Congress applauds united-Canada cry

Press, 24 February 1977, Page 7

Congress applauds united-Canada cry

NZPA-Reuter Washington Ihe Canadian Prime Minister (Mr Pierre I rudean) has told the United States Congress that secession by Quebec from Canada would be “a crime against the history of mankind.”

He drew sustained applause from members of the • House of Representatives and Senate on Tuesday when he declared: “1 say to you. iwith ail 'he certaihtv I "can (command, that Canada’s i unitv will not be fractured. Accommodations will be made, revisions will take ■ i place. We shall succeed.” Mr Trudeau, who is in the ' United States on a three-dav •State visit, said that it was ! only “a small minority of ! the people of Quebec who 1 fee! they should strike out I in a country of their own.” I j In a slap at the Quebec 1 i Party of the Premier (Mr I Rene Levesque), Mr Trudeau I said: “The newlv-elected I ■ government of that province I (asserts a policy that reflects | ;a minority view, despite the | Tact that during the election 'campaigns it sought a man-

: date for good government,, ■and not a mandate for sep-i ■ aration from Canada.” Mr Trudeau sought to; assure Congress that the Canadian Government could! cope with what he called' “the sense of the insecurityi of French Janada.” “The sudden departure ofj Quebec would signify the! tragic failure of our pluralist dream,” he said. The United States Secre-'i tary of State (Mr Cyrus Vance) led members of the Carter Cabinet into Congress; to hear the address by the ( Prime Minister, who " later ' joined President Carter at' the White House for a sec-! ond round of meetings. On Monday, the two I talked about the best way toj help dissidents in Commun-ii ist countries, economic: l issues, and U.S.-Soviet nego-j: Nations on strategic arms. h