December 19, 1983

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COVER

The joys of a bountiful season

With fingers snapping and bodies twitching, the audience of 150 at the poetry reading eerily resembled a crowd in a Greenwich Village coffeehouse a generation ago. And the poet in the centre looked the part of the archbeatnik, with his wispy goatee and Coke-bottle glasses. By Val Ross16 min

48d

CONSUMERISM

Christmas is for selling

The Canadian consumer is a hardy species, a much-pursued but canny survivor in a rough-andtumble jungle—the $100-billion-a-year retail marketplace. In hard times, consumers become elusive, making only occasional forays for essentials and otherwise hoarding scarce dollars.

LETTERS

No easy way out

It was with some disbelief that I read the letter to the editor by John Knifton in the Nov. 28 issue of Maclean's (The divine plan). One sentence stuck in my mind as being representative of an attitude that I have often heard expressed recently, particularly in the press— “Who appointed Trudeau global peacemaker anyway?”

CANADA

Promises from the throne

Just hours after Gov. Gen. Ed Schreyer plodded through his final speech from the throne last week, officials from the Prime Minister’s Office telephoned Liberals across the country to ask their opinions. Some partisans were pleased that the outline of legislative proposals included many party policy planks. By Mary Janigan6 min

WORLD

The endless cycle of violence

The car bomb, the most undiscriminating weapon in the arsenal of modern urban war, claimed a score more victims in the Middle East last week as the region remained trapped in its cycle of violence. In separate blasts in West Beirut and Jerusalem, 20 civilians were killed and 100 more injured.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Bell pursues a startled quarry

Rue St-Jacques in Montreal reacted with disbelief, Bay Street brokers in Toronto were nonplussed, and investment experts across the nation professed puzzlement. The object of the reaction was Bell Canada Enterprises Inc. (BCE), parent of a $13.4-billion telecommunications empire, which last week launched a takeover bid on a pipeline company. By James Fleming5 min

COLUMN

Rape and the letter of the law

If we are to take seriously the comments and writing of much of our major media, politicians and social activists (which covers a considerable range, from every NDPer visible to David Peterson, head of Ontario’s provincial Liberal party, Globe and Mail columnist Orland French and Toronto Sun columnists Walter Stewart and Laura Sabia), we can expect the following procedure to be implemented in our criminal justice system: By Barbara Amiel5 min

WORLD

NATO’s search for unity

For Pierre Trudeau’s fledgling peace initiative, the timing could not have been better. As NATO foreign and defence ministers gathered in Brussels last week, a growing sense of crisis overshadowed their talks. The alliance resolutely decided to continue deployment of the cruise and Pershing II missiles in Europe, despite last month’s Soviet walkout from the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) reduction talks in Geneva.

COLUMN

The winter wait in Ottawa

The snow lies deep and crisp and even in Ottawa, softening the whispers of the natives as they converse in the quaint gobbledegook that is the patois of the area. High swivel servants, bundled in parkas, mush through the drifts, salt beginning to climb their trouser legs. By Allan Fotheringham4 min

Q&A: JESSE JACKSON

A crusade for a dream

Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson, a 42-year-old black civil rights leader, is the latest and most controversial entrant to the race for the 1984 U.S. Democratic presidential nomination. Jackson, whom many Americans consider to have inherited the mantle of his former mentor, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., started his campaign late—he did not declare his candidacy until Nov. 3.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Alberta gives up an airline

The Alberta government fulfilled its 1982 campaign promise to get out of the airline business last week. It put Calgary-based Pacific Western Airlines (PWA) on the market and, as investors promptly bought the 3.7 million shares, it was clear that political and financial circles welcomed the move. By GILLIAN STEWARD4 min

December 121983