Trudeau to resign

Press, 2 March 1984, Page 1

Trudeau to resign

NZPA-Reuter Ottawa The Canadian Prime Minister, Mr Pierre Trudeau, yesterday announced his intention to resign. Mr Trudeau’s press secretary, Mr Ralph Coleman, said that the Prime Minister would step down as soon as the Liberal Party chose a new leader. Mr Coleman said that Mr Trudeau, aged 64, who has been Canada’s leader since 1968 apart from one ninemonth period out of office, told the Liberal Party’s president, Mrs lona Campagnolo, of his decision in a hand-delivered letter He said that until the leadership convention had chosen his successor he would continue to serve as leader of the party. Arranging a party leadership conference is likely to take about three months. Mr Trudeau’s most likely successor at the moment is the former Finance Minister, Mr John Turner, who resigned from his Cabinet post in 1975 over policy differences and has worked since as a lawyer in Toronto. - ’The news that Mr Trudeau planned to retire spurred a rise in the stock markets and drew cheers from oilmen, but some Canadians spoke sadly of the end of an era. In Calgary, where Mr Trudeau’s 1980 national energy programme was blamed for a steep drop in Canadian oil and gas exploration, about 200 oil industry representatives at a meeting greeted the news with wild applause. The Toronto Stock Exchange moved up more than 10 points, while the Montreal Exchange rose four points. Last northern autumn a Gallup poll found that just 30 per cent of the Canadian population thought Mr Trudeau was doing a good job as Prime Minister.

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