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Times Advocate, 1984-09-12, Page 4Pogo 4 Times•Advocote, September 12, 1984 Ames - dvocate Times Established 1873 Serving South Huron, North Middlesex Advocate Established 1881 & North Lambton Since 1873 Amalgamated 1924 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications limited LORNE EEDY Publisher JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager BILL BATTEN ROSS HAUGH Editor Assistant Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager DICK JONGKIND Business Manager Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 23S-1331 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $22.00 Per year; U.S.A. $60.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' *CNA CON,/ Now for the change Canadians have often been pictured as people who have trouble being decisive. John Turner can probably tell you that the picture is totally inaccurate. Last week, Turner and his Liberal Party were almost reduced to oblivion by the elecorate as Cana- dians showed a decisive desire to bring about a change in the government. While Brian Mulroney's victory was certainly not unexpected, there were few who had envisioned the ex- tent to which the country would support the Pro- gressive Conservatives. There were ridings, par- ticularly in Quebec, where the PCs overcame deficits to between 10,000 and 20,000 votes from the last elec- tion to gain their whopping majority. It is important that the Conservatives realize that the majority does not reflect entirely on their populari- ty. Many of the votes they garnered were from people who wanted to repudiate the actions of an arrogant Liberal government and the PCs just happened to be the only viable alternative in the minds of the vast majority. Canadians want change. They want to change from high unemployment, insecure economic condi- tions, government waste, patronage and favoritism, inequalities in the work place, incessant squabbling between the federal and provincial governments, high deficits, arrogant bureaucrats and a society where private endeavour is often no more rewarding than liv- ing out of the public trough. Throughout the campaign, there was the sugges- tion that Canadians should elect a government that would help restore confidence in themselves. That's only correct to a point. The majority of Canadians had never lost their self confidence. They had merely lost confidence in their government and it is to that end that the Mulroney government must work to correct. The mandate is clear and strong from every region of this country. There can be no excuses for not quick- ly moving to bring about the changes for which Cana- dians have voted. Must boost safety There's a growing demand from police depart- ments across the nation for re -instituting the death penalty in the wake of recent shootings which have claimed the lives of policemen or left them with serious injuries. In view of the decided lack of unanimity on the issue among Canadians and politicians, it is obvious that no immediate answer can be expected, despite the fact there is considerable concern from police officers as well as concern on their behalf from all Canadians, regardless of opinions held regarding capital punishment. It is therefore imperative that police officials do not allow the capital punishment issue to consume all their energies to the detriment of arriving at other avenues that could reduce the risk with which they are confronted in carrying out their duties. Failed to "Hard work doesn't seem to pay in the end," claimed Liberal Maurice Bossy, who was defeated in his bid to retain the Kent riding in last week's federal election. Bossy had based his campaign on his reputation as a hard-working constituen- cy man who brought more than $20 million in federal job creation dollars to the riding over his four-year term. He claimed he might as well have spent his time going to wine and cheese parties and regretted the fact he had neglected his family and then not received the ap- preciation he expected from the electora te. No doubt other defeated Liberals shared his lament, but it is nothing more than evidence that they failed to unders- tand a couple of important factors. First and foremost is the fact that Cana- dian voters have become more enlighten- ed. No longer can they be bought by their own tax dollars. Bossy may well have had to fight hard for the $20 million he returned to his riding, but in the minds of the voters he represented, it was money from their own pockets and they deserved to get some of it back. There is also a suggestion that those voters would possibly have preferred to decide on whether they wanted the money back in the form in which it was return- ed. Some would no doubt have preferred to have kept it in their own hands to reward their own efforts and not those of some politician. He said he "would have liked to be the person to cut the ribbon at the new health and welfare building" his Liberal govern- ment erected in Chatham. Perhaps, Mr. Bossy, the people of Chatham area were of the opinion that had the money spent on the new facility been left in the hands of the people who provided it, then the portion of the struc- ture designated for handing out welfare assistance would not have been as badly required as that money would have pro - 1 If the nation and its politicians are not prepared to back the police in their request for capital punish- ment, they must certainly be prepared to endorse some of the costly measures that would attempt to provide further safety. That may include doubling up patrols, requiring backups to be available before any officer tackles a call where danger could be suspected, or whatever other safety measures they may deem expedient. The element of risk, of course, can never