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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2014-02-12, Page 44 News Record • Wednesday, February 12, 2014 www.clintonnewsrecord.com NowsCl Record VOL. 153 - ISSUE 00 PUBLISHED WEEKLY — EST. 1860 53 Albert St. P.O. Box 39 Clinton ON NOM 1L0 (519) 482-3443 www.clintonnewsrecord.com SUN MEDIA A Quebecor Media Company 4y NEIL CLIFFORD Publisher neil.clifford@sun media.ca GERARD CRECES Editorial clinton.reporter@sunmedia.ca MAX BICKFORD Advertising Manager max.bickford@sunmedia.ca DAWN JOHNSTON Sales Representative clinton.ads@sunmedia.ca CHRISTY MAIR Front Office clinton.classifieds@sunmediaca SUBSCRIPTION RATES 1 YEAR $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST) 2YEAR $95.00 (90.48+4.52GST) SENIORS 60 WEEKS $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST) 120 WEEKS $95.00 (90.48+4.52 GST) Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged but that balance of advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. In the event of a typographic error advertising goods or services at a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising is merely an offer to sell, and may be withdrawn at any time. The Clinton News -Record is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for reproducing purposes. Publications Mail Agreement No. 40064683 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 53AIbertSt., Clinton ON NOM 1L0 (519) 482-3443 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. Canada Apcna Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and the Ontario Community Newspapers Association editorial How to gut a nation of voters, Conservative style While Canada is embroiled in Sochi, the Conserva- tives have lowered the bar once more this week, with the Fair Flections Act. Though it is brought forward under noble auspices, it will bring in unnecessary election laws that will alienate marginalized people and crack down on a fraud that doesn't really exist. The fraudulent behavior surrounding our last Gen- eral Election was all perpetrated by people with party ties or party information - it was not at the ballot box and Elections Canada has been having a very hard time with its investigation into the matter. In another nose thumbing of epic proportions, Elections Canada was not even consulted in drafting the new fair elec- tions legislation. How is that even possible? What's happening is the Conservatives are stacking the deck with party -friendly policy at the expense of mainlyyoungvoters, cracking down on identification at voting booths and doing away with vouching for people. If you've ever forgotten your ID on Election Day with only a few minutes left, you can understand how this is seriously flawed. Technicalities should not be used to keep people from having their say. It's an abuse of privilege. Elections Canada would also have to stop encour- aging young people to vote byway of educational packages for students. Yes, they would not be allowed to promote voting. The logic is boggling. Votes are declining so stop the education. Elections Canada would only be able to offer young adults technical information - where, when and how to vote, and how to be a candidate. That all-important question - why vote? - is not a factor on the Democratic Reform ministry's list. Minister of Democratic Reform, Pierre Poilievre, said the bill would make it difficult for people with no fixed address or government ID to vote. Predictably, the Opposition is crying foul, saying the proposed act will harm youth voters as well as aboriginals and low- income voters. Statistically if not coincidentally, many of those vot- ers prefer the NDP. Politics aside, alienating vulnerable voters is wrong. It's easy to say those folks should be better prepared or educate themselves. But without living in their world or with that experience, I don't think the people mak- ing aking this legislation know or care what they are doing to new or inexperienced voters. And, as we've seen before, this bill is hundreds of pages thick, given no time for debate in the House and no time for proper examination. Bad practice = bad policy. Reducing the oversight and investigative abilities of Elections Canada will only allow the erosion to con- tinue to a level that will be hard to come back from. The young guy down the street that needs you to vouch for him at the polling station is not a criminal for having an old address on his license. The politician that uses his office to suppress, dis- tract or disqualifyvoters, however, is another story. GC Economy is a tired excuse for bad representation If I could make one rule in politics, in the here and now, I think I would ban majority governments all together. It's just too dangerous. The idea of a political party is represent a certain portion of the population, and a set of core philosophies to better the lives of everyone. But, what we are seeing in Parliament is the ramming through of an agenda that doesn't seem to help anybody in this country. Foreign investors? Sure. Big business? Sure. A responsible government should take opposition and criticism and use those things as challenges to do a better job. Our current government sees criticism and immediately goes on the offence, either attacking the cred- ibility of the source of the criticism or legislat- ing the phasing out of anyone who is against the Conservative machine. This is what Hitler did, albeit more violently. The back and forth has gone like this to date: CRITIC: You are whittling away oversight agencies that prevent electoral fraud and gov- ernment misspending. GOV: We managed the economy through the worst recession in years. CRITIC: You have sitting members that are guilty of fraud and are stalling on testifying and holding up investigations. GOV: The real fraudsters are the people who want to keep talking about this. Also, we managed the economy through the worst recession in years. CRITIC: You are showing a complete lack of respect to Veterans. GOV: Economy. CRITIC: You advertise jobs propaganda for programs that do not exist. GOV: It's all part of our plan to help the economy, which we managed through the worst recession in years. Col umn Gerard Creces It's getting so I hate the word `economy. It's being used as an excuse for every single criminal act or piece of bad legislation that comes from this government. That crutch is getting a little old. Being told the economy is great is not the same as see- ing it at ground level. Meanwhile, parties are trying to collect more money than ever to spend on elections, while at the same time changing the rules about how much can be donated and what needs to be disclosed. I can't count all the articles I've read that mention the famous Conservative war chest - the pot of money from donors that funds campaigns. - and the Liberal war chest that is slowly on the recovery, and the NDP war chest that is starting to blossom. Why is this important? It may just be me, but I don't really care how much a party is able to spend on advertising. It's a false standard of measurement, where money spent apparently correlates into relia- bility or votes cast. A person's ability to raise funds is not as important as their ability to govern openly and fairly and accept responsi- bility for their actions. But, as we have seen with the past two majority governments, that is not the case. The mid 2000s were turbulent years for sure, but they were also years where parties had to work together, build consensus, have debates, and craft legislation that everyone could agree to. Minority governments do this very well, or at least they have no other choice. In a time when surveillance and secrecy are at all time highs, the rules should apply to everyone, and everyone should be held by the rules of the day and not by the rules they are able to change. letter to the editor The polar vortex and the propane shortage Re: The crazy weather this winter Homeowners in Eastern Ontario are having a hard time getting propane this winter, and some have resorted to space heaters. This isn't a local problem; rationing has been applied as far west as Kansas. Remember those crazy cold snaps in December and January? Analysts are now saying that if we get many more of these widespread -20°C days, we could be looking at a continent -wide propane shortage by the end of February. These extreme cold snaps are hap- pening more often because the jet stream is becoming wavier, and that's happening because the Arctic is melting. This is one more example of how climate change can cause sys- tem -wide breakdowns that affect you. Dan Taylor, Central Huron LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The News Record welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must be signed and include a daytime phone number for verification purposes. Letters can be sent care of the Internet at clinton.news@sunmedia.ca, sent via fax at 519-482-7341 or through Canada Post care of The Editor, P.O. Box 39, Clinton, ON NOL 1LO. CLINTON NEWS RECORD — HOURS OF OPERATION MONDAY: 9:00 - 5:00 • TUESDAY: - CLOSED • WEDNESDAY: - 9:00 - 5:00 • THURSDAY: - 9:00 - 5:00 • FRIDAY: - 9:00 - 5:00 • SATURDAY & SUNDAY: - CLOSED ADVERTISING DEADLINE: FRIDAY AT 2:00 • PHONE 519-482-3443 • FAX: 519-482-7341 www.clintonnewsrecord.com