The major focus for Parliament during 1982 was the state of the Canadian economy. The government seemed unable to rectify the economic difficulties that faced the nation. The November 1981 budget of Allan MacEachen turned out to be a political and economic disaster – many of its provisions had to be withdrawn over the following months. The situation was complicated by a federal deficit of some $20 billion (nearly double the previous projection), high interest rates, a record level of unemployed Canadians, and double-digit inflation.

Due to the criticism of the November 1981 budget a new budget was introduced in...

Canada passed a major political milestone in 1982 with the patriation of its constitution. Following the agreement between Ottawa and nine of the provincial governments in November 1981, the British Parliament took the necessary action to relinquish its last formal responsibility for Canadian constitutional law. At the same time it gave effect to the amendments the Canadian governments had agreed upon in the form of a new Constitution Act. Ordinarily, the royal visit that accompanied this event would have been successful in diverting Canadians’ attention from more mundane political concerns. However, the occasion was marred by the continued opposition of...

Intergovernmental relations in Canada in 1982 seemed to be in a ‘holding pattern’ as if major events were about to happen or a restructuring were taking place. Many people were awaiting the departure from the political scene of its dominant figure, Pierre Trudeau, hoping that the level of confrontation and conflict would be diminished. The tenor of Ottawa’s new approach to the provinces was set by Prime Minister Trudeau at a February economic summit when he pronounced co-operative federalism dead. He told a news conference on 25 February:

I think we have tried governing through consensus; we have tried governing...

A number of factors depressed the level of aggregate production and employment in Canada in the second half of 1981 and in most of 1982. The decrease in production that occurred in Canada during the 1981–2 recession (5.5 per cent) was the largest decline of all the post-war recessions. It was almost four times greater than the decline during the 1979–80 recession and nine times greater than the 1973–5 recessionary decline. Among the key factors causing this dismal performance were a world recession, the anti-inflation policies of the federal government, record high interest rates, and an increase...

The year 1982 marked an easing of the tensions with the United States that had been engendered by the harsh us reaction to the National Energy Program and the Foreign Investment Review Act. A lack of agreement among nato allies regarding the appropriate response to the imposition of martial law in Poland culminated in serious divisions over us government attempts to impede construction of a proposed pipeline to deliver natural gas from Siberia to western Europe. The Canadian government distinguished its policy toward Central America from that of the United States by being more willing to recognize indigenous sources of...

Provincial elections were held in five provinces – Alberta. New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan – and the Yukon. The only surprise involved the unexpected defeat of the New Democrats and Premier Blakeney in Saskatchewan. The new premier, Grant Devine, formed the first Conservative government in that province since 1929. The Conservatives ran a populist campaign based on reducing government spending and increased private enterprise. In the other provincial elections, Conservative governments were re-elected. Premier Peckford of Newfoundland was returned with an increased majority; Premier Lee in Prince Edward Island was returned with a majority, as were Premiers...

In Ontario, 1982 was a year in which the economy staggered and both opposition parties tried to rebuild. While Premier William Davis worried about the province’s deficit, the opposition parties chose new leaders and set about dealing with their own substantial debts. On the economic front, gloom continued to gather, with unemployment and prices rising and provincial output declining. Bankruptcies increased, and labour-management tensions remained high. There were disputes over fees for doctors, federal transfer payments for health care and education, social services, and environmental issues. However, the news media, the public, and the politicians focused their attention on economic...

Quebec experienced a difficult year in 1982. It was said time and again that the economic crisis that was devastating Quebec was the worst since the 1930s. The economic situation, together with a public finance crisis, afforded the Quebec government hardly any scope to deal with the constitutional situation, with the result that Pierre Trudeau’s ideas won out.

Numerous conflicts deeply afflicted Quebec society. There was confrontation between the government and the unions, and the resulting rupture will have serious consequences for the Parti québécois and the labour movement, both of which emerged weakened from this fierce struggle.

Québécois are...

Economic developments were discouraging during the year, symbolized by the demise of the Atlantic Institute of Education and the suspension of the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra. While Nova Scotia weathered the recession better than some provinces, a pattern of retrenchment and budget restraint characterized the economy. The provincial government’s debt soared to record levels. Moreover, by year’s end, major increases in power rates for 1983 had been granted the Nova Scotia Power Corporation. An isolated bright spot in the provincial economy concerned major offshore-oil and -gas agreements. Political developments were less exciting than usual, although a new political party, with a...

