Queen backs Trudeau’s unity efforts

Press, 18 October 1977, Page 9

Queen backs Trudeau’s unity efforts

NZPA Ottawa The Queen, in an address to the Canadian nation, has lent her prestige to the effort of the Government of Prime Minister (Mr Pierre Trudeau) to keep the country united in the face of a separatist threat by the largely French-speaking province of Quebec. “What is most evident in looking at your country from the long-term point of view is that Canada’s accomplishments and progress have, from the first moment, been the results of the joint efforts and joint councils of Canadians of every background,” she said in a speech prepared for delivery in a national television broadcast, a highlight of her six-day visit to Canada to mark the silver jubilee of her reign. “The confederation itself was not a French idea or a British idea,” she declared, referring to the joining together of separate Canadian territories in 1867. Throughout her address the Queen dwelt on the material accomplishments of this multicultural nation, which she described as having “a standard of living higher than 92 per cent of the world’s population.” She also emphasised the spiritual inspiration to be drawn from co-operation among peoples with different roots. The body of the speech, at least, was prepared by Mr Trudeau’s staff, like all statements made by the head

oi State that have bearing on politics. She spoke in her roles as hostess at a State dinner in Rideau Hall, the official guesthouse where she and Prince Philip are staying. The Queen is expected to make a second appeal for Canadian unity, perhaps in stronger terms, when she reads the Speech from the Throne, opening the third session of the thirtieth Canadian Parliament before returning to London. NZPA-Reuter said the Queen did not mention specifically the dispute over the aims by the separatists, but her terms were clearly understandable to every Canadian. The speech came after she herself met the separatist leader, Mr Rene Levesque, the Premier of Quebec, at a lunch with provincial premiers. The seating plan for the lunch placed Mr Levesque, who has described the Monarchy as irrelevant to Buebec, at almost the furlest possible distance from the Queen. Instead Mr Levesque had what he later described as a lively discussion about Quebec with Prince Philip. The Queen’s schedule next takes her into less controversial areas. She will visit a headquarters of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, meet Government and Parliamentary leaders for lunch, visit a school, and attend a cultural performance.