A strange summer - only a few days after returning to Vancouver from a fantastic trip to Paris, I heard that a friend from my legislative days in Victoria passed away. John Pifer was a member of Victoria's press gallery during the Vander Zalm-Johnston-Harcourt years and we developed a good professional relationship even before I arrived in the legislature in 1991. He was an investigative reporter but also a fair one.

I remember, in 1992, he took me aside and described to me some excessive partying on the part of the Liberals - the kind that would have been normally would been a major embarrassment. He gave us a pass then but warned a repeat would eventually catch the eye of a probing and less merciful press gallery who were keeping a close watch on us.

It was prophetic. Later, in early January 1993, he broke the story on then provincial Liberal leader Gordon Wilson's "favouritism" toward his house leader Judi Tyabji. But John insisted what he reported was no mere simple gossip since the information had been passed onto him from a member of our caucus (and not from me). That meant it was no longer an internal party of private matter. And it was these caucus concerns that effectively undermined Mr. Wilson's leadership of the party. Later, John wondered about the comparatively lax coverage given to future premier Gordon Campbell's own leadership abilities - especially after he blew the 1996 provincial election.

John understood very well the circumstances surrounding my demise as a Liberal in 1996. And he was sympathetic to my bitterness toward the provincial party - especially after the federal Liberals gave me the cold shoulder when I expressed an interest in running for them back in 1997. By then, the provincial Liberals had sufficiently sullied my name. And I became an outcast among the federal Liberals as well. As a hotline host for CKST AM 1040 in Vancouver, John provided me the opportunity to vent my frustration - which I appreciated at the time.

A few years later, during death-watch of Premier Glen Clark's government, some press gallery members would come over to my place to chat. I remember John strolling over to me and, as expected, asking for a comment on the day’s major story. "So, what would Tumbleweeds say?” he said.

Obviously, he had talked to one of my friends because my intimate knowledge of the comic-strip wasn’t well known - except to those who had been exposed to my evening performances of quotations from Limpid Lizard. We both laughed. After that, we would occasionally meet at Cin Cin's or elsewhere - exchanging notes on our experiences in Victoria while evaluating the performance of the Campbell government.

In 2004, John was the campaign manager for Alice Wong, the Conservative candidate in Richmond who was taking on Raymond Chan. At a Liberal nomination meeting earlier that year - when Mr. Chan squared off against former Tory Jumping Joe Pescesolido, I discovered my party membership, which should still have been active, had been revoked. I had been purged from Liberals. But, as former senator Keith Davey used to say, "don’t get mad, get even." And, in a sense, I did by becoming a candidate in that election myself.

John and I exchanged notes during that campaign too, hoping Alice would get in her lucks. Mr. Chan won, though, and was re-elected again in 2006. By then, I had my fill of the Liberals - both federal and provincial. John kept up his interest. But he had a myriad of other fascinations too - from providing leadership at the magazine Shared Vision to commenting on fine wines and gourmet. With all his health issues, he still managed to visit Paris earlier this year as I did only days ago. He loved Paris and London - anyone totally absorbed in these two cities knows why.

The moving tributes to him last Tuesday at Vancouver's 8th Avenue Masonic Hall reflected how much he was appreciated - the support he provided so many, the interest he showed in people, his wide-ranging interest in everything human and of course, in his interests in politics. Au Revoir, John.

Allan Warnke, a Malaspina University-College political science professor, served as the provincial Liberal MLA for Richmond-Steveston between 1991 and 1996.

The federal Liberal constituency association in Saanich-Gulf Islands has a colourful past. So naturally one must always keep an eye out on this riding - even if only for amusement value. The recent acclamation of Briony Penn, is a case in point. Ms. Penn, a prominent environmentalist on the right side of the gender divide, is the kind of candidate the Grits are desperate to recruit. So, when she decided to run, the usual "nomination" machine started up in support of her candidacy.

"No one is pressuring me to arrange a coronation," wrote constituency association president David Kelly in an email sent on March 14 to Kit Spence, who announced he would be running for the nomination back in February. But Ms. Penn had already amassed considerable support. "Key SGI exec members are organizing for her," Mr. Kelly continued, as well as the influential Southern Vancouver Island Women's Liberal Commission (which includes former British Columbia party president Sharon Apsey), the Young Liberals and the Indo-Canadian community. So it wasn't surprising when Mr. Spence dropped out of the race 11 days later.