The year began with a series of earthquakes, but their shocks palled in contrast to the economic tremors that were reminiscent of the grim 1930s. Conservative Premier Richard Hatfield vanquished his Liberal foes with ease as he became the nation’s longest-serving premier. The economic problems were of another dimension and would have overwhelmed New Brunswick had it not been for federal aid. It was not a vintage year.

Each opening day for the past several years had featured two events, one inside and the other without. So it was in 1982. While the new lieutenant-governor, Dr George Stanley, read a...

The new ndp government served its first year in office in 1982. Its ambitious legislative program stumbled on the rock of a faltering economy, causing it to reassess its priorities by the end of the year. The megaprojects that had featured so prominently in the provincial election the year before was deferred, if not abandoned altogether, and the Liberal and Progressive Conservative leaders both announced their retirement.

The session opened on 25 February and adjourned on 30 June. The Speech from the Throne was clearly designed to appeal to a broad spectrum of constituencies and was well in line with...

Premier W.R. Bennett ‘started and stopped his own election machinery so many times in 1982 that he no longer has prints on his starter finger’ (Vancouver Sun, 29 December). This curt phrase aptly summarizes a tough and uncertain year for the governing Social Credit party. Election rumours were rife for most of the year, and when the premier called a rare fall legislative session in September, all the pundits and virtually all the members of both the Social Credit and New Democratic parties expected election writs to be issued. Every piece of evidence seemed to point to the fact that...

The recession and energy crisis continued to impose limitations on the island’s political and economic life in 1982. Even a provincial election failed to arouse much interest; and it made only one change in the standings in the legislature.

The legislature opened on 4 March. The Speech from the Throne announced the government’s desire for working arrangements with other provinces, new channels of communication and co-operation with the private sector to further efforts in job creation; full examination of the costs of electricity and of ways of increasing supplies of power, further planning of transportation facilities, 100 kilometres of pavement...

The year began innocently enough in Saskatchewan. The province entered 1982 in the grip of one of the coldest winters in over ten years. The New Democratic government of Allan Blakeney seemed solidly entrenched after an almost equal amount of time in office. Yet by the spring, 1982 was turning out to be a year of new challenges and new directions. Federal Transport Minister Jean-Luc Pepin announced that the sacred Crow’s Nest Pass freight rate for hauling grain was to be abolished. The international recession, meanwhile, finally caught up with the provincial economy which had enjoyed several years of solid...

The year 1982 was eventful in Alberta politics, rivalled in its drama and impact only by such years as 1919–20 and 1935. Neatly framed by the Olds-Didsbury by-election on 17 February and the provincial general election on 2 November, 1982 saw provincial politics in an unusual state of ferment, chaos, uncertainty, and anticipation. If the changes were in some ways (such as the partisan composition of the legislature) less obvious than expected, in another sense they changed the shape of provincial politics irrevocably and fundamentally.

The fourth session of the 19th Legislature was called into session on 4 March...

The year 1982 might well be defined as that in which Ottawa chose to give bumptious Newfoundlanders a lession inRealpolitik. The consequence was disappointment and, to a degree, disillusionment in the province.

At the beginning, though, it was clear that the expectancy that greater control and more effective management of both renewable and non-renewable natural resources could provide a lasting cure for the province’s economic ills had carried over easily from 1981 into the new year. On a high tide of anticipation buoyed by the passionate oratory of the premier, and convinced that at last they had found a...

The year 1982 was one of gloom and anxiety in the Yukon, as the economy tottered on the edge of collapse and major conflicts erupted over native land claims and the process of constitutional development. By the end of the year there were no operating hardrock mines, and the economy was saved from severe difficulties only by a last-minute bail-out by the federal government. Land claims negotiations ground to a halt over issues that strained social and political relations between Ottawa and Whitehorse, as well as among Yukoners. A June election saw the demise of Liberal representation in the legislative...

As the rest of Canada endured an economic recession and witnessed the arrival of a Canadian constitution, the people of the Northwest Territories carried on with economic and constitutional developments of their own. The movement toward responsible government for the north was furthered in 1982 through unprecedented co-operation and communication among all major political players in the Northwest Territories.

Throughout 1982 the legislative assembly continued to function in a consensus style, with no formal recognition of political parties.

Within the assembly’s executive committee, a number of portfolio changes took place. Early in the year George Braden, minister of justice and...