| Why Liberal MP Karygiannis moved over to the Martin camp 'Democracy is 2,504 years old, there is nothing that is God-given and there for the rest of your life': Jim Karygiannis Kate Malloy | The Hill Times Four-termer and controversial Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis has a reputation. Once one of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's key organizers for the 1990 leadership race, Mr. Karygiannis's (Scarborough-Agincourt, Ont.) tactics to sign up Liberal Party members and to elect Chrétien delegates who would support the future Prime Minister of Canada are still legendary more than 12 years later. Back in 1990, he was like the cleanup guy. Newspaper columnist Val Sears called him "a frenzied hustler of delegates for Chrétien." But what he did was help to destroy Martin's momentum early on, and built momentum for Mr. Chrétien's (Saint-Maurice, Que.) leadership campaign by turning tight ridings around. He signed up large numbers of Liberal Party members in nasty, dirty organizing battles. He was a key ground organizer. The pitched battle in Ontario was exciting and in Metro Toronto ridings, the Martin and Chrétien camps fought it out in more than a dozen of 33 ridings. At the end of the day, Mr. Karygiannis said he was instrumental in delivering 46 of 48 ridings to the Chrétien camp, including turning Martin-friendly ridings like Essex-Windsor around. He signed up 9,600 members and worked 14 to 20 hours a day, travelling from Brockville to Windsor and back again. He was called for help in Niagara Falls, Napanee, Belleville, Peterborough, Sarnia, Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph and Orangeville. He also started getting calls from other provinces asking for help. CBC TV's The National wanted to follow him with a live microphone, but Mr. Karygiannis was advised not to after what had happened to unsuccessful NDP leadership candidate Simon de Jong. Stevie Cameron profiled him for The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star ran story after story about the nasty, dirty delegate selection meetings in Metro Toronto. Mr. Karygiannis was everywhere. He was a key organizer and a ground soldier to top organizer Sergio Marchi. Mr. Karygiannis was the first MP to support Jean Chrétien. But his tactics were questionable. He was accused of bullying, and of arm-twisting. He was also accused of pressuring Metro-Toronto's Greek community to support Mr. Chrétien and of stirring up old tensions between Greeks and Macedonians. In March 1990, Mr. Karygiannis told The Star that he had received three death threats and asked the RCMP for help after he received calls from a man warning him to stop stirring up the Macedonian and Greek communities. Meanwhile, both sides were accused of dirty tricks in the leadership campaign. In Scarborough East, apparently someone from the Chrétien camp, identified as either Joe or Jack from Liberal Party headquarters called up more than 150 Martin people to say the meeting had been postponed. The Martin people got wind of it and turned it around in time. In Mr. Karygiannis's own riding, the Martin side tried to overturn the delegate selection meeting, saying Mr. Karygiannis changed the location without proper notice. In Scarborough Centre, Chrétien people accused Martin people of circulating false delegate sheets under Chrétien letterhead. In Etobicoke Lakeshore, Mr. Karygiannis and Liberal MP Albina Guarnieri (Mississauga East, Ont.), a formidable Martin supporter, got into a heated exchange in which she accused him of trying to trick Martin supporters into voting for Chrétien. Mr. Karygiannis was also accused by a Martin person of putting chewing gum in a coin slot of a payphone to prevent Martin-supporting right-to-lifers from calling their delegates. At one point, the Ontario wing of the Liberal Party wanted to ban him from delegate selection meetings where "he causes disturbances" and because of his "controversial tactics." But the Chrétien side pushed back, saying Mr. Karygiannis was a "most tireless supporter" and denounced the move as "undemocratic." He was not banned. In the end, Mr. Karygiannis's man won and became leader and later Prime Minister of one of the most successful parties in Canadian political history. It was quickly obvious to Mr. Karygiannis, however, that he would not be a part of the new Liberal Party leader's inner circle and his organizing skills were no longer needed. There was even talk of booting him out of caucus after he publicly denounced human rights abuses in Trinidad and Tobago in 1991. Before the last election, he was also accused by immigration officials of turning his constituency office into an "immigration consulting" operation. He had three friends in the Liberal caucus on Parliament Hill, former House Speaker Gib Parent, Dennis Mills (Toronto-Danforth, Ont.) and Joe Volpe (Eglinton-Lawrence, Ont.). He decided to put all his focus on the riding. He won the last election with 72 per cent of the vote. Last month, Transport Minister David Collenette (Don Valley East, Ont.) called him up to ask him to help out the Prime Minister on the upcoming leadership review. Mr. Karygiannis said it was the first call he received from Mr. Collenette since 1990. The Prime Minister phoned the following day and Mr. Karygiannis said his decision wasn't an easy one. He said he has "a lot of respect for the Prime Minister" and thinks he's a "wonderful individual" but told him it was time to let the party decide who they want "to deliver for them." He told the Prime Minister he wouldn't be supporting him in the leadership review. Mr. Karygiannis had already decided to throw his support behind Paul Martin (LaSalle-Émard, Que.), the guy he helped to destroy 12 years ago. "It wasn't easy to tell my father I was moving out of the house and it wasn't easy to tell the Prime Minister to go out with grace and