Like the election campaign, 1974 was a strange and perplexing year. The attempts to create a national oil policy threatened to create the most serious rupture between Ottawa and an anglophone province since Confederation. Quebec moved steadily ahead with its policy of cultural sovereignty and its determination to make the province a French island in an English-speaking sea. Yet while the nation seemed to be splintering along the lines of its historic regional and cultural divisions, the Trudeau government emerged from the July 8 election with a strengthened mandate from all regions of the country. While the gains were slight...

It was not a vintage year for the Ontario Conservatives. Events cast doubts on many of the policies on which the Davis government had staked its reputation, and political developments indicated that much of the electorate would use the opportunity provided by an anticipated 1975 general election to make its displeasure known. Much of the interest during 1974 was provided by the spectacle of a talented political leader backed by a powerful and experienced party becoming increasingly aware of the extent of the decay and seeking, somewhat desperately, to find the combination of men and measures to stem the tide...

The aftermath of the October 1973 Middle East war and the Arab oil embargo focused international attention on the need for a more rational management and equitable distribution of world resources. The increased price of oil from under $3 per barrel to an average of $11 per barrel, coupled with excessive inflation, caused immediate, and in some cases critical, balance-of-payment deficits for many countries. By the end of the year most industrialized nations had adjusted, but a number of Third World countries faced real financial difficulties.

The Washington Energy Conference on February 11–12, called by the United States and...

While Pierre Trudeau dominated the political scene in 1974, the principal figures in the economic battleground were John Turner and Donald Macdonald. Energy Minister Macdonald had the responsibility of developing and implementing the new National Oil Policy introduced by the prime minister on December 6, 1973, but instead of taking an aggressive stance in dealing with the ‘energy crises,’ he and his department drifted with events, improvising policy at each crisis. Finance Minister Turner also played a pivotal role in the oil and gas scene as the principal architect of Ottawa’s battle plan to force Alberta to reduce its share...