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Home My WebLink AboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1988-10-12, Page 4Page 4 —Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, October 12, 1988 P.O. Box 400, Lucknow, Ontario NOG 2H0 528-2822 Established 1873 BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1988 Thomas Thompson -Advertising Manager Subscription rates in advance: Rob Bundy -Editor Pat Livingston -General Manager $1700 Outside Canada s6090 S1400 Outside Canada $5800 Senior Citizen Second class mailing reg. no. 0847 Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, • the portion of the advertising'space occupied by the erroneous item together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of th.e advertisment will be paid at the applicable rates. Keep tally of promises When the Christmas season rolls around this year, the words "peace and goodwill" will have a special meaning. Christmas 1988 will mean the end of elections - federal and municipal - and the last of the political soothsaying for a while. We're only a few days into the federal election and already there's enough costly promises made to bankrupt Canadian taxpayers for the next 10 years. There's the commitment of both the Liberals and the Conservatives to national daycare. Both party leaders say they will provide Tots more daycare spaces for the nation's children - and John Turner even pro- mises to do something for the latchkey kids of Canada, the boys and girls who come home to an empty house because mom and dad are both at work. While Ed Broadbent has been low-key on this point so far this election, there's little doubt the New Democratic Party would support any move to help the working families of the country. So it appears daycare - with all its socialistic implications - is to be part of the Cana- dian mosaic no matter which party you like. John Turner would also turn a bundle of taxpayer dollars toward the provision of facilities for the aging. No doubt he's hoping the senior citizens - and those who expect to be senior citizens one day - will cast their votes in his favour because of that pre-election promise. A real "motherhood" issue if there ever was one. Ed Broadbent will put his energies behind cleaning up the environ- ment. He's pledged to spend millions and millions of dollars over the next many years to buy clean air, clean water, clean earth for Cana- dians. But to Broadbent's credit, he's telling taxpayers up front he in- tends to raise the money for, this mammoth effort through taxation to business and industry - a typical NDP move. And for Canadians who aren't industrialists or business tycoons or entrepreneurs - or depen- dent upon same - it sounds like a capital idea. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney is insisting that his government's free trade proposals will result in renewed prosperity for Canada and Cana- dians while the other parties think free trade as the PCs propose it, is one big mistake that will cost this country too much. And just to make the cheese more binding, there's an election in the offing in the United States where some politicians are saying they would prefer to protect the USA from the unfair competition of Canadian products in their markets. For those Canadians who expend 25 percent or more of their annual income on housing for their families, John Turner thinks he has a little something to ease the burden of those high costs. That will require a pile of bucks from the taxpayers - but the Liberals feel Canadians should be happy to pay it if they are elected to office to administer it. It's shaping up to be an interesting fall - and an important one for Canadians from British Columbia to Newfoundland. It behooves each citizen to keep abreast of the favours each of the parties is promising to purchase for. Canadians with their own tax dollars. In fact; it would be a revealing exercise to keep a running tally of the cost of the promises made by each party. It may turn out that Canadians can't afford to vote for generosity and "the good life" - no matter how enticing it sounds. - SJK Young people can speak out Ontario's young people can win a chance to be Minister of Agriculture and Food for a day by entering the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair Public Speaking Contest this fall. Young people ages 17 to 24, are eligible to enter the contest, which will be held Nov. 17 at the Coliseum, Exhibition Place, in Toronto. Contestants must deliver a five to seven minute speech on an agricultural topic, as well as introducing and thanking another contestant. "This is an excellent opportunity for young people to speak about agriculture, and it will be a good experience for the con- test winner to join me in my official duties as 'Minister for a day'," said Agricultural and Food Minister Jack Riddell. To enter, send your name, address, telephone number, age, and topic of your speech to Carol Stewart -Kirby, Guelph Agricultural Centre, P.O. Box 1030, Guelph, N1H 6N1. Deadline is Oct. 14, 1988. He leaves whole thing to Pat So, I see I've been getting a little com- petition lately. Yep, Mrs. Livingston, upon seeing how easy it is to become rich and famous simply by writting a silly column in the weekly paper, has graciously con- sented to lend her hand at filling these pages. And with wonderful results I might add. This humble scribe has gotten used to having people point at him on the street and giggle; or having complete strangers come up and say "Hey, buddy, have you cleaned out your sock drawer lately/". Just to give Pat a little encouragement, I'd like to pass along a couple of tips. Remember Pat, there are some things you can't write about without leaving yourself open for severe critisism. Examples are: - anything to do with anyone except members of your immediate family. It is much easier to explain to a husband or wife that what you wrote about them was only a joke than it is to attempt to calm an irrate member of town council or the presi- dent of the local bowling league. - local businesses. Never, under any cir- cumstances, should you say you made a purchase at such -and -such a store. Other stores will demand equal time even if you don't shop there. - the weather. Sure, we all talk about it, but who cares a week later that it "rained a lot last Thursday". - trade unions. I've tried this and it doesn't work. Remember Jimmy Hoffa/ One word about how stupid it is to go on strike and they're fitting you for cement shoes. There are, of course, some topics which are always good ones to pick on. Over my many years as a newspaper writer, I have 0 by Rob Bundy N THE SIDE discovered that you can get a lot of mileage out of: - your spouse. - your dog. - your car. - Canada Post (always good for a joke, and they don't seem to mind too much either) . - the relative size of your various apen- dages. I now Pat has already mentioned her large feet so watch soon for articles on her ears, knee caps, elbows and, as soon as the sidewalks get iced over and she takes a tumble, her you -know -what. Household chores that everyone does yet hates are good topics for columns. Politi- cians are good subjects too because to most any news is good news even if they do end up looking silly. Be sure to spell their names correctly or you'll be forced to re- run the same column. And give equal play to all political parties. If you get stuck for an idea Pat, write about what it's like to have `writer's block'. People who don't write for a living might find this boring but it fills the space without getting you into trouble. Kids are good subjects too. A humorous story about a teenager with green hair listening to Billy and the Pukes on his walkman is great reading for some reason. I'm passing along these little tid bits of experienced knowledge because, for the first time in about two years, the wife and I are taking a holiday. We're gonna cruise across the country for a couple of weeks just to clear our heads. The last holiday we took we ended up in Australia but I've promised Pat I won't go any further than Vancouver this time. Anyway, I'm off. Talk to you all next month. Have a good week, and keep up the tradi- tion of good material Pat. They're big shoes to fill but I know your feet will do the job nicely. Actually, you might have a foot to spare. ,i r � J UMi ii2 i • we stArid • ,__ �T