OTTAWA - Quebec Liberal MPs scrambled Tuesday to smother the political stink bomb lobbed by Denis Coderre, saying their colleague put his ego ahead of the party.
Marc Garneau and others chastised Coderre for stomping out of his job Monday as the federal leader's Quebec lieutenant.
And they dismissed his resignation as a "hiccup" that will have little impact on the party's campaign preparedness in the province.
"Mr. Coderre got carried away, his ego got the better of him and . . . unfortunately he let himself go yesterday and said things he should not have said," said Garneau, chairman of the federal Liberals' Quebec caucus
He said Coderre's angry exit -- which precipitated the departures of five key organizers in the province -- left an exaggerated impression of a party that is "tearing itself apart."
"It is simply not true," he insisted.
"There are a few people who decided out of loyalty to Mr. Coderre that they were leaving but, you know, the party is not crumbling to the ground. Let's keep things in perspective here."
Coderre resigned as Quebec lieutenant after Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff overruled his decision on who should carry the party banner in the prized Montreal riding of Outremont during the next election.
Coderre had intended to appoint businesswoman Nathalie Le Prohon -- a move that would have blocked the political comeback of former cabinet minister and potential future leadership rival Martin Cauchon.
Ignatieff initially backed Coderre. But last week he relented and agreed to allow Cauchon to run for the Outremont nomination after coming under intense pressure from outraged Liberals both inside and outside Quebec.
At a news conference Monday announcing his resignation, Coderre blamed the Toronto-centric inner circle around Ignatieff for overriding the wishes of the Quebec lieutenant and his campaign team.
Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe has already pounced on that assertion to bolster his case that only his party is run by Quebecers, for Quebecers.
Alexandra Mendes, a Montreal-area Liberal MP, acknowledged Coderre's charge is a gift to the Bloc but insisted it's "only a temporary one."
"It can't help momentarily but I certainly don't think it's true."
She pointed out that plenty of Quebec Liberals -- including herself and several other MPs -- called on Ignatieff to find room for Cauchon on the Liberal team.
"Mr. Ignatieff tried to listen to what was being told to him by Quebecers. Nobody from Toronto," she said.
"(Coderre) obviously has a certain right of seniority, if you wish, as a Quebec spokesperson but he's not the only one who speaks for Quebec," she added.
Garneau stressed that Ignatieff's Toronto-heavy inner circle includes some influential Quebecers as well, including former provincial cabinet minister Jean-Marc Fournier and former provincial Liberal party president Marc-Andre Blanchard.
In any event, Garneau said the leader is entitled to listen to the views of non-Quebecers on matters affecting the province.
"They are allowed to speak too. It doesn't have to be a hermetically closed vase, Quebec."
