Juggernaut: Paul Martin's Campaign for Chretien's Crown - Tapa dura

An inside account of Paul Martin’s decades-long campaign for the prime minister’s chair: how he did it, at what cost, and where he will take the country in the years ahead

The most riveting political contest of the past decade has not been fought at the polling booths, nor on the floor of the House of Commons: it has been waged, mostly out of sight, within the palace ranks of the ruling Liberal Party.

In the early 1990s, Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin forged a political alliance that kept the Liberals comfortably in power and the Opposition in disarray: Martin’s fundamental retooling of government spending and winning economic policies gave lustre to Chrétien’s leadership; Chrétien’s support for his star minister gave Martin a pedestal for his larger ambitions.

Those ambitions could not be higher. Since the early eighties, Martin’s interest in political office has meant interest in the prime minister’s office. At the 1990 leadership convention, however, he finished second to Chrétien. Their corrosive rivalry and very different political styles could not be buried for long: their duel for supremacy – played out only partly in public view – culminated in the infamous weekend in June 2002 when Martin was fired – or did he walk? – from Chretién’s cabinet.

Juggernaut charts in intimate detail Martin’s long journey to the leadership now within his grasp. Central to that story is the role played by Martin’s corps of committed kingmakers – public relations experts, savvy pollsters, and true believers -who will have enormous influence on the prime ministership to be.

Based on extraordinary access to players from all camps, Juggernaut offers Canadians an inside account of the rise of the man now poised to take power, how he got there, at what cost, and where he will take the country in the years ahead.

Susan Delacourt has covered the federal Liberals and leadership politics over two decades. She is the Ottawa Bureau Chief for The Toronto Star, a columnist for the Ottawa Citizen, and a regular commentator for CBC Newsworld’s “Politics” show and CBC Radio's “The House.” She is the author of United We Fall, an account of the doomed Charlottetown constitutional accord, and Shaughnessy: The Passionate Politics of Shaughnessy Cohen.