Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-09-16, Page 4PAGE 4—GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1987 In a personal interview at the Signal - Star several years ago, a young Liberal MPP from London Centre recognized that his party was suffering badly in terms of public image and by his odyn ad- naission, the rebuilding job would be a formidable one. Several years ago I had the opportunity to talk at length with David Peterson, the young MPP who had just been elected to lead the Liberals out of the political basement. His assessment of his party's image and its imrxiediate prospects were candid and realistic; simply, he recognized that the Liberals were third man out in a three -party system and slipping by the day. Taking the wheel .of a sinking ship is hardly the kind of position rational people aspire to, but Peterson took up the challenge in the face of adversity and DAVE SYKES was resigned to the arduous task ahead. He spoke honestly and realized if he was to make any impact on the provin- cial political scene, it would only be ac- complished through hard work on the part of himself, his colleagues and the party. Last week, David Peterson became the first leader of Liberal majority govern- ment in 50 years. What he had reflected on years before, what he had committed his political life to, suddenly became reality. With the Liberals winning 95 seats in the Legislature compared to 19 for the NDPs and 16 forthe Conservatives, a great respsonsibility has been bestowed upon the Liberal government and its leader. It's difficult to speculate on specific causes for such a landslide victory but it appears that Ontarians, reacted to polls which indicated the Liberals enjoyed as much as 50 per cent of the popular vote. Thatmay easily have initiated a swing to Liberal candidates as voters wanted their elected member to be part of the sitting government in Toronto. Also, it appears that the general public has some serious reservations about the implications of free trade. It became a dominant issue in the campaign and, while Peterson was generally vague and soft in his stance, Larry Grossman's commitment to negotiating a free trade deal scared voters away as well. It's difficult to speculate on the impact free trade will have on our economy but many believe the concerns about the loss of jobs are worth considering. Whether or not Peterson can duly in- fluence the course of negotiations bet- ween the two governments remains to be seen. Voters, however, don't appear to be too willing to relinquish anything in the negotiations. While one man celebrated an un- precedented political victory, 'I couldn't help but empathize with PC leader Larry Grossman, a man who not only lost his owi seat In LlltU allay s GLCt;Wl311, :JUL a man who resigned from his party's leadership after the devastating results. His party was simply decimated and while evidence of the party's demise was visible in the 1985 election, Grossman was left to bear the brunt. A politician of character, he took full responsibility for the results without ex- ception and voiced his intention to resign and let the party rebuild under new leadership. Grossman may not have had a lot of options, but he was a gentleman in defeat. That's the game of politics, but it's dif- ficult not to be touched by the human aspect of the game; a game where for- tunes are won and lost. And so Ontarians hae handed Peterson an unrestrained mandate. The Liberals have been entrusted with the confidence of the voters; a responsibility that should not be taken lightly. THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT SINCE 1848 SEDT All ROUND COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER IN CANADA GOderich° iCrWnuon Maas 7500-45001 C C N 4 Better Newspaper Cm ,ewo,, 1984 SIGNAL -STAR P.O. BOX 220 HUCKINS ST. INDUSTRIAL PARK GODERICH, ONT. N7A 4B6 PUBLISHED BY SIGNAL -STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED rounded in 1646 and published eu"bry Wednesday at Goderich, Ontario. Member of the CCNA and OCNA. Subscrip- tions payable in advance 522.00, (Senior Citizens 519.00 privilege card number required] in Canada, $60.00 to U.S.A., $60.00 to all other countries, Single copies 60`. Display, National and Classified advertising rates available on re- quest. Please 'ask for Rate Card No. 16 effective October 1, 1985. Advertising is accepted on the condition that' in the event of a typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with the reasonable allowance for signature, willnot be charged for but that balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. In the event of a typographical error advertising goods or services at a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising is merely an offer to sell, and may be withdrawn at any time. The Signal - Star is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for reproduc- ing purposes. - General Manager Editor Advertising Manager SHIRLEY J. KELLER DAVE SYKES DON HUBICK rs FOR BUSINESS OR EDITORIAL OFFICE...please phone (519)524-2614 Second class A mail registration Member: number 0716 CCN4 (t) Legion serves us well Service and volunteer groups contribute to the quality