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Times-Advocate, 1999-03-10, Page 88 Aomia Exeter Times—Advocate Editorial&Opinion•rut hi Wednesday, March 10. 1999 1111011111111111 TIMFs-Ai)VOCATE 1 1 PUBLICATIONS MAIL REGISTRATION NUMBER 07511 jim Beckett Publisher and Editor Don Smith Deb Lord General Manager Production Manager Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850 Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6 • (519) 235-1331 EDITORIAL Everyone's vote counts at election time Rumblings about an upcoming provin- cial election have shifted from "if" to "when". It became obvious weeks ago that Mike Harris was on the campaign trail. Provincial Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty has kept a remarkably low profile until now, but in the past week or so, has appeared on several news and talk shows. Local candidates are putting together campaign teams. There is an election in the. wind, make no mistake. Some people have decided how they will vote, even before the official announcement is made. Apparently a lot of people think Mike is on the right track and is the best thing that has hap- pened to Ontario since Confederation. Apparently too, a lot of people think Mike has done his best to destroy the fabric of this province and must be stopped while there is still something to salvage. There are also a lot of people who will vote the way they always have, the way their parents voted, and perhaps even their grandparents. Sadly, there are too many people who will not bother voting. Some are convinced it makes no difference who takes power, that all politicians are cut from the same pattern. Life goes on, no matter who is elected. Some feel that because their spouse supports a different candidate, the votes will cancel each other, so there is no reason to make the effort. There are also many people who feel so cut off from the decision making process in the province that they do not even register to vote. Who are these disenfranchised people? Some are poor and homeless. Some live in isolated, rural communi- ties with limited access to transportation. Some are disabled. Some are immigrants who speak lit- tle English. A lot of them are women. While the politicians begin their campaigns, there is another sort of campaign under way, a campaign to encourage women to exercise their right to vote. Women Our Votes Count is neither a group, nor a branch of a political party. It is a non-partisan campaign to get women out to the polling stations come election day. It has been endorsed by a number of diverse organizations including the Ontario Federation of Labour, Committee on the Status of Women for the City of Toronto, Oxford Coalition for Social Justice, Federated Women's Institute of Ontario, Windsor -Essex Low Income Families, AIDS Committee of Toronto, OSSTF; and Chatham -Kent Sexual Assault Crisis Centre. The goal is to use existing women's networks to encourage, assist, and inform. It is an education campaign, aimed at a segment of our population which traditionally has had a low voter turnout. One of the wonders of our Canadian society is that the vote of a millionaire Toronto industrialist counts for no more than the vote of a young moth- er in rural mid -western Ontario, surviving on wel- fare. The problem is that young woman might not feel her vote counts. She might feel she is a victim of the powers that be, with no voice. She does have a voice, and the right to use it. She might need assistance in registering to vote. She might need encous'agement. And she will surely need information on how to use that voice, so she will make an informed and confident choice when she votes. That is where this campaign comes in, Women Our Votes Count. For more information, or to endorse the cam- paign, contact the. Ontario -Coalition for Social Justice, 15 Gervais Drive Unit 305, Toronto, Ontario, M3C' 1Y8, or email ocsj@Sympatico.ca. The fickle finger of the sports gods What a difference a year can make. Take the Exeter Jr. D Hawks and the Lucan Irish for example. Last year at this time Exeter were in a tooth and nail series versus Mitchell. Exeter eventually came back to win the series four games to two after losing the first two games. The Hawks finished off Seaforth and Port Stanley after coming from behind to win both series in seven games. Exeter lost the all -Ontario championship final series to Wellesley in seven games after playing the cardiac kids yet again — losing the first three games and then winning the next three. It was an exciting, nerve-wracking and fun experience for the players, management, fans and this sports hack. This year our hockey hopes were dashed in five games by the dastardly Irish who may be heading for the all -Ontario finals this season, likely against the Wellesley Applejacks. The Irish will first have to knock off the Mitchell Hawks who were taken to the limit by pesky Seaforth. The Irish are almost thankful they are facing Mitchell in round two rather than Seaforth. The Cents are notorious giant -killers and ousted Lucan out of playoffs for the last three consecutive years. Last sea- son's early playoff exit was especially hard to take for the Irish. Lucan had finished the regular season with the best record, the best goals for and the best goals_ againstand Seaforth had barely qualified for the extra season. Lucan again finished on top of the regular season this year but seem to have learned from last season's mistakes. The Hawks finished the end of a cycle. last season and Lucan is in the middle of their cycle. Many long- time players left the Hawks fold last year and their almost legendary coach, Dave Revington, had had enough of hockey after many years of coaching Jr. D teams including Exeter and Lucan and the Exeter Sr. A Mohawks. . It has been a disappointing rebuilding year for the Hawks and things don't get much better next season since many other players will be over age and the available talent pool of younger players is a somewhat unknown factor. Irish fans can rejoice. Not only does their team look like a shoe -in for the champi- onship final this season (knock on wood and cross those fingers and toes)", 17 players are set to return next year. On top of that, their top offenceman, Justin Mulligan, is a rookie this season and is likely to improve his divi- sion leading numbers next season, though he may be picked up by a Jr. A team next year. Hawkeytowners, be patient. The winning touch will return to Exeter. Just as soon as the fickle finger of the sports gods points our way again. Hawks get new look The Hawks debuted a new third jersey during their final game last week. The gold and black tops have 'HAWKS' crossing diagonally in the front and the player names on the back. The usual big swooping Hawk is missing from the front of the new jersey but is included on the shoulders. Hawks coach Scott Bogart said the third jersey is something the players wanted to db, adding the play- ers paid for RSD Sports Den to create the snazzy tops. Bogart said the team will likely use the third jersey like NHL teams do and wear them a few times next season. CRAIG BRADFORD MISSILES AND MUSINGS • asse.4,40 �raa9~,):sv cacao swtozcru.,rums sr�sr�aycxcox�,r? ;r�k a mpvrec ;sass .we# owosalemomsgsmossmowwwseoomossoemw About the Times -Advocate Address & Office Hours Times -Advocate, 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850, Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6. Our office is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. 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