MORE THAN ICE THAWING IN LIBERAL CIRCLES

The last part of the week became an interesting week for phone calls and conversations with some of my remaining Liberal friends. It seems the Ignatieff camp - mailing lists, calling lists and organizers - have awoken from a slight dormancy in this province. This was a bit of a signal that something bigger was happening across the country.

Last summer when the federal Liberal Caucus was in town, Iggy's team was busy. They held a couple of fund raisers to help him retire his debt. It was a grease the machine job. Keep it oiled and ready to go back into service at a moment's notice. That notice seems to have been given.

Add to that the quiet stirrings of provincial Liberals who are preparing to depose the current Liberal executive, composed of Rae loyalists. It is fair to say these Rae types are considered old guard and and an impediment to the provincial party's renewal. How much of the call for change is rooted in getting control of automatic delegates and the machine that organizes and controls selection meetings for the federal process?

Yes, the factionalism that has existed since the 1990 federal leadership, perhaps even the 1984 leadership, is in full bloom.