Halfway Housecleaning

In the face of racking scandal, few heads of government could have shown more outward aplomb than Prime Minister Lester Pearson. His Justice Minister Guy Favreau got a severe dressing down from Chief Justice Frederic Dorion for having fumbled a notorious-bribery case involving four highly placed Liberals and a Montreal racketeer. For that, Favreau resigned (TIME, July 9), but Pearson loyally pronounced his continuing faith in his talented protege. Last week Pearson named Favreau president of the Privy Council. The job might have been a sinecure, but Pearson tacked on a key role in the delicate area of federal-provincial relations. Favreau would also stay on in the touchy slot of Quebec party leader.

Favreau's new appointment brought a storm of criticism against Mike Pearson's Liberal government, which has been tarnished in a series of other scandals. Opposition Leader John Diefenbaker cried angrily that "no other country in the world would have given Favreau another Cabinet appointment."

Disdaining the complaints, Pearson announced a Cabinet reshuffle that was designed to look like reform but was at best a halfway housecleaning. To his credit, Pearson did take care of one little problem that was hanging fire. Guy Rouleau, the P.M.'s own parliamentary secretary, had been involved in the case and had resigned; now Pearson drummed Rouleau out of the House of Commons and the party altogether.

How all these moves will strike Parliament when it reconvenes next September remains in doubt. Members of Pearson's Liberal minority government applauded his loyalty to Favreau. But Pearson failed to strengthen the leadership of a government in which the bribery scandal was only one of many difficulties needing attention--most importantly the conflict between the provinces and federal government, and the dangerous split between French-and English-speaking Canadians.

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