Trudeau’s Tango Trudeau’s Tango Alberta Meets Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1968–1972 DA R RY L R AY M A K ER Published by Cover photo: Pierre Elliott Trudeau at the Liberal Leadership Convention of 1968. The University of Alberta Press mg26 04, Vol 1. File 1-67. Pierre Elliot Trudeau Ring House 2 Fonds. Library and Archives Canada. Used by Edmonton, Alberta, Canada t6g 2e1 permission www.uap.ualberta.ca All rights reserved. No part of this publication Copyright © 2017 Darryl Raymaker may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, library and archives canada recording, or otherwise) without prior written cataloguing in publication consent. Contact the University of Alberta Press for further details. Raymaker, Darryl, 1939–, author Trudeau’s tango : Alberta meets Pierre Elliott The University of Alberta Press supports copy- Trudeau, 1968–1972 / Darryl Raymaker. right. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates Includes bibliographical references and index. a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an autho- Issued in print and electronic formats. rized edition of this book and for complying with isbn 978–1–77212–265–7 (softcover). — the copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, isbn 978–1–77212–319–7 (epub). — or distributing any part of it in any form without isbn 978–1–77212–320–3 (Kindle). — permission. You are supporting writers and isbn 978–1–77212–321–0 (pdf) allowing University of Alberta Press to continue to publish books for every reader. 1. Canada—Politics and government— 1963–1968. 2. Canada—Politics and The University of Alberta Press gratefully government—1963–1984. 3. Alberta—Politics acknowledges the support received for its and government—1935–1971. 4. Federal– publishing program from the Government of provincial relations—Canada—History—20th Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts, and century. 5. Raymaker, Darryl, 1939–. 6. Trudeau, the Government of Alberta through the Alberta Pierre Elliott, 1919–2000. 7. Alberta Social Credit Media Fund. Party—History. I. Title. 6 7 FC625.R39 2017 971.064’4 C2016–908108–7 C2016–908109–5 First edition, first printing, 2017. First electronic edition, 2017. Editing by Joan Dixon. Proofreading by Joanne Muzak. Indexing by Stephen Ullstrom. Cover design by Alan Brownoff. To the memory of my wife Pat (1944–2017), for her unswerving loyalty, support, and wise counsel through our arduous but happy and fascinating fifty years of adventures as Alberta Liberals. Contents Acknowledgements xi Foreword xiii lloyd axworthy Preface xvii ca-na-da 1967 I Here Comes Mr. Trudeau 1 The Great Race Begins 3 december 1967–march 1968 2 The Coming of the Just Society 9 march–april 1968 3 Trudeaumania Goes West 21 april–june 1968 4 The Battle for Edmonton Centre 31 april–june 1968 5 The Battle for Alberta 37 may–june 1968 6 Breakthrough 45 june 1968 7 The Honeymoon 55 june–december 1968 II Oil and Other Minefields 8 In Alberta, It’s About Oil, Stupid! 65 january–april 1969 9 Mr. Trudeau Lays an Egg 71 march–may 1969 10 Oil, Economic Nationalism, and Mean Joe Greene 79 april 1969–october 1970 11 Hustle Grain! 91 december 1968–october 1970 12 The Infernal White Paper 101 january 1969–october 1970 13 Fighting Inflation and the Cunning Posties 111 april 1969–september 1970 III The Arranged Marriage 14 The Evolution of the Mighty Social Credit 119 september 1968– september 1969 15 A Troublesome Relationship 127 january 1969–february 1970 16 The Making of a Senator 139 february–october 1970 IV Crisis 17 Western Alienation and the Rabble-rousers 149 december 1968–october 1970 18 The October Crisis 161 august–december 1970 V The Second Coming 19 The Splendours of OPEC and the Saga of Home Oil 171 october 1970–march 1971 20 The Rough Sport of Politics 179 july 1970–march 1971 21 Blissful Times and the Beginning of the End of Tax Reform 187 november 1970–july 1971 22 As Good as It Gets 195 july 1971 VI The Dawning of the Lougheed Era 23 Lougheed Comes to Power 205 february–september 1971 24 Tax Reform at Last 215 july–december 1971 25 Peter Lougheed Shows His Stuff 219 july 1971–march 1972 VII Stumbling toward the Brink 26 The Grits Falter 227 september 1971–may 1972 27 Chickens, Eggs, and Wheat Deals 235 january 1971–june 1972 28 Peter Lougheed Becomes a Star 241 december 1971–july 1972 29 The Eve of the Federal Election 247 april–august 1972 30 “The Land is Strong?” 