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â€"Howard Elliott Oh, I could understand the Trudeaumania. With his casual clothes, his boutonniere, and his exotic holiâ€" days, he was a regular breath of fresh air to Canaâ€" dians, accustomed to stodginess at the top. When he married the lovely Margaret Sinclair, the fairy tale séemed complete, only outdone by the fact that they had three children, bartg, bang, bang, two of them born on Christmas Day. It would take a distinâ€" guished writer of soap opera to come up with a better sceript Yet all the time I didn‘t trust him. Too smooth. even slippery. when it came to a forthright statement about From the time he was chosen leader and elected 11 years ago, I have disliked Pierre Trudeau. Perhaps distrusted would be a better word. As a Canadian I was used to good, dull, solid prime ministers like Mike Pearson, a genial, open internaâ€" tionally known diplomat ; ‘‘Uncle Louis®" St. Laurent, a corporate lawyer respected by men of all parties:; John Diefenbaker, a criminal lawyer with great exâ€" perience in parliament. This new guy, Trudgéau, was a little too good to be true. A millionaire‘s son who had never really proved himself in business, law, (his profession) or the arts. He had no experience in parliament. He had switched ideals too easily, from firebrand to national pacifier. He was photogenic, articulate, and obviously a man with a considerable intellect. He had bags of charm, with the Gallic shrug, the lifted eyebrow. In his naâ€" tional television speeches, he was a winner, most perâ€" suasive. For quite a while, I counted myself among that apâ€" proximately 30 per cent of Canadian voters who were ‘"undecided."‘ If nothing else, this federal election has provided some entertaining moments for me. As the campaign comes to an end, I find myself thinking less of politics, and more of the entertaining aspects of this political circus. + You see, media events are like any other gathering® of professionals. There‘s a definite peckingâ€"order, and needless to say, I was not at the top. Although it may sound odd coming from a journaâ€" list, I also find myself thinking that Canadian media are the main reasons that this campaign has been parâ€" ticularly frivolous. I‘ve had the opportunity to attend two events that typify this election. â€" â€" A Progressive Conservative luncheon featuring none other than Joe Clark was the first. The first thing I felt upon entering the Valhalla Inn where the lunâ€" cheon was held was embarrassment. â€" The organizers of this event must have been exâ€" tremely aware of that pecking order, judging by the way the media tables were set up. On one side of the blueâ€"covered stage sat the members of Kâ€"W media. Lording in fine fashion over that table were several editorial representatives from this area‘s most presiâ€" gious media member â€" the Record. Our present system for choosing a federal governâ€" ment will continue to encourage the personality squabbles that obscure the purpose of election camâ€" paigns if we don‘t move toward an effective reform. We spend millions voting for one man. For that kind of money we should be voting for an entire cabinet on the one ballot. Voters in Canada are told the ballot is a powerful inâ€" strument in controlling the destiny of the nation. The politicians are at the mercy of the electorate, so to speak, and that an election is visible proof democracy really works. Pretty heady stuff that, but not parâ€" ticularly true. _ But even the Record delegation appeared insigâ€" nificant when compared to the campaign reporters. Let‘s .look at what is really going on. This year‘s election is being run as a conflict of personalities in the language of high level politics. Information is raâ€" tioned out in an atmosphere of mystique that extends to contradictions and carnival hype that hopefully has nothing to do with the actual running of the country‘s business. The whole thing is a cross between a chess match and a Madison Avenue think tank. Even the date of the election is a strategic move to gain political advanâ€" tage. Thousands upon thousands of campaign dollars â€"Bill Smiley According to ‘Ho His government has done virtually nothing about: foreign companies buying Canada; development of the country; unemployment ; pollution and a hundred other issues of concern. There was no bold leadership of Canadian industry, commerce, science. There was a knucklingâ€"under to militant labour. There was the panicky War Measures Act in Quebec. There was a steady loss of confidence in Canada on the internaâ€" tional level. With no implied criticism of either the qualificaâ€" tions or character of the local candidates, I can see no evidence to suggest that voting any one into office as our local MP is going to have an immediate impact on the new government we‘ll have after May 22. attacks that degrade us all to some extent. The object of the whole election_exercise is presuâ€" mably to put into power a group of men who, in the judgment of the voting majority, are best suited to run the affairs of the nation. That is not necessarily what we are going to get under the present system. Very few at the polis have the opportunity of voting directly for the prime minister of their choice. Here in Waterloo you won‘t find the names Clark, Trudeau or Broadbent on the ballot. You will, rather, be asked to vote for a local federal representative who , if electâ€" ed, will probably serve an apprenticeship as a backâ€" bencher with very little say in the running of the goâ€" vernment. & s When Joe Clark was chosen leader of the Tories. taking the place of a much superior man, Robert Stanâ€" field, at least I had some hope. He was young, seemed vigorous. and must have something going for him., even though barely more than half the Tory delegates wanted him, or didn‘t want Claude Wagner As the months have passed, my hopes have withâ€" ered. Clark seems just the opposite of Trudeau. Not smooth, but awkward. Not intellectual, though hardâ€" plugging at his homework. Trying to appear forceful Then why spend all this money having both the local candidate and the party leader duplicate the advertisâ€" ing of their respective qualifications? My wife was sore