Word: trudeau
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...years, a confederation. This term has a double-edged meaning: "a league or compact for mutual support or common action"--an alliance; and, "a combination of persons for unlawful purposes"--a conspiracy. Never has the tension between these two definitions appeared so poignant as this fall. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, frustrated in a September conference with the provincial premiers, has vowed to take unilateral action in the federal parliament without consent of the provinces. Only one regional premier--Willeam Davis of Ontario, the province with the most to gain from the constitutional reform--supports Trudeau's most recent proposals, which...
This week, Canada's ten provincial premiers huddled contentiously in a downtown Toronto hotel to find some way to obstruct or reform Trudeau's latest package, which he hopes to present to the British government by early 1981. Premier Rene Levesque of Quebec, head of the separatist party that decisively lost a plebiscite last spring on the right to negotiate with Ottawa for sovereignty-association, characteristically produced the most biting quote. He called Trudeau's plan a "proposed coupt d'etat...
...RESULT of this week's Toronto powwow was a decision by five provincial premiers to challenge Trudeau's resolutions--which will easily pass in the national parliament by virtue of a Liberal majority--in the courts...
Since the seven premiers' legal challenge cannot go directly to Canada's Supreme Court without approval of the federal government, Trudeau's adversaries will have to appeal in provincial courts first. But Trudeau has displayed his usual cunning aplomb, forcing the premiers into a sticky Catch-22. His actions cannot be challenged by the premiers until the resolution favoring his package takes effect; and by the time his plan takes effect, the premiers will be paralyzed. It is difficult to imagine--say in mid-1981 after a glorious ceremony whereby the Queen hands the country its constitution--the premiers going...
Several provinces, notably Newfoundland and Alberta, have threatened to fight any parliamentary "patriation" moves. If those too should fail, the popular Trudeau may ultimately have little choice but to go over everybody's head and seek the approval of the 23 million Canadians in a national referendum. The Prime Minister does not sound like a man ready to give up the fight. "We have to find ways and means of getting out of the dead end," he said of the constitutional impasse. "At some point, let's ask the people...