dignity and a bang," said Mr. Karygiannis, who described the PM's reaction as understanding and "very humble." Mr. Karygiannis said he was approached about year ago by Joe Volpe to support Paul Martin in a future leadership campaign. He was interested. But he wanted to talk to Mr. Martin first to make sure Mr. Martin was a "straight-up guy," said Mr. Volpe. Once satisfied, Mr. Karygiannis told Mr. Martin that there may be some members in the Martin camp who won't trust him. But Mr. Martin told him that he trusted him "150 per cent." And as for any deals made between the two, Mr. Karygiannis said there were "absolutely no promises." Said Mr. Volpe: "I asked Paul, I said, 'If you're going to meet with him, don't be nice about anything. The guy wants to be treated just like everybody else, straightforwardly and with honesty and if you can afford to be honest and straightforward with Jim Karygiannis then he can afford to support you. He's not asking for the world.'" For his part, Mr. Karygiannis said he feels comfortable with Mr. Martin because he's the one who has a "vision that's good for Canada." He also said he has no problem going out and selling that vision for the person who will be leading the party in the "next four or five years." When the news broke in The Globe and Mail that Mr. Karygiannis would be supporting Mr. Martin, Mr. Karygiannis said a few of his colleagues welcomed him onside, including Jim Peterson (Willowdale, Ont.). Asked about his straightforward, gruff style, Mr. Karygiannis declared last week: "I'm just as effective, but a little more mellow. There was a style that people attribute to my doing things and they say it's a bull in a china shop. It's an aggressive way of getting things done, yes. I have my own ways of convincing people. But I'm not going to break your legs, far from it." What's his approach? "I say, 'You want some help. I'll be there for the next 10 or 20 years and as long as I get elected you can come in and see me. I've got a lot of people from back in 1989 that still bring me their work that needs to be done, whether it happens to be a visitor visa or an immigratioin visa, or Revenue Canada, and some don't even live in my area. They live three-quarters around the city and I still look after them. I sort of grow on these people and these are the people you draw upon now and the people you've helped along the way and the events that you have attended and say, 'Look, would you please help and would you please sign up.'" Born in Greece, Mr. Karygiannis, 47, came to Canada in 1966 when he was 11 years old. He went back to Greece in 1976 and married his wife Toula, who was not quite 15 years old. He was 21. They returned to Canada and the two have been married for nearly 26 years. They have five girls. Mr. Karygiannis said he tries to shield his kids from the "political bullshit" and is emotional about his family, saying that "if you don't have your family, you absolutely don't have anything." He ran unsuccessfully provincially in 1987 and has been elected federally since 1988. Back in 1990, his style to sign up Chrétien supporters was, "I'm Greek, you're Greek and I want you to see things my way," but he said he doesn't use this style as much today because Greeks have been in the country for 40 years. Moreover, he has other communities to target as the representative of one of the most ethnically diverse ridings in the country, including Chinese, Sri Lankan, Tamil, South Asian and Trinidadian. A pro-lifer, he also targets interest groups. But his style is still controversial. Last week, he suggested Cabinet ministers may try to "stick it to" MPs who have called for the Prime Minister to resign. He pointed to a recent story which was leaked to the Sun Media about how he "blew his top" and was aggressive with customs agents for their lengthy questioning of two Middle Eastern men at the Toronto Pearson Airport after getting off a flight from Greece last month. Mr. Karygiannis thought the officials were treating the men differently and accused them of racial profiling. Said Mr. Karygiannis: "I tell you what, they didn't burn me. They're helping me. Why? Because the Middle Eastern population, they're going at it." As for a putsch or a coup being conducted by Mr. Martin, an accusation which has been made by Justice Minister Martin Cauchon (Outremont, Que.), Mr. Karygiannis is feisty. "We live in a democratic society," said Mr. Karygiannis. "There is nothing that you have which is God-given and that says you have to be there for the rest of your life in a seat as Member of Parliament or a councillor. People have the right to make up their own minds and their own decisions. Unless you live in a dictatorial society, then you don't have that right. Now if Mr. Cauchon's vision is that the party is a dictatorship and it's controlled from the top, well you know, I've got news for him, democracy is 2,504 years old and I'm very proud to be born in the city that it was invented. There is nothing that is God-given and there for the rest of your life." Meanwhile, Mr. Karygiannis has work to do. He's been hitting the streets and has so far signed up 300 families. He is also organizing a barbecue for Mr. Martin this month. The people he worked with back in 1989 and 1990 are following him over to the Martin side, he said. In the end, he said he holds the Prime Minister in high esteem and has a lot of respect for him. He said he's not so sure about the PM's advisers though and hasn't seen any evidence of activity on the ground. He knows his own role is to organize in his part of the world. "Will there be bad blood? Yes. And will there be territorial wars? Yes. And will there be a process of having to build the party up? Yes. And I wholeheartedly believe Mr. Martin is the man to pull the party together if this thing gets ugly and if this thing gets to be prolonged," said Mr. Karygiannis. |