Word: primed
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Westminster. Reason: the critical passages refer to the division of powers between the federal government and Canada's ten powerful provinces, which have never been able to agree unanimously on a formula that would remove the last colonial trace from the country's political structure. Last week Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau moved to overcome the impasse. He presented Canadians with a series of constitutional reform proposals that, if accepted by Parliament and the provinces, would give the country complete self-mastery within three years...
...maneuver between Trudeau and Premier René Lévesque of Quebec, who wants independence for his predominantly French-speaking province. Trudeau hopes that the constitutional changes will help take the wind out of separatist sails in Quebec-and incidentally, perhaps, launch his bid for a fourth term as Prime Minister, now an autumn possibility...
...Prime Minister's chosen date for clearing up the constitutional tangle is significant. By then, Lévesque, who was elected in a stunning upset in 1976, will have to ask the voters for a new mandate for his Parti Québécois government. By then also, Lévesque will have asked the voters, in a promised referendum, whether they favor separate status for the province. (If asked directly whether they favor independence, Quebeckers are expected to turn down the option decisively.) The combative Levesque, who considers Canada's 111-year-old confederation...
Trudeau's real weak spot, should he seek a new mandate this fall, is Canada's economic performance, which lags well behind that of the U.S. One of the prime reasons is Ottawa's past mishandling of policy. The government has been widely criticized for badly overheating the economy, then slapping on wage-and-price controls that are only now being removed. Despite a recent industrial upsurge, the national unemployment rate seems stuck at 8.6% (vs. 6% in the U.S.), while rekindled inflation hovers around 8%. The Canadian dollar, which lost 13% of its value...
...ideal launching pad for a campaign. One of his country's wiliest political survivors, Trudeau is aware that the voters have what the Canadian Gallup poll calls a love-hate relationship with him. The pollsters found that 43% of Canadians, for example, disapprove of the way their Prime Minister is doing his job, while only 41% approve. But when asked to choose between him and Joseph Clark, leader of the opposition Tories, Trudeau wins hands down...