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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1988-11-09, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1988. It's your say now Despite all the attention the federal election is getting in the national media, the election that may affect your community most is not the Nov. 21 election but the Nov. 14 election for municipal offices. While the great affairs of the nation will perhaps take a different direction depending on which party is elected Nov. 21, the battle to keep our small communities alive and vibrant will continue on the local level. The policies determined in Parliament will likely have less impact on the future of your town, village or township than the decisions made around the local council table. Those fortunate enough to have an election in their municipality this week must do their part by finding as much as they can about where the candidates stand and then casting their ballot next Monday. Never does your vote count so much as in a local election. The future of your community is in your hands. If you don’t vote you’re not doing your part to keep the community healthy. Trust Democracy As the federal election of November 21 approaches with astonishing polls and conflicting opinions there is, sadly, one thing that appears to be certain: cynicism has never been so high about politics. An Informal “bar” poll taken among the patrons of bars by CBC television Sunday night showed that only 16 per cent of people interviewed through politicians entered politics because they wanted to accomplish good things for their country. Granted a bar room may be a little more cynical atmosphere than the country at large but the cynicism is still strong in the country in general. And looking at the Section campaign one can easily see why people are being turned off by politicians. It’s not the things that are being said so much as the things left unsaid that are bothering people. Take Meech Lake for example. Polls have showed more people opposed to the agreement than support it yet there is no party that will take the side of the opponents. Courting the nationalist vote in Quebec, all parties have decided to set aside any doubts they have and support the agreement. They have managed to “low bridge” the issue that might otherwise have become as hot a topic as free trade. NDP supporters, who like to think their party and leader Ed Conservatives, have reason to question the morality on that one. John Turner, meanwhile, besides supporting Meech Lake, has been making big promises on new programs but doesn’t want to say how much the programs will cost. The promises now seem to have been unnecessary because the only thing people seem to talk about in this election is Free Trade anyway but Mr. Turner hasn’t been very honest in promising the goodies without trusting the Canadian electorate with the price they can expect to pay. Then there are the government representatives, the people who can’t use ignorance as an excuse because they have been at the heart of the decision making and should know the real facts behind the half-truths they often use. Take the promise that rural post offices will not be closed. This is the line that Canada Post cooked up and the Conservative candidates have been happy to go along with. In the game of semantics, they may be right, but under Canada Post’s business plan to privatize the 5200 rural post offices across Canada people will see a vastly different postal presence in their community. Instead of having a post office in Blyth or Brussels (or Wingham and Clinton) you will likely have an area in some store turned over to the post office as smaller hamlets have now. Perhaps that is enough to please peop'e, particularly people who think a government-run post office can only be inefficient but if it is so good, why don’t the Conservative candidates have the honesty to come out and admit that’s what’s coming. And of course there is the Free Trade deal. The answer to criticisms of the Agreement is to say “there is nothing in the Agreement about that”.Againt here istruthandthenthere is truth. Free Trade supporters don’t go on to tell you that we haven’t really seen the whole deal yet. Years of negotiations will still go on to flesh out the agreement and determine how to harmonize technical standards and determine what is a subsidy. They don’t mention that the U.S. in its legislation accepting the Agreement said the government must continue to work to remove the “safeguards” our government now claims to have to protect culture, resources and agriculture. Perhaps our negotiators will stand so strong that they will beat back U.S. demands but in simply saying something “isn’t included” in the deal the Conservatives are playing with semantics. How can all these parties claim to believe so much in democracy but don’ttrust democracy enough to give the voters the whole truth? Is it any wonder people are so cynical. In making the voters so cynical the political parties are undermining the democracy they so loudly claim to uphold. The Citizen. P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 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. MONDAY: Talk turned naturally to the election polls this morning with the incredible way the fortunes of the Liberals and Conservatives have switched sides in just one week. Hank Stokes said frankly he thought it was incredible. He couldn’t believe that Mulroney was that far ahead before and he can’t believe that Turner is so far ahead now. “Besides,” Hank said, “who do they talk to anyway. Nobody’s ever called me.” “Maybe they called, but you weren’t in the barn to answer so they interviewed a cow,” Billie Bean suggested. “Nah,” said Hank, “that was the people trying to sell magazine subscriptions.” Tim O’Grady naturally was happy with the Liberals turn of fortunes and ready to rub it in a bit to Ward Black. “I always believed in what John Diefenbaker said,” Ward answer­ ed. “Poles are for dogs.” “Yes,” said Julia Flint, “and the way everybody seems to be getting their chance at the top of the polls, if you hadadogenteredprobablyit could top the polls too.” “Looking at the candidates,” Billy said, “I think we already have several.” TUESDAY: There was “I told you so” written all over Ward’s face this morning as he showed the headline about the dollar dropping over the scare the Liberals might beat the Conservatives and scuttle the free trade agreement. “You can’t fool the businessmen” Ward said. “They don’t care about emotions,” only the bottom line.” “If they don’t care about emo­ tions,” asked Julia, “how come they always get in a real panic everytime something new comes up and start dumping stock as if it was infected with the plague.?” It must be wonderful to have the power big businessmen do, Tim was saying, not only being able to predict disaster but making it come true. But have you ever noticed, Hank said, that despite the fact they’re always worried that this or that is going to cut into their profits, the rich always find a way to make money out of anything that happens, even if they first predicted it was a disaster? WEDNESDAY: Poor Imelda Mar­ cos, Julia was saying this morning after seeing that Imelda had been in tears when a judge in New York had imposed a $5 million bail amount on her in the charges that she and her hubby Ferdinand had looted $103 million from the Philippines govern- Continued on page 22 The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario, by North Huron Publishing Company Inc Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of SI7 OO/yr ($38 00 Foreign) Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2 p m - Brussels, Monday, 4pm - 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. 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