Vancouver Province
for October 6, 2000

There’s the smell of change – and fraud - in the air. The polls, predicting a handsome Liberal victory are wrong and Jean Chretien’s effort to jump into the late Mr Trudeau’s sunshine is humbug.

Why do I say the polls are wrong?

Because Canadians habitually park their votes with the government until the campaign gets under way. In 1984 John Turner was ahead in the polls two months before being buried under the Mulroney landslide. In 1993 Kim Campbell was ahead in the polls when she called the election that saw her party exterminated. What’s of interest in recent polls is that even though their numbers are but chicken scratches in Atlantic Canada and Quebec, the Alliance is still at 25% overall. That’s the number to watch.

But what fraud, do you ask? Surely not from that high principled bunch called the Liberal party or from their squeaky clean leader!

Consider this. The Liberals and Mr Chretien are basking in the popularity in death of their fallen hero, Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Why, Mr Chretien would have you believe, he and his party are true disciples of the great man and stand four square for his principles.

Really? Let’s look at those principles.

Trudeau brought the constitution home which, in itself, was no great trick. The tough bit was incorporating within it an amending formula all could agree to. This was the Gordian Knot that had befuddled generations of politicians who had tried to bring the constitution to Canada from Westminster. It was always thought – especially by Quebec – that each province had a veto. In fact, during the early constitutional conferences under Trudeau – which I attended, incidentally – we saw the curious spectacle of Rene Levesque, of all people, demanding that the constitution remain with the "mother Country" because he and the separatists were afraid that if the constitution came home, Quebec would lose it’s veto – which in fact happened. Thanks in large measure to the late Mel Smith a compromise was reached and what’s often called the 7&50 formula, was agreed to. Thus Pierre Trudeau carried the day. Back to the amending formula in a moment.

Trudeau also stood for equality before the law of all provinces. Dealing the Meech Lake Accord, he spoke out contemptuously against the notion of a "distinct society" designation for Quebec. With the Charlottetown Referendum in 1992 Trudeau wrote a piece in Macleans, again condemning "distinct society" and more than anyone he convinced Canadians to vote "no". Given this, would one not conclude that any who wished to ride his shroud into office would be in favour of the 7&50 amending formula and be dead set against any special designation for Quebec? These are not trifling matters – they go to the root of our existence as a nation living under a written constitution.

Let’s, then, look at the record. In December 1995 Jean Chretien placed a resolution before parliament which did two things.

First it ordered that in all federal matters Quebec would be treated as a "distinct society"! Disciple of Trudeau Chretien might be, but he must surely be called Judas, the pieces of silver being anticipated political favours from Quebec! The guts of what Trudeau had always stood for in his lifelong and often courageous stand against separatism under any name was abandoned, with this resolution, by those who now claim his posthumous blessing.

Second, it resolved that the federal government would always use its veto under the 7&50 formula on behalf of any one of five regions requesting it, restoring, in effect, Quebec’s veto. (You will remember that at first B.C. was lumped in as one of "the west" but the resulting firestorm of protest from here gained it status as a region.) So here we have the principle legacy of Pierre Trudeau, a home owned constitution where all are equal, brutally compromised so that Quebec might be appeased.

The tactic is so very Liberal. Never trouble yourself with what is honourable when votes are at stake.

But it will backfire. The public, in its outpouring of admiration for Pierre Trudeau wasn’t extending the compliment to the present bunch that occupy the government benches. Could it just be that Jean Chretien, clearly the day before yesterdays man, is too tricky by half and that the election to come will show that the public, even in Ontario, recognizes this?

This election could be fun!