255 september–october 1972 31 The Party’s Over 269 october–november 1972 Epilogue 281 Notes 287 Bibliography 331 Index 337 Acknowledgements since december 1963 when I purchased my first Liberal Party member- ship, I have participated in the whole gamut of party activities. I’ve stuffed envelopes, ran as a candidate (four times), raised money, and served party organizations right up to the National Executive of the Liberal Party of Canada—all the while living and earning my living in Alberta, not exactly a Liberal Party breeding ground. Despite this hostile political environment, through it all, I learned much about Canada and the provinces, observed some history close up, and met many interesting and powerful people. Sometime after I ran in what was to be my last campaign in 1984, I decided that I should share some of my experiences in Canadian politics and history, and so I set about writing about them. This narrative describes events of the years 1968 to 1972, the first term of the Trudeau government and an era of great political change in Canada and Alberta. It is written from my per- spective as an Alberta Liberal Party activist who at that time hovered only around the edges of political power, but who nevertheless acquired a pretty good knowledge of his province and his party. Notwithstanding my party xi affiliation, in telling the story of the events and the personalities that domi- nated politics during those days, I have striven to be objective. I have many to thank for helping me through this project. First and fore- most I thank my wife, Pat, who sadly passed away before the publication of this book. Pat was, in her own right, a skillful political practitioner, and was loyally at my side every step along the way. I also thank our children Derek, Patrick, and Nicole, who over the years always strongly supported our activities despite our absences from the home front to attend to the smoke-filled rooms or the political hustings. I also thank Peter Midgley of the University of Alberta Press, for reviewing my very raw and long manuscript, seeing something worthwhile about it, and offering me encouragement and guidance throughout the project. I owe a great debt to my first-class editor Joan Dixon, whose skill with her literary scalpel, along with her patience, tact, and humour turned my original behemoth of a manuscript into something readably efficient. I also thank journalist and author Frank Dabbs, for sharing his experiences and insights with me in both politics and publishing, and encouraging me to embark upon this project. I am also appreciative of the contribution of those who shared with me their experiences in the Liberal Party and politics over the years: Nick Taylor and the Honourable Allen Sulatycky reviewed my manuscript and offered excellent suggestions and encour- agement; the Honourable Roger Kerans, Bryan Mahoney, Albert Ludwig, John Moreau, and Stan Cichon, all great Liberals, shared their anecdotes and stories and helped in any way they could. I am also indebted to Blair Williams, Charles Kelly, and David Thomson for relating to me some of their experiences and anecdotes of working in Ottawa. For their insight and knowledge of the oil and gas industry of those days and checking the accuracy of my narrative, I thank my old oilmen friends Richard Anderson and James Walasko. I also thank my dear friends Tim Crago and Ana-Marija Maroti, and countless others not only for their help, but also for their painful reminders that I should finish the book rather than just talk about it. xii Acknowledgements Foreword lloyd axworthy, march 2017 darryl raymaker is a charter member of one the most exclusive associa- tions in Canada—he’s an Alberta Liberal. He has used his long experience as an activist for the Liberal cause to write an intriguing tale that centres on Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s first term as prime minister and the unrealized opportunity to bridge one of the classic fault lines of Canadian politics: the rift between the Liberal Party in Ottawa and Alberta’s political class. In this volume, Raymaker provides an informed participant’s view of the dynamics at work in Canada at a time when both the nation and Alberta were in a phase of accelerated growth and new political power alignments were being forged; a time when key decisions were being made on resource development, on Canada–US rela- tions, on federal–provincial entanglements, and on defining the contours of the nation’s emerging presence in the world. Written by an insider, this book has a personal touch in describing the personalities and players, the intrigues and rivalries, the opportunities gained and lost, and the configuration of economic and political interests. For the political junkie, it’s a rousing analysis of the flow of action and xiii events that launched careers, made and broke reputations, and the sacri- fices made by those who entered the arena of “the Blood Sport.” I was beginning my own political career as a Manitoba Liberal during the late 1960s and, contrary to Peter Lougheed’s claim of exclusiveness for Albertans, we made common cause with our fellow Liberals from Alberta.