to elect Turner The election of 55-year-old John Turner as the new leader of the Liberal Party, catapulting him later this month into the post of Prime Minister of Cana- da, was of course the main event of the June 14-16 Liberal leadership convention in Ottawa. Here was the plum for which the par- ty’s right wing had pulled out all the stops. Turner had been careful during the leadership campaign not to burn any bridges on which his troops might have to march in that othet big campaign, the forthcoming federal election. Still the signs were clear enough to attract to him all the right people, plus those who saw in the Bay Street lawyer the sole Liberal capable of leading the party to anelection victory. The pitch to pitch to outdo the Mulroney Tories in wooing the support ofthe monopoly corporations had scored its first success. The leadership contest set off by Prime Minister Trudeau’s Feb. 29 announce- ment of his resignation as Liberal leader treated Canadians to every demeanor from pathetic to hyperbolic. Only arro- gance and straightforwardness were not in evidence, well layered over with adopted concern for the problems of or- dinary Canadians. The convention planners did not forget the man who put it all in motion’ — Pierre Elliot Trudeau — who had come to power in 1968 with a call for a just socie-' ty. With his three sons in attendance, ” Trudeau was treated to a gala concert on the Thursday night, tributes, and a glimpse, through film clips, of the 16 years in which ke dominated Liberal and government directions. In reality, there was deducted from those years the apostrophe in time during which the Joe Clark Tories tasted and wasted power. Trudeau’s final oratory of this particu- lar career extolled for the 8,000 well- wishers present the achievements — from a Liberal point of view — of those 16 years. The accent was on the positive. For the next two days, in the sweaty, jam-packed bout to pick a successor, Trudeau could relax; the gladiators: fought their fight. _ Parting of Ways With the exception of Turner, who left the Liberal cabinet and politics in 1975 to become an expensive corporation lawyer and consultant, all candidates currently held cabinet posts: Jean Chre- tien (energy), Donald Johnston (eco- nomic and regional development), John Roberts (employment and immigration), John Munro (Indian and northern affairs), Mark MacGuigan (justice), Eugene Whelan (agriculture). Of the ministers only Chretien acknowledged that he had been there all along, through everything the govern- ment had done. The rest behaved as though they had just arrived on the scene to discover the mess the country is in. And, they had solutions they were now ready to share with the electors. 6 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, JUNE 27, 1984 At the convention Turner claimed the support of 21 cabinet ministers, among them job-conscious Allan MacEachen, who rushed to the Turner camp even before the first ballot. It is an open secret that ‘‘neutral’’ Marc Lalonde was primed to join the Turner camp should the sledding get difficult. It didn’t. Turner also had _ Solicitor-General Robert Kaplan, Transport Minister Lloyd Axworthy as his campaign man- ager, Health Minister Monique Begin, Labor Minister Andre Ouellet, Turner’s Quebec delegate-herder, and, for better or for worse, Mark MacGuigan, who © hustled to the Turner compound after the first ballot. 5; Defeated candidates John Roberts, John Munro and Eugene Whelan all threw their efforts behind Chretien, who had the support in all of seven cabinet ministers, including Multicultural Min- ister David Collenette and Environment Minister Charles Caccia. = The whole story of what Turner stands for may not come out until an election campaign, and some aspects of it may only surface after an election. Capitalist politicians are not noted for their trust in the electorate’s receptiveness. Since his elevation to Liberal leader, Turner has deftly selected the issues to call ‘‘priorities’’. According to Lloyd Axworthy, his chief supporter, un- employment, especially among young people, is his first concern. The whole country awaits his solutions to this one, hoping, but not convinced that the solu- tion will be something other than the turning over of vast sums of tax money to corporations on the disproven theory that they will then create jobs. Asked directly how he planned to deal with mass unemployment, he could say only that he wanted to consult with his “future colleagues’’. But according to another report some of those colleagues TRIBUNE PHOTO — JOHN MACLENNAN sit While Liberal party delegates conducted their affairs inside Ottawa’s Civic Centre, out: side members of Ottawa’s labor movement demonstrated for full employment policies: — | The balloting John Napier Turner was cata- pulted to the leadership of the Lib- eral Party June 16 in a two-ballot election that left little doubt what the chosen at the Liberal convention were looking