Struggling for Self-Mastery

Trudeau plots constitutional reform and possibly an election

Among Western democracies, Canada has a unique and slightly embarrassing distinction: it does not have power to amend all of its own constitution. Control over a key section of the country's founding document, the British North America Act of 1867, is still held by the British Parliament in 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.

Trudeau's proposals, which he called "quite momentous and quite considerable," were prompted by something more than concern for Canadian autonomy. They were also part of a complicated war of maneuver between Trudeau and Premier Rene Levesque 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.

In a White Paper setting forth the proposals, the government said that the changes would work only if Canada continued to be "a genuine federation" --meaning with Quebec as one of its provinces. For Canada's 6 million French-speaking Canadians (out of a 23 million population), Trudeau's key proposal is one to entrench a "charter of basic rights and freedoms" in the constitution. The charter guarantees, among other things, the principle of bilingualism in government services throughout Canada, Trudeau's alternative to separatism as a shelter for the French-speaking minority. On the contentious issue of division of powers, Trudeau wants to start negotiations with the provinces at a constitutional summit meeting in September, with the aim of settling the question by 1981.

The Prime Minister's chosen date for clearing up the constitutional tangle is significant. By then, Levesque, who was elected in a stunning upset in 1976, will have to ask the voters for a new mandate for his Parti Quebecois government. By then also, Levesque 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 to be an "obsolete contraption," has vowed to boycott any talk of constitutional reform while he is in power. In typical form last week, he declared the federal proposals "profoundly inane." Said he: "What we've got is the mountain bringing forth a mouse, and I'd say a mouse that hasn't got that much life in it."

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 in a year, is now worth about 89-c- American. To check a further fall in the currency, Ottawa has made use of some $7 billion worth of credit from U.S. banks and other forms of borrowing, including the government's first foreign-bond issue in ten years. Domestically, the budget deficit is now a record $10.2 billion.

Trudeau's ups and downs in the polls made him back away from calling elections this summer; legally, he can wait until next July. The constitutional package, however, may breathe new popularity into Trudeau's ten-year-old government; in that case the September constitutional conference might be an 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, 40% to 24%.

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