THE LIBERAL LEADERSHIP

The view from the floor
| Canada

WHOEVER SAYS the
life of a reporter is
glamorous, hasn’t spent
eight hours standing on
a chair waiting to catch
the every utterance of
the seven Liberal
Leadership Candidates.

By CATHERINE McGHEE

For 72 hours, the Ottawa
Civic Centre was alive with
sweltering bodies writhing in
ritualistic fervor, political
junkies and jaded media
types, all atttempting at once
to inch their way towards the
candidates. It was impossible
to remain detached. Normal-
ly sane individuals became
hysterical, placard-waving
zealots, frantically chanting
‘*Win with Turner’’, or ‘‘All
The Way D.J.’’

It was an event comparable
only to a frenzied crowd at a
rock concert. There was
drama, passion, joy and
sadness — the gamut of
human emotions, starting on
Day One with the tribute to
Prime Minister Trudeau.

Although the show itself
was schmaltz, the film of the
Trudeau years evoked
memories of less cynical
times. The dog-days of wage
and price controls and angry
confrontations with The
West were set aside and in-
stead, remembered with
pride, was Trudeau defying
the FLQ and tackling the
Quebec Referendum head-
on. °

When his young sons join-
ed him to bid farewell to the
multitude, there was scarcely
a dry eye in the house. And,
in typical Trudeau style, the
16th Prime Minister of
Canada pirouetted off the
stage to the thunderous
cheers of the crowd — some
applauding that he was final-
ly going, while others saluted
the man, his style and the era
that was about to end.

Day two and there were
demonstrations everywhere;
brass bands, waves of red,
white, yellow and green and
more photographers. The
foyer of the Civic Arena
over-flowed with booths
espousing the virtues of the
respective candidates,
Liberalism and Trudeau.
There were books, buttons,
visors, pennants, beer mugs,
t-shirts and even teddy bears.

The atmosphere inside the
arcna was somewhat relaxed,
a notable lack of tension. The
evening speeches were not cx
pected to hold any surprises
and didn't. Each candidate
was alloted 22 minutes and
the rhetomc was familiar

NEWS photo Catherine McGhee

Chretien spoke from the
heart, but the tiredness was
evident on his face and he
had given better speeches.
Turner gave the speech of his
campaign and appeared to
have won over many of the
uncommitted delegates.

With the speeches over,
supporters dispersed to the
various parties — to Chre-
tien’s red and white designer
tents, where they wiled away
the hours to Rockin’ Ronnie
Hawkins, or to dance to
Powder Blues at John
Turner’s soiree at Confedera-
tion Park. For the best time,
those in the know fled to Don
Johnston’s fete at Tabasco’s
in Hull, and partied till
dawn.

The result was lots of peo-
ple suffering from hang-
overs or looking like they'd
been up all night, which they
had, when voting day
arrived.

Inside the arena the excite-
ment was mounting. Turner
aides were not’ giving
anything away, but privately
predicted a second ballot vic-
tory. The Chretien camp was
enthusiastic, but the can-
didate was showing the
strains of the long campaign

and appeared to know the
fight was lost.

The first ballot results were
announced and the Turner
section exploded, knowing
they could not be beaten.

It would take another two
and a half hours to get the se-
cond ballot results, but the
outcome was never in doubt.
The Turner camp, through its
communications network,
spotted undecided delegates
whose leaders had gone to
Chretien and moved in for
the kill. Armed with Turner
vests and buttons, they
rounded up their prey who
were welcomed by Turner
himself.

1 resurfaced unscathed
after three days of being
trampled on and elbowed by
mobile television units and
over-zealous supporters. It
was both an exciting and ex-
hausting experience.

It gave a glimpse of the
mechanics of politics, the
strategies involved and the
knowledge that the actual
voting delegate, although
necessary, 1s a minor player
in the overall scheme of

things. Then again, maybe
that’s the way they want it.

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JUST PRIOR to his victory,
John Turner welcomes
delegate — and his vote.

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Al? - Sunday, June 24, 1984 - North Shore News

RIVER WOODS
HOUSING CO-OPERATIVE

More affordable housing is coming to
North Vancouver thanks to the River
Woods Housing Co-operative. This co-
operative group begins construction of 90
units of family housing on Hamber Place,
Sunday, June 24th at 4:00 p.m. with an
official ground-breaking ceremony. CMHC
is pleased to be a part of this
development which helps the Government
of Canada fulfill its commitment to
improve housing for Canadians.

CMHC

Canada's Housing Agency

| Canada Mortgage Socete canadienne
and Housing Corporation dhypotheques et de logement

Honourable Roméo LeBlanc
Minister

COLLINGWOOD SCHOOL

North Shore independent Schoo! Society
APPLICATIONS FOR SEPTEMBER ENROLMENT

This non-denominational coeducational day schoo! opens in West Vancouver

on September 10th, 1984, offering Grades 1 to 8 An additional grade will be
added each year until the school offers Grades 1 to 12

“It ls our objective to give you a school where you can expect your child to be
fully educated, where emphasis will be placed on English and Mathematics.
where everyone will be involved in extra-curricular activities and where above
all, there will be a happy triendly atmosphere and an environment of mutual

respect and trust''

For information and an application

David MacKenzie, Headmaster

Mr. David MacKenzie
Collingwood Schoo!
#102 250 18th Street
Wes! Vancouver B C
V7V 3V5

Telaphone 975.3331