December 14, 1987

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WORLD

A revolt against poverty

As Dhaka—the squalid capital of impoverished Bangladesh—simmered under a state of emergency last week, an excited and jostling mob stopped a car at a railway crossing. Realizing that its occupant was a foreign reporter, the mob crowded around the vehicle, shouting curses.

COVER

THE PRICE OF GLORY

It was only a practice skate, but last week more than 3,500 Calgary schoolchildren wildly cheered one of Canada’s greatest Olympians as he and his teammates sped around the new $40-million indoor speed skating Olympic Oval. For Gaetan Boucher—winner of four Olympic medals, including two golds at the 1984 Winter Games—and his 14 teammates on the Canadian speed skating team, the children’s uncritical acclaim was a welcome respite from the mounting pressure to win medals at February’s Calgary Winter Games. By JOHN HOWSE8 min

CANADA

‘Wrong by any measure’

During the 18 months he spent investigating conflict-of-interest allegations against former Conservative cabinet minister Sinclair Stevens, Ontario Supreme Court Justice William Parker conducted one of the most exhaustive examinations of the conduct of a federal politician in Canadian history.

COVER

PLAYING NEW MIND GAMES

Four evenings a week, before Ian Magrath goes to bed, the Canadian Olympic ski jumping hopeful listens to a 15-minute cassette tape. Magrath, 22, from Whitby, Ont., is among the growing number of athletes using psychological techniques to prepare for the Calgary Winter Olympic Games.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

OPEC’s troubled future

The elegant colonial decor in the Caracas restaurant belies the economic hardship that dominates the country. Inside La Castellana, three local businessmen reminisce about how the country revelled in the profits of expensive oil. For almost a decade, from 1973 to 1981, when the price of oil jumped to $48 from $3 a barrel, Venezuela, like most of the other 12 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), enjoyed unprecedented wealth. By THERESA TEDESCO4 min

PUBLISHING

Literary tidings of comfort and joy

Long after the expensive doubledecker selections of chocolates have been consumed and the automatic tomato-peeler has been consigned to the broom closet’s upper reaches, some presents will keep on giving pleasure to their recipients. By JOHN DALY, PETER GIFFEN, PATRICIA HLUCHY, GEOFFREY JAMES, NICHOLAS JENNINGS, Brian D. Johnson, Anthony Wilson-Smith, PAMELA YOUNG6 min

WORLD

The peace contest

Although the talk was of peace, a public-relations war raged throughout last week between the two superpower leaders. On the eve of this week’s Washington summit President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev each tried to win the approval of the American people for his own vision of superpower relations. By IAN AUSTEN4 min

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Black Monday’s long hangover

After months of speculation, the Royal Bank of Canada announced last week that it has found a partner in the securities industry. Other major banks and brokers began announcing mergers and partnerships almost a year ago, but the Royal’s tardiness has paid off, according to some experts.

Q&A: TOM WOLFE

Between fact and fiction

One of North America’s best-selling nonfiction writers, Tom Wolfe, 56, has coined such widely used phrases as “The Me Decade” and “The Right Stuff.” In the 1960s Wolfe borrowed from the narrative technique of the novel to develop a style of journalism— called the “New Journalism"—with which he chronicled the 1960s counterculture in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby.

CANADA

The NDP’s Quebec gamble

The new leader of Quebec’s provincial New Democratic Party is a bearded translator who has been defeated in each of his six campaigns for elected office. But for Roland Morin, 57, winning the leadership of the fledgling provincial party on Nov. 29 was a long-awaited step out of political obscurity. By BRUCE WALLACE4 min

CANADA

The new day care policy

It has grown slowly, but insistently, into a major political issue. While the number of women in the workforce continues to grow, the number of good, affordable day care spaces has failed to keep pace. Of the 1.6 million Canadian women with children under six years old, almost one million hold jobs.

COLUMN

The real sins of politicians

We have finally hit the watershed, it seems, and none too soon. The pendulum has finally started to swing. Madness is stilled for a moment. The sleuths and gumshoes have paused in their labors. A tiny smidgeon of common sense has peeked its tiny head over the horizon. By Allan Fotheringham4 min

COLUMN

The tangle of disability claims

For 20 years Douglas McTaggart’s independent agency, Planned Insurance Portfolios Co. Ltd., sold insurance for Crown Life Insurance Co.—about $2 billion worth. By 1979 the business relationship had deteriorated, and in December, 1982, Crown terminated his company’s services. By Diane Francis5 min

December 71987