The Mean Girls Force Out Maurine

It appears Carole James' "leadership style" is pushing one of her MLAs to seek opportunities outside of the opposition NDP.

This intrepid Poly has learned that current NDP MLA for Esquimalt-Metchosin who serves as Opposition Critic for Small Business, Provincial Revenue and Deregulation, Maurine Karagianis, will be running for the Federal NDP in the next election.

"This has been brewing for quite some time," our super duper secret Legislative contact confided. "Maurine is just fed up with Carole's cliquey nature and poor fashion sense."

Carole along with union darling Jenny "Party of Two" Kwan and Claire "Check Out My Jacket" Trevena form the female power base of the elected BC NDP. In a tip of the hat to the movie Mean Girls, the group has called themselves "The Plastics".

"Well, it's not really a tip of the hat," our source confessed, "Since the NDP do not have an original idea and look to others for help, they just took on the Plastics name without really giving it any thought. Kinda like if they were putting a budget together."

Maurine has always been on the outside of this group and instead of struggling without purpose with the BC NDP she has decided to struggle without purpose with the Federal NDP during an election which is rumoured to take place in 2007. That election will be interesting as this Poly has also learned that current Liberal MP, Dr. "Of Love" Keith Martin will not be seeking re-election to a sixth term.

But why would Maurine leave now?

"The final straw came last evening when Carole was hosting her annual caucus retreat slumber party in Penticton and like, so totally did not invite Maurine.", super duper source squealed. "Maurine was like, 'Hey maybe we could stop being so ineffective as an opposition and get our poll numbers up' and Carole was all like, 'Don't go all Tommy Douglas on us - work is something our union friends sometimes do, not us!' Maurine was not invited to the girl's room and was forced to spend the evening with Gregor "Please Like Me" Robertson. The combination of these two events pushed her into the arms of Jack "The Love Machine" Layton and the Federal NDP."

So who could be filling Maurine's sensible shoes in a by-election? Well, none other than Moe Shihota, who served as the MLA in Maurine's riding for fifteen years is remoured to be returning. But by by-election time, will the voters have forgotten about this failed television host's 1995 incident where the BC Law Society suspended him for "unethical conduct"? Or his taking trust money from his clients to lend to his father - who then lost it? Or that he received loan guarantees from his friend, Herb Dhaliwal, then gave him a directorship position with BC Hydro? Or that he phoned the Taxi Commission while he was a Cabinet Minister to demand action on a license application for his pal Dhaliwal? Or that he sent one of his children to a private school while he was Education Minster but told folks she received a scholarship or bursary when in actual fact, the school was paid for by his in-laws? Time will tell.

As we reported in April, Moe's return would be a blow to James as Moe has been working with Harry "Friend of the Unions" Lali and Mike "Leader in Waiting" Farnworth to garner support to have Mikey take over as leader of the Party. With Farny, James and Burnaby's Mr. Potato Head now privately getting their battle plans together, this will make for an interesting race.

So where does this leave our frustrated Maurine, Carole James and the BC NDP?

"Well, if we look at the end of the movie Mean Girls, the leader gets hit by a bus and some believe it may have been a suicide attempt," our movie expert began. "With everything Carole and the Dippers have been doing - and not doing - it appears political suicide is imminent."