April 5, 1982

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COVER

The gospel according to Frye

Halfway through a lecture on the Book of Job, Northrop Frye stops his hypnotic flow of thought and asks, “Are there any questions?” Another lecturer would resume talking immediately if no hands appeared, but not Frye. He waits, and waits, and waits. By Mark Czarnecki16 min

DATELINE

The struggle to defuse a time bomb

Out on Biscayne Bay, pleasure boats are drifting in the gentle spring breeze. The colors seem chosen from some fantasy of escapebrilliant white sails on an emerald sea, under a smogless blue canopy of sky. From the vantage point of Charles Intriago’s law offices, Miami is the sunblessed image indelibly etched on the mind or memory of every winter-weary Canadian. By Michael Posner9 min

CANADA

The constitution: a rough passage home

The Canada Act has caused many controversies in its rough passage through two parliaments. But last week’s final indignities in the House of Lords were enough to upset even the wizened political war-horse Lord Hailsham. Hailsham, presiding on the woolsack as Lord Chancellor, appeared to be snoozing peacefully under his wig when the final debate on the Canadian constitution went from boring to worse. By John Hay6 min

BUSINESS

The senator’s sons come of age

Acclaim—even within the clubby and often low-key confines of Toronto’s business establishment— has a way of searching out star players. No one is more aware, or chagrined, by that fact than James McCutcheon and his brother Fred, multimillionaire businessmen who—despite their best efforts—have found themselves at the centre of increasing attention from colleagues and the public alike in the wake of their latest venture: the acquisition of a controlling share in Traders Group Ltd., a venerable $3.6-billion financial empire. By Ian Brown6 min

PEOPLE

As the birth date draws nearer, speculation over the name (or names) of the Prince and Princess of Wales’s first baby is growing in the U.K. Heavily tipped favorites—if it’s a boy— are George and David. George would honor England’s patron saint and King George VI. By BARBARA RIGHTON6 min

LETTERS

Regarding your March 22 cover story, The Long Shadow Over Parliament: because the Right Honorable Joe Clark is desperately trying to cling to his position as leader of the Conservative party, we have a member like Erik Nielsen holding the Canadian public as hostages.

LABOR

Heady spoils to a hard-nosed victor

Their B-movie image endures, and with good reason. Two former Teamster presidents, Dave Beck and Jimmy Hoffa, did time in prison, and Hoffa, who hasn’t been seen since 1975, is thought to have been murdered. The current president, Roy Williams, recently charged with attempting to bribe a U.S. senator, joins a score of Teamster officials indicted or convicted last year.

BUSINESS

The Reichmanns recharge the Battery

Paul Reichmann is not a man given to using superlatives to describe his business prowess. In rare interviews, he normally brushes off as exaggeration the encomiums heaped on him and his brother Albert for their performance at the helm of their private fiefdom, Toronto-based Olympia & York Developments Ltd.

WORLD

A growing threat of war

In normal times, El-Bireh is an undistinguished Arab town of 25,000 inhabitants 15 km north of Jerusalem. Its chief claim to fame has been its mayor, Ibrahim Tawil, elected six years ago on the PLO political ticket. But on March 18 Tawil was dismissed for refusing to co-operate with the occupied West Bank’s Israeli civil administrator, Menachem Milson.

PODIUM

A farewell to greatness

The British—and many beyond their shores—have recently observed the spectacle of the editor of the London Times, holed up in his office, refusing the proprietor’s request that he leave, while all around raged an internecine staff war over who should or should not edit the once-great newspaper. By Cal McCrystal5 min

March 291982