What Evil Lurks In The Hearts of Men......

......only The Shadow knows and in this case it is Dion and his "shadow cabinet.:

Former NDPer Rae to craft Liberal platform, say insiders

JOAN BRYDEN

OTTAWA (CP) - Stephane Dion is set to award prominent roles to his former Liberal leadership rivals, insiders say, including putting Bob Rae in charge of developing the party platform for the next election.

Gerard Kennedy, the fourth-place contender who clinched victory for Dion, will play a senior role in organizing the national election campaign.

Dion, elected only two weeks ago, is poised to unveil roles for all seven of his former rivals next week.

The announcement is part of his ongoing effort to heal wounds left from the nine-month leadership contest and unify the party as it heads into an election campaign as early as February.

While the next national campaign is widely expected to be run by Mark Marissen, the brains behind Dion's leadership victory, the newly minted leader is trying to integrate top members of rival teams into a unified Liberal fighting force.

There is speculation he may appoint Michael Ignatieff, who finished second, as deputy leader. However, that would mean bumping current deputy Lucienne Robillard, which could be problematic given Dion's vow to bolster the role of women in the party.

Toronto lawyer Martha Hall Findlay, the lone female and last-place contender, will be given the task of travelling the country and consulting with Liberal grassroots on policy. The views she gleans during her travels will be fed into the platform development process.

Insiders say roles are also in the works for Ken Dryden, Scott Brison and Joe Volpe as well.

Dion is said to want to employ Dryden, a onetime hockey legend and passionate orator, to stump the country talking about Liberal values.

He wants Brison to play a strategic role planning the daily Liberal attacks on the Conservatives in the House of Commons.

Dion is moving step by step to put his stamp on the party and the opposition leader's office. He is expected to start announcing his permanent office staff in the next couple of weeks but will not announce his shadow cabinet until early in the new year.

© The Canadian Press, 2006