Canada: To the People?

The Tory Government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker took the final steps last week to oust the Bank of Canada’s Governor James E. Coyne. After a month-long fight during which tight-money Banker Coyne criticized government fiscal policies and the government charged Coyne with voting himself an overly big pension, the Commons approved a 46-word bill firing Coyne. From the sidelines. Banker Coyne accused Diefenbaker of being an “evil genius” who, with “unbridled malice and vindictiveness.” had set out to destroy him in order to install a yes man at the bank and proceed on a ruinous program of big spending.

Coyne’s last chance to make things hot for the government now rests with the Canadian Senate, which must approve the bill before it becomes law. In Diefenbaker’s view, the Senate is a relic—its appointed members are supposed to be seen but not heard. The current Senate, though, is controlled by the opposition Liberals, and they have very different ideas. Last week the Senate voted to defer its approval until Banker Coyne has a chance to tell his side of the story before a senatorial hearing.

This was getting to be too much for Diefenbaker, who has already warned the Senate on another measure not to defy the government’s will. Diefenbaker has two more years to go on his five-year term, but warned that continued defiance might force him to call an election on the issue of reforming—that is, abandoning—the Senate.