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THE HERALD OUTLOOK Saturday November II IMS Hills OUTLOOK published each Saturday the IIAI TON Hit US I Home Newspaper of tlilli A I I It Ion of Com pa n limited IS I Street rorgrton Ontario Second Mail Registered Number owl Dan Taylor Caroline MacLeod Jeannlne Vatois PRODUCTION III- ljve lou Outlook Facing the slump Twos a Crowd Ottawa Berrys World through the television debates With Liberal Leader John Turner and Leader Ed Broadbent attack the deal on two flanka the prime I Stewart MacLeod Thornton Nra If Prime Minister Brian and key ministers leel flashes at frustration over the sagging support for free trade you can scarcely blame them The grand strategy to carry the coutroversla agreement successful ly through an election campaign and into law had been plotted and followed for years And up until a few weeks ago everything was on target But now with perhaps not enough time to do much about It the whole shebang seems to be coming unstuck Recent polls and there nave been many consistently tell ua that support for the firetrade deal is slumping at a rate thats alarming for the government With only two weeks of campaign ing left In an election dominated by the deal opponents far outnumber proponents An despite the best Tory efforts there Is no indication that voter attention can be effective ly diverted to other more popular The 1968 general election will be fought mainly on Tree trade something that was far from Mr mind when he ran for his partys leadership in 1883 Even after becoming prime minister the following year there were no plans to make free trade the central Issue an election camps The strategy all along has been to lowbridge the issue In recent days a great deal of publicity has been given to an IMS Inlcmal docu ment from the prime ministers of fice which said that free trade should be given a low profile The higher the profile the Issue attains the lower the degree of approval will SMACK ON The actual author of this com muni cations strategy memo has never been but recent events would suggest that he or she was no dummy Since this election campaign began free trade has at tained a toweling profile along with tumbling public support Unfortunately for the government the alleged disadvantages of the agreement have received more at than the advantages largely Opinion polls Immediately began to reflect the publics concerns about free trade and falling support for the deal itself They also indicated leaders of uttering Ilea distortion and deceit and now the govern ments counter offensive is in lull swing Fighting fear with fear Is pro bably the Only strategy available but as we watch things unfold the ploy obviously has its dangers While neither the liberals nor New Democrats have to change tbeir tactics or their welldeveloped lines the Tories run a high risk as tbey beat up the war of words Not only might it smack of desperation but in warning voters about the alleged consequences of rejecting the deal overstatement is In ALREADY HAPPENED It happens that some of the governments key spokespersons on free trade tend to be a bit bombastic or given to hyperbole Neither Trade Minister John Crosbie or chief negotiator Simon can be considered laid back and the prime minister himself has never been ac cused of understatement And once their credibility is ques tioned they re not likely to make much headway convincing voters about opposition distortions The prime minister had every reason to point out with some annoyance that statements Mr Broadbent at tributed to the Canadian Manufac turers Association during the TV debate were eight years old But now whats getting more at tention than that is the prime ministers suggestion that rejection of free trade might threaten two million Canadian Jobs The Economic Council of Canada which Is frequently quoted by the govern ment for Its support of free trade has put the number closer to after 10 years Mr also overquoted the council prompting a spokesman from the agency to correct the minister In the process Canadians were reminded of the councils assessment that white rejection of the deal would be unfortunate It would not be catastrophic The standard of living would continue to Improve Even Finance Minister Michael Wilson who seldom over speaks ran Into criticism for the Americans might rip up the Auto Pact if free trade Is rejected While most of the flak came from those who disagree with that view he was even chastized by one who agrees Laurent a former member of the Commission which recommended free trade Hes right said Mr Ptcard But lbs Conservattvea have known about that kind of thing for at least a year and are only telling us about It Thats the trouble with fighting fire with fire You never know who might get burned In the resulting conflagration But toe Tories had Utile choice It might have seemed a good Idea to try that 1MB strategy of low bridging free trade so it would get benign neglect from a majority of Cana- bvtouslv didnt work blax- Why not a stand Staff Comment By BRIAN MACLEOD The debate on free trade has managed to overshadow what has to be called the single most controver sial issue In Canadian politics In the lBBOs abortion Even before Canadas abortion law was struck down by the Supreme Court last January debate on the issue raged as so called pro- lifers and attempted to lure politicians Into tbeir camps The sad fact is Canadas leaders have failed to take the lead on the Your Business Diane Matey