The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 67

The Citizen, Ottawa, Monday, December 31, 1979, Page 19 elm pirate From optimism to separatism i of Tirmteain me decani Canada Canadians still hear crisis echo On the eve of a new decade, one of the first notes of the old still echoes in Canadian affairs. It was sounded by the October Crisis of 1970, which erupted when British trade commissioner James Cross was kidnapped from his Montreal home by Front de Liberation du Quebec terrorists. Before the crisis ended, Cross had been held captive for 60 days by the ironically-named "Liberation cell" of the FLQ. Meanwhile, Pierre Laporte, then Quebec's minister of labor, had been kidnapped and murdered by the "Chenier cell." October crisis 4 I I'; W't for murderers of police and prison guards was extended for another five years. It was abolished completely in 1973, but was on the verge of being reintroduced before Parliament was dissolved for the Feb.

18 election. Canada's native people received more attention than ever before during the '70s. In 1973, MPs debated for the first time the question of aboriginal rights, a concept rejected by the 1969 White Paper. Over the 10-year period, Canadians have had their human rights made more secure by establishment of the Human Rights Commission and passage of the Protection of Privacy Act, restricting the use of electronic surveillance by law enforcement agencies. But they have also learned of lawbreak-ing by members of the national police force despite the warning of a Royal Commission in 1969 that such a risk existed.

A second Royal Commission into RCMP wrongdoing is on the verge of presenting its recommendations to the new government. Canadians have been told, first, that there were unlimited energy resources to meet domestic needs and then that there are alarming prospects of an energy shortage. The Trudeau government established a Crown-owned oil company to help guarantee energy supplies, but the present government is planning to break up parts of it if re-elected in February. Today, there is talk of gasoline and heating fuel rationing. For a few years after, it seemed the threat of separatism had been removed.

But the memory of armed soldiers on the streets of Montreal was one of the factors ultimately contributing to the election of a separatist government in Quebec in 1976. One of the most lasting achievements of Trudeau's administration is the Official Languages Act, passed during his first year in power. But even it (and its offshoot the program to impose bilingualism on a public service dominated by Anglophones) was badly implemented and caused resentment in many parts of English-speaking Canada. The Trudeau years began with a surge toward social reform under the slogan "The Just Society." Substantial modernization of the Criminal Code had been approved by Parliament in 1969, and two years later the Law Reform Commission was established to review and recommend updating of all aspects of criminal and family law. None of the reports, however, has been acted upon, and this year a review of the commission's recommendations by provincial attorneys-general was begun under the direction of the new justice minister, Jacques Flynn.

In 1973 the partial abolition of capital punishment retaining the death penalty By Iain Hunter Citizen national editor For Canada the 70s were the Trudeau years. The man dominated the lives of Canadians as no other prime minister had done, as no other prime minister is likely to do for generations to come. As the new decade dawned, most of the charismatic appeal which had rocketed the little-known academic from Quebec two years earlier to the leadership of the Liberal party, then to the leadership of the couitry, still clung to Trudeau. Today, though Trudeau is fading from the centre of the political stage, he is still probably the most dominant figure on it. Bit the love and near-worship of the last years of the 60s has been become resentment.

-His supporters are few though more ercely loyal. "The optimism of the dawn of the decade, tJ0, has gone. Canadians are facing the 80s with apprehension, having to choose in two months between Joe Clark, a six-months prfme minister who has yet to convince them they were right to choose him to run tlje country last May, and a reluctant Trudeau, acceptable to many in his own party simply because there isn't anyone else around. Under Trudeau, the office of prime minister grew in size and influence at the expense of cabinet ministers, the government grew in size and influence at the expense of Parliament, and the federal government entered many areas previously left Vp to the provinces. His successor entered the prime minister's office with a commitment to enhance he central role of Parliament and turn over to cabinet and caucus committees functions previously centralized in the PMO.

Clark also is committed to turning over to the provinces responsibilities and jurisdictions jealously guarded by Trudeau for the central government. Trudeau's rather autocratic approach produced many innovations and reforms in policy areas and in the operation of government. But ultimately the style contributed to his downfall. The idol of the nation became the focus of its resentment by 1979, as Canadians saw the problems which he had pledged to solve were still with them many of them in worse degree. It was his desire to lead Quebecers into tie mainstream of Canadian political life hich brought Trudeau into federal politics in the first place.

