'I think it's mainly a question of the time and place.' James Howden had no desire to pursue the subject. He sometimes wished he could dispense with Harvey Warrender as a member of the Government, but there were compelling reasons he could not.

Seeking to change the subject, the Prime Minister said, 'Harvey, I've been wanting to talk about your department.' He was remiss, he supposed, in using a social occasion for so much official business. But of late many subjects he should have dealt with at his desk had to stand aside for more urgent business. Immigration was one.

'Is it praise or blame you are about to tender me?' Harvey Warrender's question had a touch of belligerence. Plainly the drink he was holding was not his first.

Howden was reminded of a conversation a few days ago when he and the party director had been discussing current political problems. Brian Richardson had said: 'The Immigration Department has got us a consistently bad press, and unfortunately it's one of the few issues that electors can understand. You can fool around with tariffs and the bank rate all you want, and the votes it will affect are negligible. But let the papers get one picture of a mother and child being deported -like that case last month – and that's when the party needs to worry.'

Momentarily, Howden experienced a sense of anger at having to consider trivia when – particularly now – bigger and vital issues demanded so much of his mind. Then he reflected that the need to mix homely things with great affairs had always been a politician's lot. Often it was a key to power -never to lose sight of small events amid the big. And immigration was a subject which always disturbed him. It had so many facets, hedged around with political pitfalls as well as advantages. The difficult thing was to be certain which were which.

Canada was still a promised land for many, and likely to remain so; therefore any Government must handle its population inlet valves with extreme caution.