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Times Advocate, 1997-05-07, Page 4Page 4 ' Times -Advocate, May 7, 1997 • Publisher & Editor: Jim Beckett Butiness Manager: Don Smith Production Manager: Deb Lord 9dvertising; Barb Consitt, Chad Eedy • News; Heather Mir, Chris Skalkos, Ross Haugh: Brenda Burke Production; Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson Brenda Hem, Joyce Weber, Laurel Miner • Transportation: Al Flynn, 'Al Hodgert front Office & Accounting; Elaine Pinder, Sue Rollings, Ruth Slaght Ruthanne Negrijn, Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple The Exeter Times -Advocate is a member of a family of community newspapers providing news, advertising and information leadership Publications Mail Registration Number 0386 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: One year rate for Ontario subscribers - $35.00 + GST Two year rate for Ontario subscribers - $63.00 + GST CANADIAN ADDRESSES OUTSIDE ONTARIO One year subscription - $63.00 + GST Two year subscription - $119.00 + GST OTHER RATES Outside Canada - $102.00 Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Main St., Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S6 by J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Telephone 1-519-235-1331 • Fax: 519-235-0766 small address: times.advocateOeedy.com G.S.T. •R105210835 EDITORIALS Fighting floods, elections 0 ver the past few weeks many in this area have complained about the late spring. Not any more: As news coverage of the flooding Red River filled the media, people here quickly re- alized we have nothing to complain about and certainly people of this area know a thing or two about coping with flood water. Natural disasters bring out the best in people. Across North America this spring, the effort to save communities from this continent's greatest resource - its supply of fresh water- has been staggering. And so has the loss. In Manitoba the•flood is being fought by residents who have had little sleep for the past three weeks. It is also being fought by the largest Canadian military deployment since. the Korean War. Over 6,500 troops equipped with every- thing from helicopters, to amphibious assault craft, to floating bridges, have been called in to assist with the build- ing of dikes, and when necessary, the evacuation of people and animals. At the beginningof last week close to 900 farmhouses had already been lost, and the river, being called by many the Red Sea, had not yet crested. Natural disasters also bring people to- gether. In an impressive display of polit- ical understanding; Quebec Premier Lu- cien Bouchard urged the people of Quebec to assist the people of Manitoba - just as other Canadians assisted flood victims of Chicoutimi last summer. As for Prime Minister Jean Chretien, not only does he think he can win an election (called for no good purpose oth- er than to have himself as prime minister at the millennium), but he thinks he can win it without the people of Manitoba. Manitobans will be too busy trying to get their lives back in order to think . about politics. Had flood waters been ravaging Ontario, it's a sure bet this' election would have been delayed. This federal government really ought to get taught.a lesson in what's impor- tant to Canadians, and what isn't. The best form that lesson could take would be the election of.a minority government on June 2. Listowel Banner Your taws Letters to the editor A polluted world "Perhaps all of us are in some way at fault. Dear Editor: How did I ring in Earth Day? I bought myself a water purifier! The reason I would consider this was that i unexpectedly ended up at the emergency this week with a bleeding ulcer. . When we came to Exeter over 22 years ago; I was so proud of our top quality drinking water. It tasted so good, and it -was clear and pure. 1 felt it was a beautiful gift of God to have such a quality of drink- ing water: Last night I asked God to forgive mc,,for any small part I might have had in polluting our beautiful world. Now i need an electronic distiller in my house to get what we had only 22 years ago and that was straight from the tap! It saddens me to think, that some of us cannot afford to have this. Would it be . 80 per cent or more that cannot consider buying one. So the majority will still go on drinking what comes from the tap. What have we done to our beautiful world'' We - leave a sad legacy to our children and grandchil- dren. If 22 years can result in such destruction what will the next 22 years hold? - Don't misinterpret me, I am not blaming anyone in particular. Perhaps all of us are in some way at fault. When we waste water, or pollute or are care- less with waste disposal or chemicals then we play a part in this problem. I don't have any easy answers, I wish I did. What I do know is that once we had clean, pure, water and now we don't. . I also realize that not everyone gets sick from our water and for this I am glad. I have not been able to get Poison Control or our doctors to admit that Exet- er water caused my problem. The strange thing is...if i take a look in their office...they have some sort of drinking water system. One parting thought...In what year do you suppose that we will all sport air'masks? This is our Father's World. I venture to say we have not been good caretakers! • Abeta DeKoker -D t, A View From Queen's Park TORONTO-- Premier Mike Harris's role in .the federal election is no great mystery -- he is looking after number one. The Progressive Conservative premier has in- tervened twice so far, once to help his own fed- eral party and the other time to help its arch- ri- val, Reform. • Harris, who has said he will be neutral, is popular enough to influence the votes of many who share his right-wing views, despite resent- ment over his cuts in services. He said first and accurately that the cause of conservatism would be helped if Tories and Reformers could group behind one party. The right wing lost many seats in the 1993 federal election, he pointed out, because its vote was divided between the Tories and Re- form, and it could easily happen again this elec- tion. Hams stopped short ofsaying which party right-wingers should form up behind.