Off and Running

Turner calls a snap election

Politics and protocol weighed heavily on the mind of Canada's new Prime Minister, John Turner, 55, as he sped home from a whirlwind visit to London. He had gone there to see Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and to ask Queen Elizabeth II, who is also Canada's Constitutional Monarch, to postpone a two-week tour of Ontario, Manitoba and New Brunswick that was scheduled to begin last week. The Queen's assent allowed Turner to make a much awaited announcement: Canadians will go to the polls on Sept. 4.* The federal election was needed, he said, to bring "a renewal of confidence and certainty in this country."

Turner hopes the election will give him what he lacks most, a mandate. A former Finance Minister, he was chosen on June 16 to succeed Pierre Elliott Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party; when Trudeau resigned as Prime Minister two weeks later, Turner was sworn in as head of the government. Turner does not, however, have his own seat in Parliament. He also needs an election in order to impose his personal stamp on the Liberals after 16 years of Trudeau's cerebral and autocratic dominance. Turner's main opponent is Brian Mulroney, 45, leader of the country's Progressive Conservatives.

In many ways, there is little difference between the two men. Both are telegenic politicians, fluent in English and French. Mulroney has never held public office, and Turner has not held elective office since resigning as Finance Minister eight years ago. (Mulroney, who took over the Conservatives in June 1983, won his parliamentary seat two months later). Both are corporate lawyers who favor a mild rightward shift in government. Neither advocates a major assault on Canada's extensive social-welfare system, although both favor long-term reductions in the country's U.S. $22.5 billion federal deficit (7.7% of last year's G.N.P.) and a more receptive climate for foreign, particularly U.S., investment. Among the problems the next national leader will face: 11.3% unemployment and a dollar that is now worth less than U.S. 75-c-.

In addition, both Turner and Mulroney agree that the next Canadian government should be more representative of the country as a whole. Under Trudeau, the Liberals shrank to become the party of eastern Canada: they held only two of 77 parliamentary seats from the four provinces west of Ontario. For their part, the Conservatives have only one of 75 seats in the French-speaking province of Quebec. In parallel attempts to remedy that imbalance, Ontario-raised Turner is expected to run for Parliament from British Columbia, while Mulroney is expected to trade his safe seat in Nova Scotia for a constituency in his native Quebec.

Only five months ago, when Trudeau was still Prime Minister, Mulroney enjoyed a 48% to 36% lead over the Liberals. Just two weeks ago, however, a new Gallup poll showed Turner ahead, 49% to 38%. -

*The Queen, who avoids visits during election campaigns, will now tour Canada from Sept. 24 to Oct. 7. She will then spend two weeks on horse farms in Virginia and Wyoming.