The outbreak of terrorism in his own province in 1970 forced the prime minister, known for his concern for civil rights, to iirpose the War Measures Act. Pierre Trudeau The most dominant figure PQ sets off political earthquake Quebec Nine years later, federal and provincial authorities are still probing charges that police flouted the law in a relentless war against terrorism following the crisis. And the past few months have seen three of the five Cross kidnappers come to trial at last. They are in jail after returning home from the exile they exchanged for the trade commissioner's safety when their Montreal hideout was surrounded on Dec. 3, 197Q.

Jacques Lanctot was sentenced in November to three years in penitentiary; his sister, Louise, and her husband, Jacques Cossette-Trudel, were sentenced in August to two years less a day. The other two members of the "Liberation cell," Marc Charbonneau and Yves Langlois, remain in exile in Paris. Only two of the four men convicted in the Laporte case are still in jail. Paul Rose is serving two concurrent life terms for the kidnapping and murder of Laporte while Francis Simard is serving a life sentence for Laporte's murder. Jacques Rose, brother of Paul, is on parole after serving half an eight-year term for complicity in the Laporte kidnapping and Bernard Lortie, sentenced to more than 20 years for his part in the kidnapping, is also out on parole.

The "Liberation" cell that kidnapped Cross on Oct. 5, 1970, made seven demands, including the liberation of "political prisoners" and their safe passage to Cuba or Algeria with $500,000 in gold. When the federal and provincial governments stalled, the "Chenier" cell kidnapped Laporte on Oct. 10 at his Montreal home. In the week that followed, the federal government deployed troops and invoked the War Measures Act.

Then, on Oct. 17, a terrorist communique directed reporters and police to a car near the St. Hubert airfield. Laporte's body was found in the trunk. Even the majority of the province's an-glophones came to terms with the PQ's controversial French language charter, Bill 101, designed to make Quebec as French as the other provinces are English.

But if Quebecers were happy with Leves-que's administration, they had strong reservations about his plans for an independent state. Indeed, the same polls showed most of the population, wanted to remain part of Canada. As for Levesque, the population has come to see him less as the messiah of independence and more as the politician he really is. The referendum is still months away, though it was promised within two years of his election. His pledge to launch an official inquiry into the October Crisis of 1970 has yet to become a reality.

And when it seemed that Quebecers were not about to buy the idea of outright independence, he began touting the virtues of sovereignty-association, meaning an independent Quebec in a common market and economic union with the rest of There he stood, the deep furrows of his hang-dog face filled with tears, his smile the epicentre of a political quake rumbling from sea to shining sea. "I never thought that I could be so proud of being a Quebecer as I am now," he intoned, as the already frenzied crowd at Paul Sauv6 arena in east end Montreal exploded with screams of joy and disbelief. The date was Nov. 15, 1976, and Ren6 LeVesque, the man dedicated to leading Quebec out of Confederation, had just become the province's premier-elect. English Canadians were shocked, angry and frustrated; Prime Minister Trudeau's pledge to eradicate the separatist hordes had proven worthless.

It was a personal triumph for Levesque. Once a cabinet minister under Liberal premier Jean Lesage, he had inaugurated the Parti Quell lbecois eight years earlier and had seen it through some difficult times. In the 1970 provincial elections, the PQ took 23 per cent of the vote, but only seven of the 108 National Assembly seats. Three years later, they elected only six MNAs, but increased their share of the popular vote and formed the official, albeit tiny opposition to the powerful Liberal government of Robert Bourassa. In 1976, the PQ campaigned on Bouras-sa's record and refused to discuss independence.

Elect us first, they said, and we'll hold a separate referendum on the issues within two years of the election. The strategy worked: the PQ won a 71-seat majority government and Bourassa, perceived as the leader of a weak and corrupt adminstration, disappeared. Levesque had promised that the sky wouldn't fall with the election of a PQ government and he was right. Opinion polls taken earlier this year showed public approval at 55 per cent. The PQ introduced much needed social reforms, such as its agricultural zoning law, and reduced taxes for lower- and middle-income Quebecers.

city hall! Fight city hall? Ottawans have become I Councillors 1 -ft jr. A 4U go full-time By Donna Balkan Citizen staff writer Some say the instigators were Ralph Sutherland and Michael Cassi-dy. Don Kay says it began in his ward. Wherever it began, the ability of citizens' groups to influence city hall's decision-making has been the most important municipal event of this decade. As the 1970s progressed, ordinary citizens were not only fighting city hall they became city hall.

