IT’S EASY to put weather
in perspective.

Last Sunday night, with a plane
load of British Columbia New
Democrats en route home, the Air
Canada pilot advised that it was
raining heavily in Vancouver. The
delicate West Coast contingent,
still shivering from a mostly sunny
-20°C few days in Manitoba,
erupted in joyful applause.

tte

The New Democratic Party has
completed its most exciting con-
vention since the Co-operative
Commonwealth Federation was
renamed in Ottawa in 1961. For
the NDP, traditionally, democracy
and the conscientious dissection of
global problems was far too
serious a business to be sullied by
balloons, hoopla and musical
parades.

Time will tell whether Winnipeg
has chosen a leader who will pro-
pel the party to new levels of
achievement, but the NDP has
never known a moment when it
has so captivated a national televi-
sion audience.

In their one major policy debate,
Meech Lake, the party looked
foolish — unable and unwilling to
make a decision. Ed Broadbent,
during a lull in activity, told me:
“I was disappointed about Meech
Lake, but that’s very Canadian.” I
presume he meant sloughing off a
tough decision.

Despite that one failure, the par-
ty looked good. The delegates ap-
peared to be (and they are) fine,
caring people, somewhat confused
about their current role in the po-
litical spectrum. The contest be-
tween Dave Barrett and Audrey:
McLaughiin was a natural: an old
pro with perhaps too many wars
behind him; and an intriguing but
inexperienced challenger.

It’s impossible to understate
Audrey McLaughlin’s political ex-
perience. She has served but two
years in parliament. Her Yukon
plurality rivals a good-sized Legion
Branch. She is demonstrably weak
on policy matters. Her speeches

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are replete with cliches about social
justice.

Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
wasted little time putting her to a
credibility test. He said he is look-
ing forward to hearing her explain
her party’s position on Meech
Lake.

In any debate Mulroney could
carve her up like a sausage. But
that’s the tricky part. Public sym-
pathy would envelop her. He
would be regarded as a bully. He
might be better advised to let her
credibility slowly dissolve. The
gamble then would be that she
wouldn’t effectively use the time to
become a knowledgable and skilled
campaigner.

gee

The convention began on the
sour note of Lorne Nystrom’s
shoplifting arrest and ended with
Simon De Jorg’s bizarre moment
of fame wearing a CBC battery
pack. But several attractive politi-
cians have now developed a na-
tional profile. Even the penniless
candidate with strong views on che
environment, who travelled from
coast to coast staying in people’s
homes, won his way into the hearts
of many. Roger Legasse, who
always appeared on stage with
children at his side, was greeted by
delegates with a standing ovation.

A long-time friend of mine was
able to catch more than a moment
at centre stage. Phil Edmonston, a
Canadian version of Raiph Nader,
burst into prominence many years
ago with a best-selling book,
Lemon Aid. The book led to the
Consumer Protection Association,
and Edmonston’s one-man war
against the weaknesses of the auto
industry,

But the NDP have been more in-
terested in Edmonston as a Quebec
politician, active in both Montreal
urban and provincial politics. He is
the Party’ 's candidate in the up-
coming Chambly by-election, call-
ed to replace one of the Tories’
many Quebec crooks.

Audrey McLaughlin pledged
herself to do everything possible to
get Edmonston elected. But the bi-

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lingual consumer crusader, earlier
in the convention, had tossed
down the gauntlet: he was widely
cheered by the Quebec delegates
when he seized the microphone
and warned that he would never
again run for the party if it turned
its back on Meech Lake.

wre

Candidate Howard McCurdy,
when asked why he supported
McLaughlin over Barrett, pointed-
ly observed: ‘‘Because the party
has got to change.””

McLaughlin needed an enor-
mous head start to beat Barrett. In
addition to that advantage, there
was a simple-minded but powerful
lobby summed up by the phrase:
“Any woman will do.’ One
pollster said that a woman as lead-
er was worth five percentage points
in the polls. Ontario labor and the
eastern hierarchy feared that Bar-
rett would erode their influence,
forming instead a western regional
foundation.

The only bitterness in the wake
of this convention is entirely within
labor. There is a residue of
acrimony, none of it directed at
the new leader.

But the more progressive minds
within che NDP — among them
Mike Harcourt of British Colum-
bia and Saskatchewan leader Roy
Romanow — handled the lead-
ership contest with care. With the
certain knowledge that they will be
instrumental! in the reconstruction
of the party, they wanted to start
fresh with a new leader.

Romanow expresses deep con-
cern over an issue that was ignored
at the convention: how to create a
solid business community. ‘*We
are very good at telling other peo-
ple how they should spend their
money, but we have not been suc-
cessful in the development of
policies that will produce wealth ...
or in convincing the public that we
can be trusted to competently
manage the economy.”’

Roy Romanow has given the
party a route map more effective
than any strategy to emerge from
Winnipeg @

Turner

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