Pierre was, when he died, on the advisory board of Fair Vote Canada --
http://www.fairvotecanada.org/fvc.php -- a group working for a more representative electoral system in Canada.
About Tommy Douglas, recently voted the Greatest Canadian in the CBC's "contest", Berton said:
http://www.cbc.ca/greatest/top_ten/nominee/douglas-tommy-know.htmlDouglas retired from the leadership of the party in 1971, prompting Pierre Berton to say: "Where would we be without the NDP? It and its predecessor have been the conscience of Canada, often at the risk of our own popularity."
And about the 2002 Canadian Alliance leadership race:
http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSPolitics0203/20_celebs-sun.html"Does it matter? Day and this other guy -- Stephen what's his name, who doesn't seem to know what he's going to do if he loses, and all these other guys. It's a hilarious situation. It's a joke. If Stockwell Day wins, I think the Alliance is pretty well finished. I think he's going to win because those stubborn western guys are just going to dig their heels in.
"If Harper wins, I think the Alliance might have a chance not to breathe its last, but even then it's going to be pretty tough."
In 1998, he headed the (alphabetical ;) ) list of the Ontario NDP's "Victory Fund Cabinet":
http://www.web.net/~ondp/nod/dec97/victoryfund.htmAnd on Iraq:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1035500048377_26/?hub=TopStoriesBerton, who has four books on wars, told LaFlamme that if he had to write a book about Iraq he would say the war against Baghdad "is being used as a political device to get votes."
He said the war on terrorism is not like any old-fashioned war. Berton said what we're living now is a continual state of war, similar to what George Orwell talked about in his book, 1984.
"We're getting continual war all the time, quite often for political reasons. That's how people get elected. 'Let's go to war!' and everybody applauds."
and, with many prominent Canadians, he signed this letter opposing the invasion of Iraq:
http://www.nsi-ins.ca/ensi/pdf/time_to_move.pdfTime to Move Beyond War
We, the undersigned, are deeply alarmed that the most powerful nations in the world continue to rely on military force to achieve their global political and economic goals - while eroding the standard of living, the environment, and the security of people throughout the world.
We are united in the belief that a military attack on Iraq at this juncture would be profoundly immoral, and would almost certainly result in destabilizing repercussions that would endanger the
whole world.
Since the 1991 Gulf War,an estimated 1.5 million Iraqis have died as a result of shortages of food and medicine under sanctions. Iraq's water and sewage treatment facilities, destroyed during the Gulf War, have not yet been restored due to sanctions - resulting in an epidemic of water-borne diseases throughout the country.
In August 1999, UNICEF confirmed that 500,000 Iraqi children, mainly under the age of 5 years, had died under sanctions, and that a further 25% of all Iraqi children suffer from chronic and acute malnutrition.
Military action would first and foremost affect the long-suffering civilian population of Iraq. It would constitute an unprovoked act of aggression and would present the very real danger of igniting a larger conflict far beyond the borders of Iraq.
No connection has been confirmed between Iraq and the September 11th
terrorist attacks.
Furthermore, no convincing evidence has been produced that Iraq is in possession of weapons of mass destruction, or that it has plans to threaten to use, or to use, such weapons in the near future.
The world cannot be made safe from weapons of mass destruction by countries that possess vast arsenals of such weaponry, bombing other nations for allegedly pursuing the same weaponry.
Global peace and security can only be achieved by entering into negotiated and verifiable agreements to rid the world of allweapons of mass destruction.
Bombing sites that could contain nuclear, chemical or biological weapons should be unthinkable, as it would hold the potential for a global human and environmental catastrophe.
We urge the Canadian government and the people of Canada to do everything in their power to oppose military action against Iraq and to seek peaceful means to resolve outstanding issues.
Peace can only be built upon a foundation of diplomacy and justice. We must work to uphold international law and to safeguard human rights, the environment, and global human security.
Then, and only then, can the world move beyond terrorism and war.
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