• But the federal Tories under Jean Charest have been established much longer, are ahead By Eric Dowd Simple Cruelties Brenda Burke Yard sale "You won't make any money at this yard sale;" he states, an unlit cigarette dangling from his -lips. I consider the bulging boxes on the floor in front of me. - "One person's junk is another person's..." "Extria junk," he finishes, disappearing through the street[ door. The mocking sun beats down on my back as I trudge down our scoping front lawn, dragging overloaded garbage bags; I get to work, organizing my collection of used -up, no-good, in -the -way articles.. Antique - record albums: Shaun Cassidy, The Bee Gees, Olivia -Newton John. They stir crazy -day, worriless memories. Dusty ornaments, most of them from Salada tea. They used to sit on ' the headboard shelf of my bed - so I could play with them on Saturday mornings when my parents made us sleep in. Dog -chewed shoes. The ones I .. bought in Portugal that made my feet feel claustrophobic. Kid jewelry. Brooches from Avon with perfume centres. Musty -smelling clothes, all . cooled with a distant scent of someone's flesh. A genuine leather remote control pouch. A brown, furry chair that pulls out into sleeping quarters for one. season .My first potential customers arrive. Silently they snoop. around, making sure to be: deliberately unaware of my presence. I watch them from my lawn chair like a salesperson would keep an eye on potential shoplifters. A huge purse tugs at my shoulder. 'Money bags,' they'll call me. when I get through this. • My father stumbles down the • sidewalk carrying ahuge, rusty school bell - an addition to my .. .items for sale. He holds the -thing as high as his arms will permit, then swings it back and forth until it makes hollow, embarrassing gongs. "YARD SALE! YARD SALE!" he calls out in the same tone as someone would yell. "DINNER TIME!" Suddenly I'm surrounded by- summertime bodies and my money bag is expanding. I feel • :like I'm in sales again, giving advice, collecting money, guaranteeing ultimate satisfaction. My beloved, dreaded gems are disappearing one by one, to be replaced by sterile, useful dollar bills. S'ome people, intotice, are straight browsers while others are true buyers. The browsers trudge around in a detached fashion, their scrutinizing eyes alive with caution. They wander away in the same dead -faced. •manner, their shoulders whispering. "You're not -getting any of my cash, but it's been nice examining your junk." • The true buyers can be spotted . instantly; their eager eyes and brisk pace reveal buying is their .sole purpose on Saturday mornings. Soon nay grandparents arrive, under the pretense of visiting. Gramma takes one look at my display and cross-examines me. "isn't that the spoon holder I gave you for Christmas?" "Your rose bushes need a little watering," says Grampa, wandering:away to find the • hose. Just then, my mother shows up and joins Gramma in the search, each recognizing familiar objects I long to discard from thought: ' When everyone finally clears out, there are only a few rejected items left. Stuffed animals from younger days. Chipped plaster -molded pictures made in Grade 7. An empty photo album still in its package. There Gramina's spoon holder sits, triumphantly gleaming in the sun. 1 feel sorry for these items and • carefully pack them away. Not all memories can be sold. • of Reform in, polls, more of the mainstream, na- tional rather than regional, less inclined to go off the rails with racist comments and have a leader with wider appeal. Many will think Harris was hinting that the right should line up behind the federal Tories and his call would have heartened his federal party. But Hams has now jumped in with both -feet opposing changing the Constitution to recog- nize Quebec as a distinct society. Harris has said this before over the years, claiming no one has explained precisely what it would mean to have such a designation. He is now arguing that Quebeckers do not want to be . labelled a distinct society, which will be news 'to many in that province. Quebec separatists naturally dismiss distinct society as too insignificant a concession, but the major federalist parties in that province place it high on their agendas. These include the federal Tories under Char - est. Harris has now undermined them and Re - Harris looking after number one formers naturally are claiming it shows that Harris deep -down favors them. Harris has given a push' to first one party"and then the other because he would not be helped by either outdistancing the other and doing well. The worst outcome for him would be for the Tories to win power federally. (There is not much expectation Charest will win, but mira- cles can happen. Ontario parties have been handicapped when their own party was in power federally, because often they were blamed for their federal party's actions. The Ontario Tories won 13 consecutive elec-. tions from 1943 to 1985, when federal govern- ments were mostly Liberal, but their reign end- ed soon after their party was elected federally, although a lot of local issues also bothered vot- ers. While their party governed in Ottawa, the Ontario Tories withered in two elections and they resumed power in the province soon after the federal Tory" government vanished, a histo- ry that would make any premier wary of help- ing his own party to federal power. Harris would not want Reform to do particu- larly well in a federal election either, because it might feel strong enough to revive thoughts of running candidates in the next Ontario election and split his -right-wing support. Harris's looking after himself comes as no surprise. in the only previous federal election since he became leader, in 1993, he was asked if he would support Tory prime minister Kim Campbell. Most unknown heads of minor provincial op- position parties, as he then was, would have jumped at.the chance to be seen professing un- dying loyalty. But Harris said he would not give anyone a blanket endorsement and would support specif- ic policies put forward by any party if he felt them worthwhile, making sure he did not get involved in a federal campaign in a way that would come back to haunt him.