Canada: Call to the Polls

Three days after succeeding Lester Pearson as Canada's 15th Prime Minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 48, went before Parliament last week and, in his first formal appearance as leader of the country, dissolved Parliament and called for new general elections on June 25. Thus, ignoring considerable party opinion that he should prove himself to the voters before going to the polls, Trudeau decided to push ahead and try to capitalize on the political momentum that propelled him almost overnight from the Justice Ministry in Pearson's government into his country's top job.

With only 129 seats in the 259-seat House of Commons,...

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