Canadian Elections
So Mr. Diefenbaker will be in London for the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference in September after all. Though this is not really surprising, it is disappointing. The Canadian elec- tion result is as awkward as most commentators expected it to be. The volatility of Canadian poli- tics, which gave Mr. Diefenbaker the largest majority in the country's parliamentary history, has reacted against him this time. His power is dependent on the support of thirty Social Credit MPs, most of them French-Canadians from Quebec. Just what effect this will have on Mr. Diefenbaker's attempts to keep Britain out of the Common Market is not clear. M. Real Caouette, the leader of the Quebec Social Credit MPs, is a demagogue in the worst traditions of Quebec politics, and it is possible that he will let Mr. Diefenbaker's foreign policies alone in re- turn for some influence on federal-provincial relations. It is equally possible that he will say, again in French-Canadian demagogic tradition, that Canada should ignore the Commonwealth, and nurture her own independent nationality. I.: this happens, Mr. Diefenbaker's opposition to Britain's entry will be watered down by his desire to retain power in Ottawa,, for he too is capable of playing a demagogue's game.
Mr. Lester Pearson did as well as might be expected. He is no great party-leader in the basic, sometimes base, atmosphere of Canadian politics, but the Liberal Party's fortunes are near complete restoration. If there is another elec- tion within the year (and although Mr. Diefen- baker does not like sharing power with anyone —even his own Cabinet--that is by no means certain), they could make an even closer fight of it. But with the support of the New Demo- cratic Party, which managed only eighteen seats in this election, they will provide the strong par- liamentary opposition Canada has lacked, and badly needed, in the past four years.
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