Ontario Revolt

In big Ontario province, where live a third of Canada's people, the Liberal party of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King was bowled out of power last week. Hit from the right by the Progressive Conservatives, from the left by the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, the Liberals were swamped by both opponents in the selection of 90 provincial legislators.

The new lineup: Liberal Party, down from 63 members to 14; Progressive Conservatives, up from 21 members to 38; C.C.F., up from no members to 34. Three seats went to other parties, one was undecided. No party won a majority, so a coalition must govern Ontario.

Progressive Conservative Leader George Alexander Drew, socialite son-in-law of the Metropolitan Opera Company's Manager Edward Johnson, planned to form a government with himself as Premier, may be forced to enlist straggling Liberals. Ready to step aside was Premier Harry C. Nixon, whose campaign testimonial, "Come what may, I am behind Mackenzie King," proved a boomerang.

Third-Party Upswing. Biggest surprise was the C.C.F.'s phenomenal rise from nowhere to 34 members, only a dozen short of a majority. This ten-year-old, mildly socialist Federation, strong in western Canada, has become a militant new force in Canadian politics, threatening Mackenzie King's leadership. In Ontario the C.C.F. was led by young lawyer Edward B. Jolliffe, bespectacled Rhodes scholar, son of China missionary parents. He and his cohorts ran strong in labor ridings, among young people and with voters of the middle and lower income brackets.

The C.C.F. which Jolliffe led proposed more "social and economic planning on a bold and comprehensive scale" and public ownership of natural resources and industries. Said Jolliffe: "Every democratic country is moving toward more collectivist organization. . . . Shall it be collectivism of the authoritarian brand, or democratic collectivism? Dictatorship or cooperation?" The Ontario response surprised even C.C.F.s.

The blow fell heavily on Mackenzie King. Although it had no effect on his comfortable House of Commons majority, observers predicted he and his party would be liquidated at the next general election--yet similar predictions have often proved erroneous. King has been Prime Minister for 16 years of the last 22.

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