HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1987-09-02, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1987.
Opinion
Candidates show well
at debate
Judging from how they handled themselves in debate at the
all-candidates meeting in Londesboro last week, the three
candidates for the riding of Huron in the provincial election next
week are a strong group.
Often in such debates at least one candidate, although fine on
a one-to-one basis, seems to flounder when put in front of
hundreds of people. In this case, however, all three candidates
put on strong showings, each scoring points in his own way.
If anyone looked out of place at times it was the veteran Jack
Riddell as he sat quietly, absorbing the brunt of criticism from
his opponents. But like a crafty old boxer, just when it looked
like he’d taken too many blows he’d land a knock-out punch as
when he let N. D. P. candidate Paul Klopp go on and on about the
need for a new Ministry of Agriculture and Food office in Huron
and how it had been delayed too long by bureaucrats, then he
quietly announced that land acquisition had already begun and
the construction of the office would soon take place.
Mr. Klopp, however, generally held his own in the debate.
He showed considerable bravery after Conservative candidate
Nico Peters had roused his supporters with declarations that
bilingualism would never be instituted by a Conservative
government. As the next speaker, facing a hostile audience he
quietly said he hadn ’ t taken French in school and now wished he
had and he asserted that he hadn’t seen anything rammed
down anybody’s throat and thought English and French should
be able to get along together.
Mr. Peters, for his part, showed himself to be an effective
speaker, following the Conservative campaign strategy of
taking clear stands on everything from bilingualism to free
trade. He seemed to score points early but his abrasive style,
over a two-hour period, seemed a little hard to take, except,
perhaps, for his adoring fans.
Whether one agrees with their stands (or their party’s
stands) on various issues, one couldn’t help but admire the way
the three men performed in front of an important audience. We
should be glad that such able people have taken time to offer
themselves for election.
TDNAidHow soon we forget
Nothing changes the tune of a politician more than moving
from the opposition side of the house to the government side.
How else can one explain the changed tune of Ontario
Agriculture Minister Jack Riddell when it comes to the subject
of foreign ownership of farmland.
When the topic was hot back in the early 1980’s, Jack Riddell
as opposition agriculture critic was one of the harshest critics of
non-action by the Conservative government. The Tories said it
wasn’t really a big problem that lesss than one per cent of
Ontario farmland was owned by foreign investors and it was
only a problem in isolated pockets, like northern Huron. Mr.
Riddell didn’t buy that argument.
Yet last week at the all-candidates meeting at Londesboro,
Mr. Riddell was using the same argument: that the
foreign-owned land was less than one per cent and that it was a
problem, an issue from the past. He said it with a straight face,
as if he didn’t know there are all kinds of ways of hiding
ownership of land and we have no way of knowing how accurate
government figures are.
Earlier still, at his picnic he had declared foreign land
ownership wouldn’t be an issue in this campaign. Others seem
determined to make it an issue despite his objection. Their
anger is fuelled by a new round of land-buying in southern
Huron.
There are some subjects that sound good when politicians
make speeches, apple pie and motherhood issues. One of those
is the importance of the family farm. One has to wonder,
however, if the politicians really believe their own speeches.
When governments don’t act to protect family farms and the
communities that depend on them, they actually are approving
the growth of huge corporate farms.
In a weekend newspaper story the head of the corporation
that has been so controversial in northern Huron admitted he
owns 15,000 acres himself and manages another 20,000 acres
for European investors. No matter who owns such companies,
how long can we expect our small communities to survive when
corporations can amass huge amounts of land like that.
While nothing can be done to reverse what has already been
done, something can be done to keep it from happening
elsewhere in the province. The Huron County Federation of
Agriculture wants government legislation similar to that
passed in other provinces, legislation that would prevent
non-residents of the province and large corporations from
owning more than 10 acres of farmland.
If we really believe in the future of small rural communities
dependent on farming, it seems like a small request.
Letter from the editor
BY KEITH ROULSTON
In a couple of weeks we’ll have a
guest in our home and with that
visitinmind, Icouldn’thelp but
feel sad to watch Pierre Trudeau
lastweekashemadealast-gasp
attempt to persuade Members of
Parliament to reject the Meech
Lake Accord.
Our visitor, you see, is an
exchange student from Quebec
(from Brian Mulroney country on
the north shore of the St. Law
rence) who will spent three months
in Ontario to improve her English
and learn more about the rest of
Canada. Her visit is symbolic of the
kind of opening up of Canada that
many people sought and which
seems to be a thing of the past with
the acceptance of the Meech Lake
pact by all three federal parties and
all 10 premiers.
The sadness in watching the
former Prime Minister being al
most ignored by the Parliamentary
committee was not for him (the old
boy hardly needs anybody’s sym
pathy) but for the dream of all those
who shared his vision of a Canada
where French and English could
live side by side in peace and
mutual respect. The Meech Lake
people seem instead to have
bought an older argument that
French and English should live in
separate worlds.
The “distinct society’’ clause
that gives Quebec special status
within the constitution so that it can
protect Quebec’s distinct society is
the object of Mr. Trudeau’s wrath.
It perpetuates what he long fought
against: the kind of thinking that
maderesidentsof that province
Quebecers first and Canadians,
second. He fought instead to build
a Canada where French-speaking
Quebecers can feel at home
anywhere in the country. His
controversial bilingual policies
were designed to make it possible
for a French Canadian to get
service from his federal govern
ment anywhere so that Quebecers
wouldn’t feel they had to hide
themselves off in a little fortress in
Quebec.
But it’s easier to sell fear
politically than it is understanding.
Politicians have learned this and
take advantage of it. Provincial
politicians in Quebec have been
selling fear of the English for more
than a century. Bill 101, the
“French only’’ bill is a result.
English politicians in Ontario know
that when you’re desperate you
play up the fear that somehow the
French are going to get the better
of good, hard-working English
Canadians and you’re bound to win
support. Larry Grossman’s cam
paign is a result.
MeechLakeis apactbetween
politicians afraid to buck the
nationalist, “huddle down in
fortress Quebec’’ vote in that
province and the politicians in the
rest of Canada who would just as
soon go back to the days when we
left Quebec alone and they left us
alone. It’s a victory for the
small-minded people like Rene
Levesque who have the kind of
“good fences make good neigh
bours” attitude that keeps people
from mixing too much and getting
Continued on page 24
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