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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1990-09-05, Page 4Pity the poor Huron county voter who has to decide which of the five rties to support in this Thursday’s provincial election. You hope as PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1990. Editorials Confused a voter to make an intelligent, reasoned decision but how do you sort out the muddle of contradictory claims. Take last week’s teacher-sponsored all-candidates debate on education for example. Just how much of the secondary and elementary education bill does the province pay? Is it 56.9 percent as Jim Fitzgerald the Liberal candidate claims or 40 per cent as the NDP candidate Paul Klopp claims. Or how about where the money is to come from to increase the amount the province pays? Can the Conservatives really pull the magic of keeping all their promises such as increasing the province’s share to 60 per cent by simply cutting government waste? Can the NDP increase education spending to 60 per cent simply by taxing corporations? The Liberals as the governing party have been the target of blasts, not only by all the opposition parties but by every special interest group in the province. But how can the government really be guilty of not giving enough to education and health care and highways and all those other good causes and still be guilty of an immense tax grab as the Conservative claim? Can the answer really be as simple as cutting 9,000 government jobs as the Conservatives say? Can the new minimum tax on corporate profits really raise money for an NDP government without driving even more business out of Ontario? What are we doing voting in the first place when the government has two years left in its mandate and a huge majority? The opportunism of the Peterson government has been one of the election themes for ordinary people. There’s an anger and resentment at all politicians abroad in the land these days and Mr. Peterson risked the voters’ wrath by calling an election we didn’t really need. Sick of Meech Lake, and high interest and high taxes and dozens of other things, there’s a temptation for the voter to take out his resentment on the Liberals. Yet before doing so the voter should remember that revenge is not a good reason for voting. Whether there should have been an election or not, there is one. The government we elect will have to steer the province through a watershed time in our history. It will have to cope withthefalloutfrom a Free Trade policy that so far sees lots of down-side and very little up. In the wake of the Meech Lake debacle the country may be reshaped entirely in the next few years. We must have the best government possible to try to keep this country together. There are no simple solutions to the problems that face us. What voters must do, however, is sort through all the claims and counter claims to decide which of the parties will be in the best interests of the country as a whole. The voter must decide which of the five local candidates will be our best representative in making decisions not just on the issues of this moment, but in the tough decisions ahead. It’s a tough job but only you and the millions like you across the province can make that decision. Good luck to us all. Getting carried away Sometimes professionals of any group can get carried away in the excitement of the moment with disastrous results but never is this more scary than when the most powerful opinion moulding machine in the world seems to scent a war like a bloodhound. The American television crews and newspaper reporters last week seemed intent on building war hysteria in their country reporting from the front lines of the Amerian build up of troops in Saudi Arabia. From the tone of the dispatches one got the feeling that it would be a great disappointment if a peaceful solution was found and America’s military might wasn’t used to teach Iraq’s Saddam Hussein a lesson. Maybe the American newspeople have just grown up with too many Hollywood movies glorifying military heroics. Maybe the sense of American pride in its military power is getting to a younger generation of reporters who have never had a war of their own to cover. Maybe it’s just the scent of a good story. Whatever the cause the reporters are like children playing with matches, building up the emotions of the American people to the point a war may seem inevitable. The media should remember it’s always a lot easier to get into a war than it is to get out of it. The media in the U.S. has taken great pride over the years in its role in destroying the credibility of the Vietnam war effort and finally tting the U.S. out of Vietnam but it should remember that it was cheerleading by the media that helped get the U.S. involved in the first place. fhepoweroftheU.S. mediatoshape public opinion, notjustin the U.S. but around the world, is nearly as immense as that of a nuclear omb and those with their fingers on the buttons of U. S. network or of ’ajor newspapers should take their responsibility just as seriously as nose with their fingers on the nuclear triggers. * Heavy dew Mabel’s Grill There are people who will tell you that the important decisions in town are made down at the town hall. People in the know, however know that the real debates, the real wisdom reside down at Mabel 's Grill where the greatest minds in the town [if not in the country] gather for morning coffee break, otherwise known as the Round Table Debating and Filibustering So­ ciety. Since notjust everyone can partake of these deliberations we will report the activities from time to time. MONDAY: Billie Bean said that for once it’s nice to hear you’re farther ahead being poor. He was talking about the latest crime wave in Los Angeles where people are being killed for their Rolex watches. Police in one affluent section of Los Angeles say there have been 49 Rolex watch robberies from Sep­ tember to July and several owners have been killed for the watches worth up to $20,000. “Sometimes it pays to only be able to afford a Timex,” Billie said. “Yes,” said Julia Flint, “but you’d better hope a robber has good eyesight and doesn’t just see the “ex” at the end.” TUESDAY: Everybody was talking about the storm last night and the wierd lightning. Ward Black said it was one of the worst storms he could remember. Tim O’Grady said it was scary to think about that much power and you just didn’t know where it might strike next. “Sort of like Michael Wilson,” Hank Stokes said. WEDNESDAY: Tim said he was beginning to think Brian Mulroney and George Bush are joined at the hip they are together so often these days. He was talking about the fishing trip they made together while they discussed the Iraq crisis Citizen P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 P.O. Box it>2, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $19.00/yr. ($40.00 Foreign]. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisment will be credited. Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. - Blyth We are not responsible for unsolicited newscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright. Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. Continued on page 17 \ Phone 523-4792 Phone 887-9114 Editor & Publisher, Keith Roulston Advertising Manager, Dave Williams Production Manager, Jill Roulston Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968