Dates to Remember

This is a significant week for political anniversaries, especially those surrounding former and current prime ministers.

The Liberals made a big deal of one of them in Toronto this week, marking 50 years since former prime minister Lester Pearson received the Nobel Peace Prize. Bob Rae, the foreign affairs critic, organized the occasion, telling the crowd he had to do it, because he was pretty sure Conservatives wouldn't do anything to draw attention to past Liberal glories.

That's not the only Liberal anniversary this week, however. It was four years ago tomorrow that Paul Martin was sworn in as prime minister and Jean Chretien stepped down. Chretien, in case anyone missed it, chose to mark that occasion with yet another swipe at Martin at the Pearson conference.

Conservatives, meanwhile, can also call Dec. 13 a date with destiny. Tomorrow is also the 28th anniversary of the fall of Joe Clark's short-lived minority government in Dec. 29 -- an event that would culminate in Clark eventually stepping down and Brian Mulroney stepping up to take his job. Perhaps Mulroney might want to note that when he appears to deliver his blockbuster testimony at the Commons ethics committee tomorrow?

Coincidentally, the man who put forward the motion to defeat the Clark government was none other than a man named Bob Rae, then a New Democrat member of Parliament. Wonder what Rae would say if someone told him back then that he'd end up as a Liberal 28 years later, organizing a conference to honour Pearson?