A Mathematician’s Gamble

The current flap over bringing control of the Canadian constitution to Canada could develop into a crisis serious enough to threaten the nation. That such a seemingly unnecessary provocation should be introduced at a time of major domestic strains is because Pierre Trudeau has chosen to gamble his—and the nation’s—future on an imponderable bet.

He demonstrated in February that he can rule Canada as long as he wishes. As master of the inexorable electoral mathematics, he proved the theorem that a sweep of Quebec, a majority in Ontario, and a split in the East are all that is necessary for majority rule. That no Liberals were elected west of Winnipeg was simply demonstration that the West’s consent to Liberal rule is superfluous.

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Donald Coxe

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The current flap over bringing control of the Canadian constitution to Canada could develop into a crisis serious enough to threaten the nation. That such a seemingly unnecessary provocation should be introduced at a time of major domestic strains is because Pierre Trudeau has chosen to gamble his—and the nation’s—future on an imponderable bet.

He demonstrated in February that he can rule Canada as long as he wishes. As master of the inexorable electoral mathematics, he proved the theorem that a sweep of Quebec, a majority in Ontario, and a split in the East are all that is necessary for majority rule. That no Liberals were elected west of Winnipeg was simply demonstration that the West’s consent to Liberal rule is superfluous.