be remov- ed entirely but it must be cut to the Lowest level possi- ble while still providing the protection that citizens require. The cost in dollars for new techniques and safety measures is one that must be paid to keep the level of crime prevention at its highest peak in the face of criminals and others with minds that enable them to take another's life. understand realities vided more direct benefits to the economy through increased purchasing power of consumers and therefore kept more in- dustries requiring workers to meet the demand. Hopefully, he and other defeated Liberals may come to understand that government job creation schemes are BATT'N AROUND with the editor band-aid approaches that fall far short of creating the lasting benefits of employ- ment in private enterprise. • • Mr. Bossy will now have time to reflect upon the inescapable truth that politics is also a team sport. While some recognition may be expected for individual ac- complishments, it never can overcome the results accomplished by the team. When the team is found wanting, it reflects upon all members of the team, regardless of some of the achievements of team individuals during the game at hand or over the entire season. While many of the Liberal candidates attempted to disassociate themselves from the record of Pierre Trudeau's government, the Canadian voters were far more intelligent than that, recogniz- ing that all sitting members were part of the team and should shoulder their share of the blame for the faults and downfall of that government as they perceived those faults to be. Unlike the American system of govern- ment, Canadians do not directly elect a Prime Minister, but rather a party from which that head of state is chosen. While that leader or his chosen circle of close advisors may assume powers and formulate policies from which back- benchers may wish to disassociate themselves during an election, that is basically ime.sible because it in fact in- dicates an a I e ication of the role which they were given by the electorate in the first place. It is no one's fault but their own if they can not bring majority opinion to bear on their leader as some defeated candidates suggested was their main problem. • • • • • While the bitterness of people such as Maurice Bossy may take time to heal, it is also recognized that it will take a con- siderable amount of time and effort on the part of John Turner and party faithful to rebuild the fortunes of the Liberal Party. That it can be done is evidenced by the outcome of the party following the Diefen- baker triumph of 1958 when the Liberals were left in disarray. Ironically, it was people such as Pierre Trudeau who helped rebuild the party's fortunes. The circle has now been completed. John Turner will have some difficulty in that regard as he opted to seek a seat in Western Canada in his attempt to im- prove Liberal fortunes in that part of the nation. Not only did he not succeed in doing that, but he watched on helplessly as Brian Mulroney moved in to the Liberal's stronghold of Quebec to move the Conser- vative fortunes to the forefront there. That, of course, will make Turner's ef- forts all the more difficult and it will be a painstakingly slow process to form a team that will be a contender by the time the next federal electon rolls around. For the sake of all Canadians, including Liberals, it is hoped that the actions of the Mulroney government will not make the task any easier by falling into disrepute with the electorate. Running summer hotel Just a few rather dour comments on a few things, as summer drags to a close. I now know what it is like to run a summer hotel, without benefit of staff. I undertook to take my grandboys for two weeks. They were .here for four. Their mother joined us "for a few days" and stayed two weeks. Their Uncle Hugh has been up from the city at least every other weekend, often with friends. Trouble is that it's beautiful around here, with trees, breathing in clean air, and eating fresh food: sweet corn picked today, green or yellow beans the same, real tomatoes instead of those hard, bitter little pellets from Florida or Califor- nia, strawberries and raspberries and blackber- ries just off the vine. I don't blame them. The city can be pretty gruell- ing in a hot summer. But next summer I'm going to lock up the big brick house with the jungle in back and the massive oak in front, and take a motel room, with one bed, no swimming pool. First two weeks with the boys were fine. Made their sandwiches every night, popped them in the freezer (the sandwiches, not the boys). Drove them away from the television at 11 p.m. (they have, at home, a tiny black and white with two channels). Turf- ed them out of a sleep like the dead at 7 a.m. Super- vised breakfast (kids can drink a barrel of orange juice in a week). Checked to see they had sand- wiches, an apple or banana or pear, wrapped their bottle of pop in their towels, made sure they had their swim suits, and booted them out the door in the general direction of summer camp. Tried to keep them in clean clothes, no easy feat. Speaking of feet, they have the happy faculty of playing football or baseball or basketball in the back yard in their bare feet, just after the lawn sprinkler has been on for two hours, then rushing in- side, across the rug and going for a pee, then flip it to a team-mate, get it back and drop an easy basket, walking away, dusting his hands. He's eight, and at seven decid- ed his given name, Balind, was not for him, so re- named himself Ben. Quite a kid. Lives in his own world. And pretends to be deaf when you try to call him out of it. As soon as their mother arrived, of course, the Sugar and Spice Dispensed By Smiley rushing back across it to resume activities. It didn't seem to bother