Kamus

I Koncern

british ambassador visits U PEI

The man immediately

struck me as a very con-

fident and resoursful conversationalist: he held approximately.

twenty people in his

grasp for one solid hour

at a press conference held in the Panther Lounge. v - The conversation with the assembled group ranged from dispelling the myth of the eternal motherhood of the Great Lion of the North At- lantic to the fact, which the High Comm- issionor found highly noteworthy, that Dal- housie University at

present has four of its' colleagues acting as pre~

miers in Canada, a

'position that only Oxford Cambridge could rival. I

may seem strange that a conversation with a man

of such high order in the

British Foriegn Office could be as spontaneous

as it was, but this is

t

the nature of Sir Peter.

However, if one wished a dominant theme from the encounter it would definitely have to be his message - "Britain 1973". No longer the

great empire of the 18th

& 19th centuries, Britain is now faced‘ with bargaining inter- nationally on radically different terms than in the past. As he put 1t

"We are all surviving by our very wits - don't forget that". He emphasised the ideal of internation- alism as that of peace- ful co-existence but at the same time he took pains to tell those gathered that ideals are in fact

ful co-existence is attained only after great struggle. Be- cause of this, he re- marked, the age of national government rather than world

forum forsgchange means challenge to change

One could view the

NDP "open-forum" on many levels: be it a farm policy workshop.

a forum on the "ins" and "outs" (the old in-out?) of education or maybe a place to get plastered (there were bar facilities.) Although comparatively speaking, the forum

was attended by a small number of people, the voices that were heard were of a vital nature. The people, gathered together on sept. 15, were concerned. Con- cerned about the ap— parent failure of Alex Fampbell's now notor- lous Development Plan: concerned about the culture shock that is rocking island culture at its very foundation:

E and conderned about the

apathy of islanders to effectively deal with this situation. The structure of the forum was highly dem- ocratic. There were no image-concious lead— ers trying to hammer their Weltungshung on, the people. Instead the leaders of the party listened: they were there to hear what the people gather- ed thought on the iSsues of the day on P.E.I° In this sense the "Forum for Change"

'was refreshing. The N.D.P. have shown the way to other political‘ associations on the Island, on this score. Another equally in— ,credible aspect of the gathering was the union of purpose that was

ideals and that peace- '

3

THE CADRE, Sept. 25, 1973 - Page 3

by ioel ha'n‘sen

government remains with us.

Stan Dalton, editor of the Cadre, held a dialogue with the ambassador noting the great contribution Lester B. in the field of inter— national peaceful co-operation. It had just so happened that Sir Peter knew "Mike" Pearson while he was alive. He found the former Prime Minister of Canada very real- _istic7 as he argued - "Mike worked inces— santly for world co- operation but at the same time he knew the realities of national interests, therefore he was a man of great use to all men".

"Reality, Myth, and Experience," could be an apt title or headline for the meeting with the High Commissionor.

I say this because the man is involved in the proxis of inter- nationalism as part of his daily routine. It is because of this fact that he holds credence in my judgement. He knows the reality of international situa- tions because he con— stantly, in his pro-

exhibited. Everyone felt something must be done: however, on this count, only time will telly whether something act- ually will be done. At any rate one felt the determination to make an attempt to discover methods for political change, In this sense the forum was educat-

‘ional.

Aquhas Ryan, however, remains an enegma.His record shows a sound political background, (he was at one time a president of the P.E.I. Liberal Association)yet the man'fails to create the acceleration effect for popular support. This is the reason for the small turnout at the forum,and this will be the reason for an em- barassing small elect-

Pearson made

fession, is dealing in the international arena.

However, one can also argue that because of his daily routinised¥w View of international affairs he has become cynically dogmates in many of his approaches. Are we still completely in an age of inter- national conflict?

The High Commissioner would not go this far

but there is conflict among nations and it appears conflict will _remain for quite

awhile yet. He did concede,~howeyer, that rapidly advancing com- munication technologies tends to sooth inter— national crisis. He

is, at least, with some hope.

By the end of the con- ference I became fully concious of Sir Peter Hayman — he is, in fact, a well trained diplo- mat spreading news of the dynamic new Britain in a dynamic new world I probably would buy a used car from this man (what ever that means)

oral suppOrt at the polls in the near fut- ure.

The N.D.P. is lack-

ing in what could be re- ferred to as 'public statement'. The leader fails to get their mess- age across effectively; But is it really Ryan's fault? The party member- ship itself has not

-unified its program for

changes on the Island. If the N.D.Po does not articulate the alter— natives soon, good ole Alex, by clever polit- icking, will cut the N.D.P. off before they take effective root.