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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1988-11-23, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23. 1988. Opinion The people have spoken The people of Canada have spoken, given the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney a clear majority to pursue its objectives including the Free Trade Agreement. Despite the fact that more people voted for parties that oppose Free Trade than those that support it, Prime Minister Mulroney now has no roadblock between himself and his goal of the signing of the free trade agreement. The irony of it all is that John Turner, who staked his career on the anti-Free Trade crusade may have been the key to getting government support for the agreement. In the end it appeared that although people were nervous about Free Trade, they were even more nervous about the prospect of Mr. Turner as Prime Minister. Earlier in the campaign, even when the Liberals were buried in the polls before the leaders debate, polls showed the Liberals would win a landslide majority with either Pierre Trudeau or Jean Cretien as leader. But the people have spoken. Now it is time for the Progressive Conservatives to prove that we can have all the good things of Free Trade without the losses. It’s now up to the Conservatives to keep their campaign promises, promises such as the local one that post offices will continue to function as they presently do. For those who opposed the Free Trade agreement there is nothing to be done but to stand on guard to make sure the government keeps its word and to fight to maintain a Canadian identity as the continental pressures increase. In short, opponents of the Free Trade Agreement can only fight to help the government’s promise that Canada would not be swallowed by the U.S. come true. A system to be proud of Sometimes it’s only when things go wrong that you notice the things that usually go right. There was considerable publicity in the last couple of weeks when the enumeration system that puts the names of millions of voters on the voters lists proved not to be fool proof. Enumerators in the cities goofed badly a couple of times, in some cases missing whole apartment buildings with hundreds of people in them. Some of the residents of the buildings didn’t notice they weren’t on the voting list until it was past the deadline for inclusion (urban voters cannot get themselves added to the voters lists at the last moment as rural voters can). Forthose who found they didn’t have a vote in this most emotional election campaign, the knowledge that we have one of the best systems for compiling voters lists isn’t very comforting. But these goofs were the exceptions that proved the rule that the Canadian system of enumerating is a remarkable one that simplifies the process of voting for us all. In the United States, voters must register themselves. The voter registration system there has been used to discriminate against voters at times. During the 1950’s and 1960’s one of the key civil rights issues was helping blacks get on the voters lists in southern states. They had been physically intimidated from registering in some cases and in others had been forced to take tests they couldn’t pass in order to prove their right to have a vote. In the recent election in Pakistan, voters could only cast their votes when they had registration cards. Many of the poor didn’t get the cardsand weren’t allowed to vote without them. It denied democracy to many thousands of people. We take our enumeration systemfor granted just as we often take democracy for granted and don’t get out and cast our ballots. If we had a taste of what others must go through to vote, perhaps we’d appreciate more that our system, even with its flaws, is one of the best. Amnesty for Cardiff? Perhaps instead of the usual financial campaign contributions some of Murray Cardiff’s supporters should have given him new tires for his car. He’ssure towear outafew sets in the nextfour years as he tries to cover the huge Huron-Bruce riding. One of the hallmarks of the Cardiff term as Member of Parliament has been the excellent constituency work he and his staff have carried out. The challenge will be even greater with an expanded riding that stretches an hour north and an hour south (on good days) by car. Perhaps MPs given as large a riding as Huron-Bruce should be given diplomatic immunity from speeding tickets. The wild country 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: W ard Black wasn’t at the usual Monday morning session. He was out making last minute prepara­ tions for getting out the vote to make sure he gets back into town council. Hank Stokes said nobody was running for council out in his township with all the old councillors back in by acclamation. He said he thought of taking a leaf from the book of the Rhinoceros Party on the federal election and running for the Cow party but was worried he just might go in. “I hear they have terrible coffee at the towhship council meetings,” he said. Billie Bean says he hears there used to be a lot more people running for township councils in the old days but that was when they had meetings that were an hour and a half long and they played cards for the rest of the afternoon. It was a good chance to get out of the house. Now they meet for hours and it’s just too much like work to be on council. “Besides,” said Hank, “now you don’t have to get out of the house to get away from the women because they’re all working in town so you can afford to keep farming.” TUESDAY: Ward was a little the worse for wear this morning. Julia said that if this was how bad he looked when he won, she’d hate to see him if he’d lost. Mabel wasn’t looking too good either. Seems The Grill became the unofficial nerve centre of the election race as everybody waited for the election results and then cele­ brated afterward. Seems a few nerves got soothed too in Mabel’s apartment out back and it wasn’t her coffee people came to drink to soothe them. WEDNESDAY: Julia was saying to Hank that she’d seen a farm magazine laying around lately and was disappointed to see that Hank wasn ’ t among the 10 sexiest farmers in southwestern Ontario. “You were disappointed,” Hank said, “You should have seen my wife.” Still, Hank says, his wife calmed down a bit when she looked over the list of the sexy farmers and decided that, although there was the odd guy out there who might be worth cooking breakfast for, if Gene Whelan could make the list, maybe she’d keep her old man afterall. THURSDAY: Hank wanted to talk about Fred Trade this morning. Mabel pushed him out the door and locked it. The Citizen P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario, by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $17.00/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, 4 p m - Blyth We are not responsible for unsolicited newscriptsor photographs Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. Editor & Publisher, Keith Roulston Advertising Manager, DaveWilliams Production Manager, Jill Roulston Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968