the boys, but it played hell with the rug. I don't think I can get it cleaned. Might as well throw it out. Their Gran would have killed them. On the spot. But there are so many spots now, it doesn't seem worth it. Dinner was fairly sim- ple. I didn't fuss around like Gran, getting a wholesome meal, with chicken thighs, taffies, salad and dessert. Small boys love hamburgers and chips. Needless to say, we dined out quite often. Thanks to Ben, the younger of the two, the back lawn looks as though several goats had been grazing on it, and, after eating all the grass, had started eating dirt. Ben, to the amusement of my neighbors, can play any game without equip- ment, or opponents. Baseball: he• can take a called strike, scowl at the umpire, foul one into the stands, then hit a double and stretch it into a triple, sliding into third base. He can dribble a basketball, boys went ape. Every grandparent knows about this. Don't ask my why. I'm not a child psychologist. Dear Kim has an over- abundance of talent. She composes music, writes like an angel, is an ex- cellent teacher, and has been stone-cold poor ever since she got married. She's a bit sick of being poor. But she's an ex- cellent mother. Sick of being poor, she spent most of her time here writing new songs that were going to make a million, and pumping me to find out how to be a syn- dicated columnist within a month, at the outside. And we fought. She is a bristly feminist, and I, as she thinks, a male chauvinist. But we love each other and when the fights got near the blood- letting stage, one of us would grin and declare truce. She took me for about one grand this sum- mer, counting everything, but you can't take it with you, so why not? Hugh is another fettle of kish. He lives in one room in the city, with cooking privileges, but doesn't cook much. When he's home, he is either stan- ding at the fridge, door open, as he used to do when he was 16, or stan- ding over the stove, cook- ing some infernal but delicious concoction full of almonds, raisins, garlic and whatever, with a pasta base. He's not an old waiter for hothing. This weekend he brought a friend, Elena. She's on a very strict diet, because of allergies, and brings her own food. Not wanting to be beholden, she bought some food. I came down to the kitchen yesterday, and she had out for dinner eight huge lambchops. I asked how many were coming to din- ner. She said just the three of us. Two chops each and a couple to share. I turned green. But she and Hugh ate two each and Hugh had another couple for breakfast. I bought some home- made bread and Elena had six slices. Hugh ate the rest of the loaf, at the ,same sitting, except for one slice, which I surrep- titiously snagged while they were sitting around belching. Tough diet , eh? Threw them onto a bus to the city this morning, laden down with plastic bags full of corn, beans, blueberries, tomatoes and green onions. All fresh, local stuff. They left me with a refrigerator full of Elena's diet soup (ugh!), Hugh's dried corn, and a lot of other delicacies from the health food store that are going straight into the garbage. It's a lot of fun, running a summer hotel. With no staff. Next summer, there's going to be no manager, either. Need to get results "I knew I had injured one of the boys. I jumped out and knelt down and held him in my arms. i kissed him but he wouldn't answer me and everyone was screaming, so I guess I panicked. i just left and went home to my base- ment apartment and sat on the bed and prayed for that boy...but five days later he died." The speaker, hidden behind a curtain to disguise his identity broke down at this point and cried. He had served a sentence for his drunk driving charge but that didn't help to ease tin. tremendous guilt he felt. He spoke last April to a spell bound high school au- dience about the night he had killed a 10 -year-old boy. He went on: "I want you to know, it's not a very good feeling to walk down the street and face the public after you've com- mitted a crime like i did." By talking to various groups like the high school students this man is hop- ing to explode some of the myths that many young Hopefully he has begun to recognize that he has a problem. Hopefully the rest of our society will soon recognize Perspectives By Syd Fletcher tWori people believe about drinking and driving. He remarked that a friend of his would say "I drive bet- ter when I'm drinking -- I'm more relaxed" yet he had been stopped 12 times and he still didn't realize how drinking affected his driving. As part of his sentence he has also attended inten- sive group counselling ses- sions and has been treated for alcohol abuse. that more people are murdered on the highways than in any war and that much of the destruction is needlessly caused by drinking drivers. After that realization perhaps stiffer laws will be passed prohibiting con- victed drunken drivers from ever driving again. However, it should be realized that the above type of laws are only a band-aid approach to the symptom of the problem not the cuase, the cause being the rapid rise of alcoholism among our young people, much of it encouraged by the 'life- style' type of advertising which bombards us con- stantly on TV and radio, advertising which insists that the only way to have fun is to drink. As the cigarette in- dustry is very aware, they received a death blow when advertising was for- bidden and nasty warn- ings placed on every package of cigarettes. 1 believe the same thing would result if lifestyle advertising was prohibited. Knowing the amount of financial loss from taxes and the strength of the brewing in- terests, I doubt whether that will ever happen, unless, sad as it may seem, some prominent figure loses a son or daughter to a drunk. Then we may get some results.