welded AUN LU | | | A Pearson serve the US. well OTTAWA The: one Nobel Peace Prize winner lay murdered in Mem- phis, Tennessee, the other in. Ottawa’s Civic Centre, stood beaming in all the blaze and carnival clamor of his farewell as leader of the Liberal Party, the end of his wretched role in Canada’s history. Martin: Luther King, fearless leader of the Negro people of the U.S.A., friend of the heroic people of Vietnam, lived and died for his beliefs in human brotherhood and peace. He served no other interest, no Lester B. Pearson, Prime Min- ister of Canada, has masters and he served them well and cun- ningly. They had cast him in the political image of the modest one-time teacher of history, the semi-pro baseball player, the honest citizen who had some- how stumbled unwillingly into the searing heat of politics where he was to remain alter- nating his. expressions of dis- taste for its stridency with ruth- less pursuit of its rewards. - And the bands played and they sang “For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow” (twice) and Il A Gagne Ses Epaulettes” (once). They gave him a_ sculptured plaque and a wee terrier (ah, the pipes that marched him in and out were glorious). “Mike” Pearson, man of peace, was leaving as Liberal leader. His government has made a mock- ery of ‘the Canadian people’s longing for peace for Vietnam. The hypocrisy of it stank. Sell - arms profitably to the U.S.A. for burning and slaughtering the Vietnamese while belatedly suggesting an end to the bomb- in . g. The Civic Arena was alive with color, the red of Canada’s flag and the white outline of its maple leaf predominant in the surging mass of the campaign colors of the contending candi- dates for leadership of the~ Liberal party of Canada. There wasn’t an American flag in the place. But the U.S. State Depart- ment didn’t need one. They had “Mike” Pearson. His last act for them within 7 days of the Liberal convention, while par- liament was no longer sitting, when the cabinet of his govern- ment had disintegrated, when his own authority of prime min- ister had become titular only, his last act in defiance of the Canadian people was to set the steel collar of NORAD about his country’s throat for another five years. In his. most excruciating French, Pearson spoke of “Les deux group languistic” and of Canada’s main problem as he saw it, “How to preserve the unity of our country.” To that very end he served the Estab- lishment of Canada with plati- tudes tumbling out of him, “Canada is my country. I love it, it belongs to us all and we be- long to it.” He pretended not to know that Canada consists of two nations and that unless this fact is recognized in a new unity of equals then indeed Canada will break up. He called the farewell “My last hurrah.” And so it was the last hurrah of a politician who served his master better than he did his country. Foreign policy evaded As people watched the spec- tacle — the leadership conven- tion of the governing Liberal Party — not a word was spoken, with one brief exception, about the great problem facing the world, the ending: of the U.S. war against Vietnam. To his credit, Eric Kierans with only minutes remaining of his main address in which to select one point from many others he had hoped to make, chose to denounce the sale of weapons by Canada to the U.S.A. The convention proceed- ed to knock him out of the run- ning with the lowest vote on the first ballot. Earlier he had spoken against Canada’s en- gagement in military alliances “even defensive ones”. referring to: NORAD. But for the rest, the candi- dates callously ignored. the is- sue that is foremost in Canadian minds, peace for the Vietnamese people. In this screaming orgy of the scramble for political power, it seemed that all the delegates might have come from . another world. But no, there “were those among the 2,400-odd delegates who knew the politi- cal machine was violating the conscience of the Canadian people. When the first news came through on Wednesday that there was the possibility Hanoi would discuss with the U.S.A. the complete cessation of bomb- ings as the prelude to peace de- liberations, one young delegate turned to me and enthusiasti- cally said “Wonderful! That’s even bigger than this conven- tion!” Away from the phony spectacle of the convention hall. awav from the reeling din of political conniving that was the ‘Chatesu Laurier. in a restaurant ‘where vou could get a square meal for $1.25, some middle- aved men and women delegates talked quietly of international develepments_they, hoped wou Id bring peace in Vietnam, of talks between Hanoi and Washington. But there it ended. The man who is to be Canada’s prime minister made sure of that. He spoke of the desirability of Canada join- ‘ing the notorious Organization of American States (OAS), crea- tion of Washington’s state de- partment and the CIA, the U.S.A. instrument for the. op- pression of the peoples of Latin America. His few words Friday night were more than enough to indi- cate just what kind of a “just society” he has in mind for ay: 4¢ Cis Uo RR Ae Canada. He spoke of his admir- ation for the great American society” as he praised Lyndon B. Johnson’s decision not to run in the next presidential elec- tions. “This kind of thing,” said Mr. Trudeau, “could only hap- pen in a free country.”: And then, without a pause, he went on to speak of the tragedy of the assassination of Martin Luther King. Simpering, he wondered aloud whether “all you wonderful young people will continue to be my friends as you are to- night.” The odds ‘are against it. Manufactured Mystique In making a Prime Minister out of the dilet- tante Pierre Trudeau the power brokers of the Liberal Party and the press appeared to give expression to the demands of Canadians, in particular the younger segment of the popula- tion, for a change—yet gave no change at all. For all his photogenic qualities and manufac- tured mystique, Trudeau’s political approach appears nothing more than psychedelic Macken-- zie-King. Thus we have the swinging Prime Minister who favors the means test, the spokes- man for young Canada who refuses to commit himself on the 18 year old vote. Keeping with tradition, it was a French Cana- dian’s turn to be Liberal leader, and in this in- stance they dug up Mr. Trudeau as an embodi- ment of the notion that there is really no such thing as French Canada. One day after his election, Trudeau began to unveil his policy which he had conjured up as a “just society”. Aside from.the painful similar- ity between this cliche and the sick joke of Lyndon Johnson’s “great society” the essence of Trudeau’s new foreign policy was closer continental ties with:the U.S.A. including Can- ada’s membership in the. Organization of Ame- rican States (the U.S. colonial department for Latin America). Trudeau’s committment to continentalism transcends the military and foreign policy he promotes, to an almost flamboyant denial of Canadian economic independence. It may well be that the image makers will be able to sell Trudeau’s glamor where they couldn’t market Paul Martin’s verbosity. Yet beneath the shrugging shoulders that drive the sob-sisters on the dailies into hysteria, beats the heart of a Liberal wheeler dealer. New policies if necessary, but not necessarily new policies. One could develop illusions about Trudeau when he stood like Horatio at the bridge against. the onslaught of the Neanderthal thinking of Robert Winters. However this hardly qualifies for membership in the “left-wing”—even the Liberal left wing. In spite of some apprehension about Trudeau’s sudden rise, he was the establishment’s candi- date in the full sense of the word. This fact we feel will become more and more obvious as the “just society” turns out to be just the same. Racism Is the Killer Statement by Gus Hall, General. Secretary of the : Communist Party Racism is the killer. Racism has struck the foulest blow. Racism has pierced the heart of America’s most illustrious son. Racism has ambushed America’s bravest soldier for free- dom, justice, democracy and brotherhood. Racism has murdered Martin Luther King. Words of honor, words of praise, words of sorrow are meaningless mockery and hypocrisy, if the killer — if racism - is permitted to stalk the streets of our nation. To honor Rev. King’ is to destroy the racist system of Jim Crow now. To honor Rev. King is to tear out, root and limb, every vestige, every act of discrimination and segregation practiced against.Negro Americans now. It is a sad day for all Americans. It is a shameful*day for white Americans.