The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News The Echo and The Sun MONDAY, MAY 21, 1945. DCANADA GOES TO THE POLL

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 118, 21 May 1945, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News The Echo and The Sun MONDAY, MAY 21, 1945. DCANADA GOES TO THE POLL

•TSHtEE weeks-from to-day Canada goes to the polls for the first election * in the Empire since VE day. The election promises plenty of excitement, and the campaigning will probably be the liveliest and bitterest t£rer known, in Canada, not even excepting the last war election, when the conscription issue aroused feeling to the point of physical conflict in a number of areas. Conscription has again been in the forefront of the pre-election struggle, but other big issues have arisen to give new fighting pomts f or the contending forces. Up till the last week or two conscription was still the spearhead of the attack on the Mackenzie King Government. That Government had gone too far for some and not far enough for the rest. Thousands were compulsorily enlisted for home defence, and the hostility between them and the protagonists of universal overseas service grew daily more acute as the Government failed from week to week to exercise its full mandate. The home defenders were contemptuously spoken of as "zombies or King s Commandos," the latter not, of course, having any reference to the head of the Empire, but to the leader of the Government. They were very resentful of the implied insult, and there have been open clashes between considerable bodies of them and of the overseas reinforcements.

The end of the European war and the decision of the Canadian Government that only volunteers will be sent across the Pacific to fight the Japanese may have a far-reaching effect on the electorate; it is impossible to judge the extent at present, but it seems probable that some of the Liberals who had wavered in their support of the Government over the conscription issue will now go back to the fold, and that the Government will have a better chance of success than it had before the German surrender. It is evident, however, that the administration is in for the hardest fight of its career. It has a big majority to-day—ls6 members in a House of 245, while its chief opponents at last election, the Progressive Conservatives, hold 40 seats, the Canadian Co-operative Commonwealth and the Social Creditors each hold ten, and the minor parties 18. Judging by the current of events, the chief opposition in this election will come from the C.C.C., the mana of the Conservatives under Mr. John Bracken's leadership having been so considerably reduced that it is not impossible that the party may in the future be compelled to coalesce with the Liberals. The C.C.C. has made big strides since last election. It is a Leftist party, with such strong Labour affiliations that its election would be the equivalent of the Labour successes in Australia and-New Zealand. Although it won only a handful of seats at the last election, the party has gained a number of notable provincial successes in the meantime, and it has since been very solidly organised by its leader, Mr. J. Coldwell, a former school teacher, who has shown considerable political acumen and foresight in a campaign which he has tirelessly conducted for a decade.

Though the C.C.C. was far to the Left when it began its campaign, many of its promises have been forestalled by the Government in its social welfare legislation, including tariff reforms aimed at' freer world trade, assurance of opportunity for all who are willing and able to work, a programme designed to prevent a recurrence of depression conditions, family allowances, a rehabilitation programme cited as "the most comprehensive plan yet adopted by any nation for the welfare of -its war veterans," and a determination to take a larger part in world security. The Commonwealth leader, in the face of this programme, has had to restrain his followers from wild statements and wilder promises. The widest plank in his platform is the socialisation of industry. There are, of course, elements who stoutly oppose the changes already introduced, and there may thus be a redistribution of the vote, which will affect the strength of all the parties.