Former Liberal leader Paul Martin’s autobiography is expected to arrive in bookstores in three weeks but Le Devoir got a sneak peak of one of the final drafts.

Emmanuel Marchand

Martin’s autobiography talks about his childhood, his climb to the top job at Canada Steamship Lines, and his years in politics.

He devotes several chapters to his bid to take over leadership of the party and the two years he served as PM.

Martin accuses Chrétien of putting their rivalry ahead of the good of the party.

Chrétien’s changes to party financing rules and the way he managed the sponsorship scandal also seriously hurt the Liberal brand, according to Martin.

Martin says the collateral damage victim of this war is current Liberal leader Stéphane Dion. The Liberal party in Quebec is but a shadow of its former self.

Martin goes on to say that one of Chrétien’s most inexplicable decisions was to cap donations to political parties at $5,000. For the party that was used to generous donations from the banks, this really hurt.

Martin is also furious at Chrétien who prorogued parliament in November 2003, thus delaying the auditor general’s report until he took over the leadership of the party.

That meant Chrétien avoided having to deal with the sponsorship scandal and left it squarely in Martin’s hands. If Chrétien had accepted the report while still in office that would have shown a sense of responsibility and would have protected the future of his party, Martin wrote.

Martin says he has no regrets doing his national "mad as hell" tour nor calling for an inquiry.

— Emmanuel Marchand