The Morning After

As Britain's Queen Elizabeth II flew homeward across the Atlantic last week, rumors blazed through Canada that she would never return. London quickly and flatly denied such talk. "She is Queen in Canada and of Canada," said one official, "and she will share her country's trials and tribulations as well as its joys."

Yet there was no blinking the fact that the Queen's visit had been, as London's Daily Mirror put it, "a wholly wretched mission." Liberal Prime Minister Lester Pearson had hoped that her presence would somehow draw French and English Canadians closer together. While her welcome was warm and cheerful in Ottawa and Prince Edward Island, French Canadians virtually ignored her, and among those who did turn out in Quebec City were the separatists, who shouted rude obscenities, chanted Quebec Libre, and fought with billy-swinging policemen.

"Ignorant Pigs." Across Canada, English Canadians reacted with shock, revulsion and anger. The Toronto Daily Star called the Quebec reception a "national disaster," and an Ontario businessman spoke for millions when he muttered: "I'm a hell of a lot less sympathetic toward Quebec this week than I was last week." Added a Newfoundlander: "I think the people of Quebec are a crowd of ignorant pigs."

The danger, of course, is that the two sides may have been driven so far apart that Pearson will find it infinitely more difficult to push through the things that French Canadians clamor for: more provincial autonomy and a stronger voice in federal affairs. Yet, if nothing else, the Queen's unpleasant reception brought all of Canada face to face with a problem that many English Canadians had never bothered to think about before. "This came as a real shock in Ontario," said Eleanor Berry, a Toronto secretary.

A Time for Work. In Quebec, too, there seemed to be the realization, at least among its leaders, that now was the time for work and conciliation. Last week, after Elizabeth returned to Britain, Quebec's Premier Jean Lesage turned up in Ottawa for a meeting with Pearson and Canada's nine other provincial premiers. The subject was a request that Britain give up its formal, though purely ceremonial, right to approve all amendments to Canada's constitution. The request itself was certain to be approved, but in earlier meetings, Lesage had quibbled over the new formula for amending the constitution, and sought to use it as a lever to win more concessions from Pearson. Last week there was no bickering. "I am proud to agree," Lesage announced with emphasis.

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