Five hours after he announced John Bracken's abrupt retirement, James Macdonnell, president of the Progressive Conservative Association, flashed urgent telegrams to organizers in all 245 ridings. The message: get cracking, pick some 1,300 delegates for the convention.
Within a few hours he had tentatively reserved alternative convention halls in Winnipeg, Montreal and Ottawa. This week the P.C.s decided to hold the convention in Ottawa's Coliseum from September 30 to October 2. There was reason for haste. In six weeks the Conservatives would have to try to do an organization job that the Liberals have spread over six months. And the P.C.s had...