The 1972 election saw the reduction of the term of office from three to two years, the decrease in the size of City Hall city council from 28 to 16 members, and a 55 per cent pay hike for council members the first such increase since 1963. It was this pay increase and those that came after that led to another important trend of the 1970s: the emergence of the full-time alderman. In 1974, council underwent its greatest electoral transformation, with the addition of Brian Bourns, Georges Bedard, Rolf Hasenack, Trip Kennedy and Toddy Kehoe all of whom had been involved in either the citizens' movement, the NDP, or both. Although council still has its "old guard" controllers Don Reid and Bill Law and aldermen Don Kay, Rheal Robert and Joe Quinn the era of the old-fashioned "ward heeler" seems to be a thing of the past. What will the 1980s bring? If the Ontario Municipal Board approves the abolition of board of control and the consequent creation of 15 wards, the political restructuring that began in the early 70s will be virtually complete.

Kenneth Fogarty 1970 1972 When Kenneth Fogarty stepped down from the mayoralty in April, 1972 to become a county court judge, a Citizen columnist described him as "Ottawa's most forgettable mayor." He had been at city hall since 1960 alderman and then as a member of board of control and is thought of today as the last of Ottawa's "old guard" mayors. But Fogarty was ahead of his time when it came to his ideas for the city. Long before the region started seriously discussing rapid transit, Fogarty talked about a subway system for Ottawa. He understood the need to revitalize the city's downtown core and although his plans to make the area from Lyon Street to King Edward Avenue "exciting and dramatic" did not come to fruition in his time, they became the basis for what soon will be Rideau Centre. Fogarty criticized the federal government for allowing Le-Breton Flats to sit idle today, that land is finally being developed for housing.

Six years before the release of the Mayo Report, Fogarty called upon the province to review the structure of regional government, saying it had to be Pierre Benoit 1972 1974 When Kenneth Fogarty resigned in April, 1972, to become a judge, the dynamic controller Pierre Benoit was chosen by city council to fill the vacancy. When election time came, he won by a landslide. He was the mayor who set the stage for a more open municipal government, a. trend followed by Lorry Greenberg and Marion Dewar. Two other important trends were pushed forward during the Benoit years neighborhood planning and the preservation of heritage buildings.

Not all of Benoit's plans were as successful. Like his successors, he vigorously fought for additional federal grants in lieu of taxes and despite a series of meetings with then Finance Minister John Turner, he got nowhere. His proposal for a restructuring of regional government that would help ease rural-urban tensions was defeated by board of control and his plans for a bus barn in the west end were stymied when the federal government refused to release the required land. Benoit ran for the PCs in the provincial riding of Carleton East but was defeated by Liberal Paul Taylor. He soon bounced back to become a senior vice-president of Campeau Lorry Greenberg 1974 1978 No matter what else Lorry Greenberg achieved during his term as mayor, he will always be remembered as the guy who stripped to his undies to plunge into the Colonel By fountain during the summer of 1975.

Appointed to city council in 1968 following the death of an alderman in Wellington Ward, Greenberg became a controller in 1970 and handily won the mayoralty four years later. Despite his wealth his family owns Minto Construction his style was that of a reformer. In many ways, Lorry Greenberg was decidedly different from his predecessors. He was Jewish in a city with a relatively small Jewish population, he was born poor and had a lOth-grade education. Shortly after becoming mayor, Greenberg launched his highly-publicized campaign against body rub parlors.

The city's anti-smoking bylaw was another Greenberg product. Greenberg's vigorous fight for more grants in lieu of taxes made him a thorn in the side of the federal government, and he threatened to turn off the water in government buildings unless something was done. Today, he's back on Sussex Drive as a successful antique dealer. Marion Dewar 1978- The 1978 mayoral campaign ended with Marion Dewar beating Pat Nicol by nearly 20,000 votes. Dewar has shown an ability to mediate disputes and maintains a good relationship with city staff.

She rarely loses her temper, and when she does, as in a recent dispute with Kanata Mayor Marianne Wilkinson over the funding of the regional convention centre, it is considered atypical behavior. During her first year as mayor, Dewar has tied up a number of loose ends left by previous administrations. The Rideau Centre agreement was finally signed in May and the now-defeated federal government introduced legislation to give Ottawa additional grants in lieu of taxes. Plans for a new police headquarters are well underway. City council has voted to abolish board of control and that question is awaiting a ruling by the Ontario Municipal Board.

In June, Dewar became known across Canada for her controversial plan to bring 4,000 Vietnamese refugees to Ottawa. One Dewar goal that has yet to be realized is the abolition of special-purpose bodies, such as the Ottawa public library board. vastly overhauled if it was to survive. 4.