June 15, 1987

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WORLD

The battle for Britain

To campaigning British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, London’s once-derelict docklands are a showcase of her efforts to revive Britain’s economy—“a classic example of free enterprise and Toryism at work,” as she recently put it. The area, only six kilometres east of Westminster, was once a barren landscape of empty warehouses and vacant lots.

CANADA/COVER

CANADA'S NEW DEAL

They are either the new Fathers of Confederation—or the architects of the nation’s dissolution. They have either brought Quebec back into the constitutional family—or subverted the cherished ideal of One Canada. Rumpled and unshaven, the nation’s 11 first ministers descended into the dawn’s early light last week, ending a marathon negotiating session with a historic agreement.

CANADA/COVER

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

We met for almost 20 consecutive hours, from midmorning of one day to the dawn of the next. We were 11 Canadians, from diverse backgrounds, from different political parties and different regions of Canada. Around that oval table, in the fourth-floor boardroom of the Langevin Block, all the partners of Canada were trying to finalize a new deal for Canada. By Brian Mulroney7 min

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Black and White and read all over

As he bought and sold his way through the giant Argus Corp. Ltd. in the early 1980s, Conrad Black frequently drew criticism that he was destroying more than he created. But now the Toronto financier is building with a vengeance as he lays the foundation for a new newspaper empire.

THE AIDS CRISIS

Confrontation and concern about AIDS

Entertainment was not on the agenda last week as Elizabeth Taylor prepared to address a crowd of 450 people at the National Press Club in Washington. Indeed, Taylor spoke on a grim subject—acquired immune deficiency syndrome. And the stage was set by a burly gatecrasher holding a sign at the front of the room that read “Quarantine Manhattan Island, the AIDS capital of the world.

A defence plan for Canada

Last October, Defence Minister Perrin Beatty found himself standing on the narrow matteblack hull of one of Canada’s 20year-old Canadian submarines off the coast of Nova Scotia. He had only been in the job three months as he stood on the sub’s foredeck, looking out at the grey-green Atlantic as an outmoded Sea King antisubmarine helicopter lumbered overhead. By MARC CLARK6 min

CANADA/COVER

VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

A country’s constitution is its most important legal document, outlining the kind of society its citizens wish to create. Last week, as their leaders hammered out important changes to their Constitution behind the closed doors of Ottawa’s Langevin Block, ordinary Canadians had no direct voice in what was being decided. By ANDREW PHILLIPS6 min

ANOTHER VIEW

The case for a cheap dog

Even in Ottawa it is not unusual for a siren to wail on Friday night. Awakened at 2 a.m., the people in the neighborhood tried, as people awakened by sirens do, to pinpoint the noise. The siren wailed for what seemed like five minutes, then stopped. By Charles Gordon5 min

SPORTS

Showdown in the Bronx

After playing Western Division teams for more than a month, the Toronto Blue Jays are finally squaring off again with their American League Eastern Division rivals. Following 22 wins in 35 games against the West, Toronto entertained the Baltimore Orioles for a weekend series.

CANADA/COVER

B.C.’s low-key day of protest

Considering the anger that produced it, last week’s one-day general strike in British Columbia was an almost tranquil affair. The buses did not run. Schools, libraries and liquor stores were closed. Garbage lay uncollected. The fleet of ferries that connects Vancouver Island and other coastal communities with the mainland remained in dock.

June 81987