for in a leader. The first ballot gave these results: Turner — 1,592; Chretien — 1,067;, Johnston — 278; Roberts — 185; MacGuigan — 135; Munro — 93; Whelan — 84. For a first-ballot win 1,718 votes would have been needed. For the second ballot, Whelan, the low man was automatically dropped, and the next three with- drew. The second ballot results were: Turner — 1,862; Chretien — 1,368; Johnston — 192. That was a 270 increase for Turner, a 301 in- crease for Chretien and a drop of 86 for Johnston. Turner’s 1,862 easily cleared the 1,718 required for vic- tory. may be far removed from the exper- iences of unemployed workers. Non-elected Ministers Here are some of the candidates being _considered for places in a non-elected section of the Turner ‘‘cabinet’’: Noranda Mines chairman Alf Powis; Paul Martin Jr., president of the CSL group; Bob Blair, president of Nova Corp.; former Quebec Liberal finance ‘minister Raymond Garneau; and Saska- toon lawyer Doug Richardson, among others. Canada. to 20. Summer election speculation Speculation on the date of the federal election will go on at least until June 30 when John Turner, the newly elected Liberal leader, will be sworn in as Canada’s 17th prime minister. On the other hand it could be some little time after that. ceremony that election day is finally announced. Arguments for a summer election revolve around the desirability, seen by some of the Liberal leadership, in riding the crest of the excitement and-momentum spotlighting Turner and enthusing Liberal campaigners, as well as taking ad- vantage of what is seen in the polls as increasing Liberal popularity across A summer vote, on the other hand would cancel out the Queen’s visit and possibly lose some votes. Observers also note battle for TV time with the com- peting U.S. Democratic Party convention and the Los Angeles Olympics in July. There is some opposition, on the other hand to having an election or an election campaign in progress during the visit to Canada of the Pope, scheduled for Sept. 9 _ The point is made that Turner’s priorities, getting a cabinet set up and function- ing, and reacquainting himself with the inside of government, are more pressing than the need to name an election date. : Meanwhile, the new PM will have to function without a seat in parliament. In _ different circumstances, if election fever were not at its present height, and the end of the government’s mandate were not as close as next spring, the new leader would most likely seek election in a safe seat through a by-election. Another issue being touted by Turnet now is an independent foreign policy. If this context he wraps himself in Cana da’s ‘‘equal rights and responsibilities 08 this continent,’ but. does not want 10 — anger the United States. This apparent detachment from reality would appear tO be camouflage. He refused to take a stand on the USA’s bloody invasion of Grenada, say” — ing ‘it’s not relevant to my current think- ing.” Careful Campaign Turner trod so carefully in the leadet- — ship campaign that two different obser — vers could make two different inter pretations of his position. Forexample,!! — a crown corporation (such as Petro — Canada) were no longer ‘“‘necessary” It would be destroyed. If what is involved is the necessity of greater profits for the petroleum monopolies, Canadians might have a different view. Turner’s policies, he says, would cut the federal deficit in half in three to seve? years. That means either increased tax- — --es, or slashed social benefits. On energy matters, he would raise Canadian oil prices to world levels, 8° — that Canadians are made to pay inflate prices for their own oil, simply to inflate profits. As Turner’s swearing in as prime minister comes_down to the wire, prO- — bably June 30, some unfinished business — remains. Currently he is estimated to re- — ceive from directorships in nine com- panies a round figure of $100,000 a year. They are corporations like Seagram Co. Ltd., Canadian Pacific and MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. So not to interrupt the flow of dollars until the last possible moment, Turner has arranged to resign his direc- torships at the end of June to coincide with his swearing in as prime minister. — _ Two things Turner is committed to are the reviewing of the Foreign Investment Review Act to give U.S. corporations increased access to exploitation in Cana- da, and the watering down of the Na- tional Energy Program, so that U.S. monopolies have a better grab at Cana- dian oil. While the leadership of the Liberal Party has taken a sharp turn to the right, prime ministerial power resides in Pierre — Trudeau for several days yet, and that — includes the right to alter, in some de- — gree, Turner’s triumph, by filling 12 va- cant senate seats. It could mean that some centrist Liberals opposed to — Turner’s right-wing thrust will be saved — from the guillotine to exert senatorial re- straint-on the man from Bay Street.