We've seen this same situation many times before. The party purports to have an open nomination process in selecting candidates. But, in actuality, it's elite-driven. Anyone who challenges the clique in-charge faces a vengeance that makes the effort not worth it. And those who have future aspirations are "encouraged" to do what is "best" for the Liberal team - displaying their loyalty by dropping out in favour of star candidates such as Ms. Penn.

Yet the party has been burned by those very same stars in the past - people who have never really been tested in a public forum. They are placed on a pedestal until their attitude of entitlement reveals their real mettle and character, making us wonder whether they should be in politics, let alone government.

The blame does not rest with those who are granted such a free ride, however. Rather, it is the party itself that must be held responsible. But the apparatchiks never learn. And I have an uneasy feeling that Ms. Penn - whose claim to fame includes a "Lady Godiva" ride through the streets of Vancouver - will fall as fast as many of the party's past favoured suns.

Allan Warnke, a Malaspina University-College political science professor, served as the provincial Liberal MLA for Richmond-Steveston between 1991 and 1996.

Tributes for the late American president Gerald Ford were barely over when news broke that distinguished political scientist Seymour Martin Lipset passed away on December 31 at the age of 84. He was a giant among political scientists for over the past half-century. But his towering stature was also well-known outside academia. The reason is obvious. Mr. Lipset knew the political culture of Canada and the United States like no other analyst. He knew what made a democracy work. And there were important lessons to be drawn here from his publications.

He once mentioned how awed he was "that a young man from New York City, who had literally not been more than a few miles west of the Hudson, could think of heading off to the Canadian prairies to study the political behaviour of wheat farmers."

But his book Agrarian Socialism gave more than a description of the politics of Saskatchewan. It also gave an understanding of why third parties emerge - and even form government - in Canada, while similar political movements in the States remain moribund.

In the case of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, for example, the party's success in winning a few constituencies in Saskatchewan provided them with a base to launch a serious bid to form government in future elections. But, south of the border, third parties like the federation were filtered out during the primary elections and absorbed into one of the country's mainline parties.

Therefore, the simple lesson for a new party such as the Greens is to accept and use our present electoral system to mount a strategy that could win them a respectable presence in a provincial legislature or the national parliament. It may be a more arduous route than the one offered by proportional representation. But a win under a first-past-the-post system is a win with lasting credibility, forcing the powers-that-be to pay attention to viable third parties rather than merely tolerating them.

And it's lessons like this that turn men into monuments.

Because, while tributes to statesmen may be embellished (such as United States vice-president Dick Cheney's claim that Mr. Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon concluded "the greatest constitutional crisis since the Civil War."), tributes to philosophers are far more honest.

And to say that Mr. Lipset's contributions to our understanding of American and Canadian politics are formidable may even be considered as an understatement.

Allan Warnke, a Malaspina University-College political science professor, served as the provincial Liberal MLA for Richmond-Steveston between 1991 and 1996.

The federal Conservatives may not have a majority government. But, under the circumstances, they do have the next best thing. This, after Liberal parliamentarian Wajid Khan defected and his caucus colleague Jean LaPierre resigned. Some might have foreseen Mr. Khan's crossing coming for quite some time - simply because it's unusual for an opposition party member to serve the prime minister as a special advisor for anything. His experience in the Pakistan Air Force allowed him to claim "expertise" in something that no one else on the Hill has. Although an eyebrow can be lifted to wonder why he was special enough to attain advisory status.

Regardless, the newly-minted Liberal leader was not impressed. Stephane Dion couldn't see how a MP can have a foot in each party. And by giving him an ultimatum, Mr. Dion did a favour to Mr. Khan - who will claim he can do much more by being a member of government than the opposition.

Mr. LaPierre's resignation to become a televised political analyist was far more predictable. He was put on a pedestal by the Liberals in the late 1970s for reasons that still escape me. After all, during the 1990 Liberal leadership race, he went into a hissy-fit when the candidate he was backing - Paul Martin - was beaten by Jean Chretien, a staunch federalist. He even went so far as to rip up his party membership, becoming one of the founders of the Bloc Quebecois.

Mr. LaPierre returned to the Grits when Mr. Martin succeeded Mr. Chretiein. But now that Mr. Dion - another federalist - leads the Liberals, he'll go back to opposing the party and supporting separatism again. If the Grits are smart, they'll tell Mr. LaPierre where to go the next time he tries to come back - even if it means a Conservative majority government.

Allan Warnke, a Malaspina University-College political science professor, served as the provincial Liberal MLA for Richmond-Steveston between 1991 and 1996.