at me for what she considered my jaundiced view of Prince Charming. Just as she was sore at me because I wasn‘t altogether sold on John F. Kennedy ten years earlier, another guy who had ridâ€" den to office on a few million dollars, a barrel of amâ€" bition, and charm to burn. My jaundice was justified. Since Trudeau took over, Canada has slipped steadily into a stagflation that has made a hell of a lot of other Canadians just as jaunâ€" diced. He refused to consider wage and price controls. A year later he switched and stole the idea from the Tories, too late. his views or the country. At first I thought we might just have a statesman, but it wasn‘t long before he was a pure politician to the heels. are spent orchestrating the hystrionics and character These are the poor souls who are assigned to follow each candidate around for the duration ‘of the camâ€" paign and listen to each and every rendition of those dazzling speeches. Now this, I thought, is prestige. Some of the camâ€" paign teporters sat taking notes, but most were conâ€" tent to let the audience know that they were VIP‘s in the truest sense. Right about then I realized the poor folks in the audience were under the wrong impression. Judging by their applause, they seemed to feel Joe Clark was the star of the show and the reason for the luncheon. As I sat with my noteâ€"pad and Bic pen, my unaâ€" domed camera and flash dangling from my neck, I couldn‘t help feeling rather insignificant. Phoâ€" tographers from the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail and Sun milled about, bristling with lenses, cameras, flash equipment and large egos. They photographed Clark from every possible angle, capturing every expression on his face and every movement of his hands. o â€" I thought the highâ€"priced media people were the real stars. The luncheon seemed the perfect opporâ€" tunity for them to strut their stuff. In fact, they were much better entertainers than Clark was. The Liberal rally I attended was much the same. The PM, of course, was the star. But the media maâ€" I can see voting locally for politicians in municipal Wls ae t 94 t mm.wmmmmmv ; Instead, we read about the poor woman who couldn‘t get to see the PM, or about the fact that Truâ€" deau was handed a dollar to pay for Girl Guide cooâ€" kies. Or we see pictures of Ed Broadbent looking imâ€" mensely foolish on back of a motorcycle. The CBC went to the trouble of finding a theatre criâ€" tic to analyze the performance of the three leaders when they appeared on a television debate. Acting is obviously the key. All this serves to convince me of a rather sad situaâ€" tion. This election campaign â€" probably all election campaigns in our nolitical system â€" are wrapped in a nice, neat and flashy package. And media sources, local and national, translate the material they‘re given to nice, neat, flashy and cute election coverage. It‘s all very slick and professional. And I think it‘s also quite meaningless. chine was in fine form there too. Both political events seemed to have been arranged with the media in mind rather than the voters: At the Liberal rally, organizers went to the trouble of grabâ€" bing three kids r?prmt Trudeau with gifts. The phoâ€" tographers were in a craze, because kids make cute pictures. ' With all the trouble and detail organizers go to for these events, you‘d think the media would come out with some terrific material. Not so. What a choice! An aging playboy who has allowed Canada‘s national debt, and Canada‘s government, swell to epic proportions until Ottawa appears a huge, complacent bloodâ€"sucker drawing the life out of the rest of the country. And a hick from High River whose main motive seems to be pure political hunger for power. (No aspersions on High River, whose editor kept me up until 4 a m. one morning in a great inâ€" tellectual debate). Where to go? I‘m lurching to the left, and I wouldn‘t be surprised if many joined me. I‘m no socialist, but Broadbent at least isn‘t making an ass of himself, has some concrete ideas. We have a good man in our ridâ€" ing, and this time I‘m going to vote for the man. in the televised House of Commons, but a fingerâ€"wagâ€" ging, jowilâ€"shaking, pale effigy of old John Diefenâ€" baker at his best. There‘ll be no bold leadership by this guy, either, if he wins. He makes a statement, then waffles. He dodges a television confrontation with Trudeau, and I don‘t blame him. He throws out a huge bribe to the middleâ€"class voter with his mortgage interest scheme. He seems a decent enough chap, as honest as a poliâ€" tician can be, but he appears more like a puppet, gyrating awkwardly to the strings pulled by his adâ€" visors, than a real human being. He seems to have virâ€" tually no sense of humour, no vision of Canada ; nothâ€" ing but an enormous desire to become prime minister. Clark has never really accomplished anything outâ€" side of politics. He was a hardworking and earnest, but undistinguished member of parliament. That‘s why he got the "Joe Who?‘‘ label after he wiggled into the leadership. The public would then vote for the cabinet as a comâ€" plete unit. Seats in parliament would be distributed on the basis of total votes received by each party in the various regions of the country. ~ It‘s a "what you see is what you get" system. I wouldn‘t bet $20 on who will win the Stanley Cup next year without first knowing who will be on the various teams besides the team captain. Why should I gamble more on the next federal election? elections. I can also see how a local MPP can conâ€" tribute some valuable input into the business at Queen‘s Park. But federal politics are so remote from small communities in their overview of the national and international problems of government that surely the federal cabinet is where we should be making our popular choice and not in a local representative. It is conceivable that if an important cabinet minisâ€" ter, or even the party leader, is defeated in his own riding, your local MP could be asked to relinquish his seat to the other man. Why not set up an electoral system whereby each party declares at the campaign outset its choice for prime minister and each of the ministerial positions? By Geoff Hoile _ _ *