He turned to Bessie and nodded. At the signal she stooped over and gingerly lifted the explosive package while Sam picked up the arming device and timer. They lowered the bomb back into the plastic bag. Then Sam eased it into the opening he had made in the snow and covered it over, smoothing out the surface.
“That’s it,” he said. “Let’s pick up the stuff and move on.”
As they turned to go back to the tent, they suddenly stopped. In the distance there was a faint chopping sound. Bessie shouted, “Helicopter!”
In their clumsy snowshoes they raced for the edge of the clearing and the protection of the trees. They knew from the sound that the helicopter was very close and flying low. They threw themselves in the snow between the trees and pulled the white sheets up over their heads, covering themselves completely, except for their snowshoes. As they lay in the snow barely daring to breathe, Sam could hear the blades of the helicopter whacking through the air just above the treeline as it passed straight over top of them. He knew that the pilot and the observer in the helicopter had probably been airborne for at least two hours out of the Canadian Arctic gas base near Arctic Red River. By this time, their eyes would be tired from the bright sunlight and they probably wouldn’t be able to see very much, even the snowshoe tracks. Sam was right. The helicopter went straight on, without pausing.
When they were certain that the helicopter was gone, Sam and Bessie got up, went quickly back to the tent, packed up, and then set off at a fast pace down the pipeline corridor.
Ottawa / 10:15 a.m., EDT
When the Prime Minister returned to his office following his meeting with the key cabinet ministers, he found the leaders of the opposition parties waiting for him.
The Leader of the Opposition, George Foot, a man whom Porter respected, greeted the Prime Minister warmly as they shook hands. So did Donald Walker, the Leader of the New Democratic Party, and Pierre Johnson, of the Social Credit. All three men had been in the House of Commons for many years — a good deal longer than the Prime Minister — and they let him know it from time to time during the heat of debate. But though he was much younger than any one of them, they clearly recognized his ability.
As the Prime Minister was about to explain the urgent reason for the meeting, John Thomas entered the office. Porter introduced him. “Gentlemen, this is Senator Thomas. I don’t think any of you have met him personally, but I’m sure you all know who he is. He is not only my close friend, but my personal counsel as well. I’ve asked him to sit in on all my meetings during the next few hours. I hope you don’t mind if he joins us. When I get through explaining what is going on, I think you will understand why I need his presence.”
Without waiting for reply, the Prime Minister went straight on. “At nine o’clock this morning I received a telephone call from the President of the United States. As you are all aware, the United States faces an unparalleled energy shortage this coming winter, most particularly a shortage of natural gas. The President, facing re-election next month, has given me an ultimatum which has to be answered unconditionally by Parliament by tomorrow night at six o’clock.”
The Prime Minister quickly outlined the three conditions of the ultimatum. When he had finished, George Foot exclaimed, “Why, that’s straight blackmail!”
All three opposition leaders were clearly appalled by what they had heard. Johnson stuttered, “Did he say what the United States would do if Canada refused to give in?”
“No,” the Prime Minister replied. “I asked him, but all he would say was that he had economic levers too numerous to list. I can think of two or three right off the top. I will be instructing the President of the Treasury Board and the Governor of the Bank of Canada to get their staffs going on estimating the kind of sanctions they think the President can impose, and the probable effect, but just for openers the Americans could levy a prohibitive tax on all manufactured goods coming from Canada. They could prohibit American investors from buying Canadian securities, or in any other way investing money in Canada. By itself, that sanction would practically destroy the Canadian economy, because we need the inflow of U.S. and other foreign capital in order to stay alive.”
The Leader of the Opposition agreed. “No question about it. And I suppose they could even stop taking our natural resources, except of course the commodities which they desperately need in their energy crisis, the gas and oil.”
It was Pierre Johnson’s turn. “They could even go so far as to cut off our shipping or prevent goods from crossing the border. But they would never do that, do you think? We’ve been on the best of terms with the Americans always. I can’t conceive of their doing such things.”
“I can,” said the Prime Minister. “And I can also see why they’re taking this course of action. What we must discuss now are the steps we can take to handle this situation.
“First, I hope we can agree to put aside party considerations. I do not expect you to give up your right to quarrel with anything I do or say, but at this moment bear in mind that what I need is your advice and counsel, not criticism.”
George Foot immediately responded, “Prime Minister, there are many differences between us and there always will be, but in this situation my party will do its utmost to co-operate with the government.” Johnson and Walker made similar announcements, much to the relief of the Prime Minister.
“Thank you, gentlemen, I hoped you would agree. Now, to get down to business. I think it is obvious that Parliament must be recalled. I have already issued instructions that this step be taken and that emergency transportation be arranged under the direction of the Chief of the Defence Staff. I want every member of the House and Senate here in time for a briefing in the Commons at eight o’clock tomorrow morning. Following the briefing, which will provide information for the members on all matters relevant to Arctic development and the current energy crisis in the United States, the House should convene in emergency session at twelve noon. The Senate can sit at the same time, and I will ask the Government Leader of the Senate to make sure that the motion which is debated is exactly the same as the one the House considers and that no vote is taken by the Senate until the House has voted.
“We must conclude debate by five o’clock, so the vote can be completed by 5:15 to allow the Senate to vote by 5:30. I propose that the vote in the House be a free vote so that no one is tied to party lines.”
All three party leaders nodded their agreement.
“Good. The ideal thing would be for the four of us to prepare a motion and present it jointly to the House. The way we put it forward should be no indication whatsoever of the way in which any one of us is going to vote on the question. In introducing the motion I’ll make that perfectly clear.”
The Prime Minister was interrupted as Tom Scott quietly entered the room and handed him a note. Porter read it, whispered briefly to Scott, then carried on.
“If we open the House at twelve noon and commence the vote at five o’clock, that leaves just five hours for debate; actually, somewhat less than that, because I would like to have thirty minutes at the end to sum up and ten minutes at the beginning to get the ball rolling. Obviously we are going to have to control the number of speakers and the time for debate very rigidly. I would suggest that each of you take fifteen minutes and that all other speakers be limited to ten.”
Pierre Johnson broke in. “Good heavens, Prime Minister, in fifteen minutes I can’t even get started!”
His colleagues all laughed. Johnson was a notoriously long-winded though colourful speaker.
“Sorry, Pierre, this is one time when your eloquence will have to be contained.”
None of the other leaders had any objection to the proposal. The Prime Minister continued.
“I also suggest that the number of speakers from each party be in proportion to the seats in the House. If we four take a total of fifty-five minutes for our remarks, that brings us to 12:55. Between 12:55 and 4:30 there are 215 minutes. At ten minutes per speaker, that works out to twenty-one speakers, more or less.