Canada Changes Course

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UItimately, the campaign turned not on ideas but on images. An unusually private politician, Turner seemed nervous and creaky-voiced when delivering speeches or working crowds. He would sometimes stammer or gesture wildly, then laugh nervously to cover his embarrassment. His oral flubs became legion. "It's a great country where a man can come up, whatever his religion, whatever his sex," he told one group. His manual gaffes caused Turner even more trouble: he was shown on television patting Party President lona Campagnolo and another female Liberal on their posteriors, afterward explaining weakly that he was a "tactile politician."

Mulroney, on the other hand, campaigned like a lottery winner, smiling perpetually and pumping every hand in sight. He perfected a punchy stump speech, delivering it in French and English with equal ease. Mulroney's wife Mila, 31, turned out to be the election's second-best campaigner; pretty and vivacious, she charmed even jaded journalists. The Tory candidate shone in the three televised debates, especially when he attacked Turner for the Trudeau patronage plums. "You chose to say yes to old attitudes and the old stories of the Liberal Party," he charged. When the Prime Minister held up his hands, ostensibly to silence Mulroney, many viewers interpreted it as a sign of surrender. It might as well have been: one month before the election, Turner found himself trailing Mulroney 45% to 36%.

By carrying all ten provinces, Mulroney demonstrated his stature as a truly national leader. Not since Party Leader John Diefenbaker swept the Tories into power in 1958 has one party been so strong across the country. Since then the Liberals have tended to prevail in the East, while the Progressive Conservatives dominated the West. Ontario, the country's most populous province, has alternated between the two parties. This time Mulroney picked up 67 out of 95 seats in Ontario and captured the Liberal stronghold of Quebec, winning 58 out of 75 seats (see box). To underscore his empathy for the French-speaking province, Mulroney, a Quebec native himself, chose to run for Parliament from his home constituency of Manicouagan. He won handily, 30,386 to 9,729.

The Tory tide pushed many prominent Liberals from their seats, including lona Campagnolo and 15 of Turner's 29 Cabinet ministers. In the postmortem, Turner's aides spoke bitterly of Trudeau. They blamed him for not quitting office sooner, thus affording Turner more time to build his record, and for weakening the party by ignoring its provincial roots. Asked what he thought of Turner's campaign, Trudeau blithely replied, "I don't really know. I've been on vacation." Said a top Liberal strategist: "Trudeau did not give a fig about the party. It was hard to escape the feeling that he was delighted at the trouble Turner was having."