Trudeau 10 years in power but little to celebrate

Press, 26 June 1978, Page 22

Trudeau 10 years in power but little to celebrate

NZPA Reuter Toronto. Problems are piling up for the Canadian Prime Minister (Mr Trudeau) who this year has been 10 years in power but has little to celebrate at present. Rarely before can the problems of juggling the competing interests of the 2 3 million people sprinkled across Canada’s vast land mass have seemed so burden'ome A decade after Mr Trudeau swept to power on the crest of a heady wave of “Trudeaumania” little is going right either for the country or its leader. A report just issued by a major Canadian bank whose past predictions have proved reliable said that no significant acceleration of the economic growth rate is likely in the next year. That forecast comes in the wake of a sorry procession of economic statistics that show Canada to be having more trouble than its Western allies in climbing out of recession. The limp performance of the economy was regarded as a major factor Lj the recent slump in the popularity of Mr Trudeau's ruling Liberal Party, which has been in power for the last 15 years and must seek a new mandate some time in the next year. Mr Trudeau dropped plans to hold an early election this summer after a Gallup poll showed that an 11-point lead for the Liberals had evaporated and that the Opposition Conservatives led by Mr Joe Clark were now tied with the Liberals at 41 per cent of committed voters each. The poll indicated that people were more concerned with the economy and the erosion of their traditionally high standards of living than with the other major national heada _• — Quebec. It is an irony of Canadian politics that Mr Trudeau, himself a French

Canadian and long perceived as the man best able to cement the uneasy union between English and French-speaking communities, has seen Canada moving closer to dismemberment than at any time in recent history. If anything, the rift between Quebec and the Federal Government in Ottawa recently has grown wider. The latest dispute is over a Federal proposal for cuts in provincial retail sales taxes as a means of stimulating consumer spending. Initially the idea seemed an imaginative one, but it has become mired in controversy and put the Trudeau Government on the defensive. The row started in April when as part of the Federal budget the Finance Minister (Mr Jean Chretien) proposed across-the-board cuts in sales tax in all provinces except Alberta, which has no sales tax. The idea was that the Federal Government would reimberse the provinces for the revenue losses they suffered as a result of the cuts. All provinces were involved except Quebec, which suggested its own plan under which sales taxes would be cut on certain goods such as textiles, shoes and furniture, as a means of stimulating the province's most depressed industries. Ottawa reacted angrily, charging that the Quebec move was fresh evidence that the province was trying to sabcrtage Canadian federalism. As a countermove, the Federal Government said the Quebec treasury would receive only S42M in Federal re-imbersements instead of the 5226 M it would have received if it had gone along with the Ottawa plan. In addition, Ottawa suggested giving back the balance of the 5226 M in the form of tax rebates

sent directly to Quebec taxpayers, by-passing provincial authorities. But the plan, although ingenious, has backfired politically and left the Trudeau government more isolated than ever. All parties in the Quebec Parliament, including of Mr Trudeau’s own Liberal party, denounced the Federal moves. Even some French-Cana-dian liberals at the Federal level voiced their discomfort, believing Mr Trudeau’s claim that the entire party was behind him on this issue. A Progressive Conservative finance critic, Mr Sinclair Stevens, said

that the Government’s plans were divisive. They denied Alberta any Federal benefits because it has no sales tax, they give Quebec special treatment, and lumped the rest of the country together. “Our Emperor (Mr Trudeau) has divided Canada into three,” he said. At a time when most provinces are applying pressure to restrict the Federal Government’s powers, any suggestions that one province is being given special treatment is viewed with suspicion. In particular many Canadians resent what they . see as Mr Trudeau’s pre- ' occupation with Quebec and its demands for inde- ( pendence. f The good news for Mr Trudeau, what there is of t it, is that evidence is s growing that support for e the separatist Parti Quebecois of Mr Ren6 Le- i vesque is slipping and f

that Quebecers are turning against separation. This coincides with the emergence of a new political leader in Quebec with the potential to become an effective rival to Mr Levesque. He is Mr Claude Ryan, a newspaper editor turned politician, who has been elected leader of the provincial Liberal Party that was beaten so resoundingly by the Parti Quebecois in 1976. Mr Ryan favours greater autonomy for Quebec, but within the federal framework. On the economic front, the Trudeau Government can hope for some crumbs of ecouragement during the summer months. The Canadian dollar, which two years ago was worth slightly more than one United States dollar but now has slipped to almost 90c, is likely to recover a little. Unemployment, now nearly IM out of a workforce of 1 IM, normally declines during the summer. Later in the year, the approach of the Quebec referendum on independence promised by Mr levesque may rekindle debate on the national unity issue, the area where Mr Trudeau is strongest. Mr Trudeau is showing no signs of wilting in the face of the recent setbacks and as his biographer, George Radwanski, commented recently, it is much too early to write off a man known to be at his combative best in a tight corner. But he added: “ . . .The luck and skill that have kept him in power for a decade have never faced a sterner test than awaits him in the coming months.”