was more than a bit of that bitterness last week as former allies Wayne Easter and Daryl Bean duked it out over the grain trade-disrupting public service strike and government back-to-work legislation.

Once before, in 1991, then-National Farmers Union president Easter worked with Public Service Alliance president Bean to broker a deal to get the grain moving in the midst of a strike.

They were allies then. This time, Easter sits as a Liberal MP. Bean again led his members out on rotating strikes.

Easter drew the first blood, suggesting in the House of Commons that PSAC was being poorly led. He counselled PSAC members to challenge their leaders’ decision to block Vancouver grain exports, forcing back-to-work legislation and holding farmers “hostage.”

Thump. Score one for Easter.

Bean came back strong, suggesting Easter may have played his 1991 role for the publicity. “He didn’t mind having his picture in the paper.”

Thud. Score one for Bean.

He suggested Easter was too dictatorial for PSAC tastes. “Maybe in the National Farmers Union Mr. Easter called all the shots but in PSAC, we operate democratically and our members across the country on our national strike committee called the shots.”

Pow. Score two for Bean.

But then, like a dazed fighter who knows he is scoring points and wants to finish off the opponent, the PSAC leader went too far. He accused Easter of hypocrisy, of saying one thing as a union president and acting another as an MP.

In other words, he accused Easter of having the political morals of a Liberal.

Scrunch. Bean loses a point for hitting below the belt.

So the bout ended in a one-one draw.

In politics, there are few enemies as dangerous as aggrieved former friends.