WILL QUEBEC SECEDE? BEHIND CANADA'S UNITY CRISIS - Gene H Hogberg - May 1978

Gene H Hogberg

The friendly neighbor Americans take for granted is facing her most serious challenge ever as a nation. A t stake is the economic well-being and military security of not only Canada but of all North America. Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau may soon be facing the sternest test of his ten years in office. He is expected to call for general elections later this year, and his popularity, recent polls reveal, has been slipping. His chief opponent, Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark from Alberta, is, on the other hand, gaining somewhat after a slow start. The 39-year-old Mr. Clark has projected a positive image in recent parliamentary sessions, which are now televised. Mr. Trudeau's Liberal Party is losing favor mainly because of Canada's faltering economy. The Canadian dollar has now slipped to U.S. $.89 (its lowest level since the early years of the Great Depression) from a high of U.S. $1.03 a year and a half ago. Unemployment hovers at a stubborn 8.5 percent, inflation at 9.5 percent. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library