Thomson Ntws Starting to wonder why the tickets were so reasonable A little light on the subject said William Allen a Toronto money manager Refusing a fat dividend could anger clients Inco million apparently has some wouldbe raider perhaps an American salivating Inco founded in 19m by J Morgan an American there ever was one To fend off this real or Imagined buyer Incos management has come up with an all American cure The lactic the latest thing in American raider repellent would be the first of Its kind In Canada Usual ly though companies wall until they see the whiles of the bidders eyes before they resort to it Does In management know more than it Is letting on Is Ihere a real live bid out there Before we say bring on the bids leis remember that desperate measures really do put management In a better bargaining position From there it can negotiate a higher price for if so meone makes a bid But the downside may well be rater Management may succeed scaring bidders away depressing the stock price In their haste to make themselves less attractive ihey could Jeopardize the companys financial health would have to borrow half of the OS billion it plans to distribute shareholders Canadas top credit rating agency Dominion Bond Rating Service Is so concern about the plan that it cut the com parrys ruling WATER IT DOWN The way the poison pill works In would give shareholders rights to buy new stock at half price it an unwelcome suitor turned up with per cent of the shares This would cut the raiders holdings in half making it more expensive for him to seize control About a third of the companys shares are held in the United States a percentage that changes from day to day An American looking to take over Inco may find a way lo buy enough shares in the market lo put him In control without having lo negotiate with management or shareholders in Canada A raider could try a creeping takeover buying Inco stock quietly as It comes along Or he could pull an even sneakier trick sweeping the street As shareholders of Inco Ltd push and tug over the company plan to defend itself against predators Donald Phillips chairman has tried lo shed some tight on the Mr Phillips says Ihe proposed defence tactic known as a sugar coated poison pill is designed to pro tect shareholders from abusive takeover tactics Shareholders will vote on the proposal this month To understand his concern one has lo descend into the rough and tumble world of American takeover artists There you II find a strange and unfamiliar cost of characters and events requiring a new vocabulary describe There arc poison pills scorchedearth tactics Dig time speculators called arbs takeovers and tricky maneuvers known as sweeping the street A company with more than million US In the bank Is a sitting duck lor these people Thats why In which owns a big nickel mine in Sudbury wants give shareholders a gift of a share Thats sugar coaling Corporate managers go to great lengths to fend off unwelcome bid ders When Bra scan sold Its Braiillan power utility for a bundle of cash in ihe lBTOs fl attracted the unwelcome attention of Edward and Peter Bronfman who ended up tak ing il over In Ihe heat of battle Brascan nearly bought the American retailer This would have used up all Its money and left it up lo lta corporate ears in debt The idea seems to be buy something anything to make the company less attractive TOO MUCH MONEY Inco earned a windfall earlier this year when prices soared Whether giving the money away is the best thing to do Is difficult lo say Shareholders cant seem to decide either Its a horrible dilemma ting be will on Of the three potential prime ministers only NOP Leader Ed has said openly what his government will do about abortion But even that was a party decision He inherited the position rather than established It He was lucky Prime Minister Brian and Liberal Leader John Turner have shown what theyre made of by falling to take a firm stand on the issue With the population about evenly split on the abortion Issue no polltl clan wants to risk losing the support of either faction by taking a stand Unless politicians see a clear gain in taking a position they Just wont bother Brian Mulroney says govern ment will hold a free vote to try to depollllclze the issue John Turner said he would also hold a free vote But he wont even say what he thinks about the issue da I doesnt want to Impose his the people of Canada But how about your constituents in the riding of VancouverQuadra Mr Turner Dont they have a right to know how you stand And what will another free vote solve Didnt the Conservatives already try that once Ed says a new law t necessary because the decision should be left between a woman and her doctor Hurray Someone actually stated what he thinks about the issue However the abortion issue won t be solved until Ihe people truly have their say And theyre not going to have their say with weakkneed leaders who have continually avoided It If Mr Mulroney who has been in power four years but never really solved the issue and Mr Turner who wont say what he thinks cant solve It then the people should Let us have a referendum Its often said politicians are elected to make tough decisions on behalf of the people Obviously of Canadas leaders arent tough enough to make the decisions These are our leaders The best Canada has to offer The people who will lead us into the 1990s and beyond The founding fathers of the list Century Think about it Its really quite pa Ibetlc Isnt if