of life in many communities across Canada, but that contribution is critical in small towns like Goderich. This year, Legion Branch 109 is celebrating its 60th year of service to Goderich, veterans and'families. This week, Sept. 13-19, is also Legion Week in Canada and branches across the country are celebrating with a variety of activities and special events. This is a special year for Branch 109 as it celebrates its diamond anniversary and it is fit- ting during Legion Week to pay tribute to the men and women of this fine service organiza- tion who give so much of themselves to the community. The efforts of the 1 egion, and the men and women involved, inject a good measure of spirit into the community while they quietly assist veterans, their families, the needy, the elderly, deserving sporting and cultural groups and specialized programs like Child Find. The work of Branch 109 extends throughout this community and while reports of the Legion's acitivities are carried regularly in this newspaper, it is easy to overlook the icanc and impact the organization has on the town and its people.. "1 lis i I, gion Week in Canada and it provides a fitting time to publicly thank the men and women w o give untiringly of themselves in Legion work to help others. We salute Branch 109 and all its members. Because of your humane and unselfish efforts, our community is a betterplace. D.S. Responsibly government The voters of Ontario gave Premier David Peterson and his Liberals an overwhelming - vote of confidence in the Sept. 10 election as the Grits romped to"their first majority in 50 years. With a total of 95 seats out of 120 in the Legislature, Peterson and the Liberals are free to pursue the party's policies without much interference from opposition. It's a new position for the Liberals. The magnitude of the win should not mean that the Liberals can be complacent about their standing with the electorate of the province. It does not mean they can ignore the people and take advantage of the trust bestowed upon them. With such a mandate comes a great deal of responsibility. Responsibility to govern in an orderly and responsible manner. The mandate means that Peterson can continue to work with policies such as pollution en- forcement, education reform, pay equity arid free trade. It would appear evident that Ontarians are concerned about the free trade issue and a poll suggests voters turned to the Liberals to protect their interests in the free trade negotia- tions. Whether or not Peterson can have a significant impact on the negotiations remains to be seen. While his stand was soft and ambiguous at times, voters weren't looking to gamble on the issue. - The election results may also have some serious side effects as the opposition was literal- ly decimated with the NDPs securing 19 seats and the PCs 16. It has already been suggested that the press will become the official opposition considering the poor showing of the other two parties. They will be virtually powerless in the Legislature and the conservatives, having lost their leader, Larry Grossman lost his own riding and resigned, will be rebuilding over the next several years. So Peterson and the Liberals have an unrestrained mandate and they form the first Liberal majority government in 50 years. Hopefully they will provide progressive and responsible government. D.S. It wasn't half as much fun as I remembered it, but I took a day off work sick recently. Actually, it was only a half- day, as I had already suffered through a morning at the office with one of those nagging little summer colds which leave their victims sneezing every five minutes and their heads feeling like balloons. Since the rest of the office didn't seem to want to share my misery (they found my constant wheezing and blowing distracting 1, I decided to spare them, my company for the remainder of the day. Owing, no doubt, to the fine condition- ing program to which I subject my roboust physique, I haven't been genuine- ly sick enough to absent myself from work in years. (Okay, I've come in late and hungover the odd time and I've even taken the occasional Mental Health Day, but nobody's perfect, right? ) Anyway, after spending an afternoon on the disabled list, I have to ask myself why, during my years in elementary and secondary school, I often went to great lengths to get a day off sick?. This time, it was really boring. My mother wasn't there to bring me gallons of ginger ale, or tea at the first sign of a sniffle,.ind I even had to get up and make my own darn Neo Citran. Life is hard. Worse than that, I discovered most of my favorite soap operas were now either off the air entirely (what ever happened to "Texas"? ), or have finally changed their story lines and characters to the point that I couldn't recognize them. Is nothing sacred? Since I had such a dull time of it (end- ed up sleeping the day away) I can't im- agine why I went to the trouble of perfec- tipg the simulation of disease symptoms In order to fool my parents into keeping rhe home from school. There was a time, even before I started smoking, that I "J APRA/D NOT, LARRY o1 7/S 7/n1F THERE SNO U/AV YOUR,SEATS AN' NAVE ARE ENOCJ61, TO GME" MAI 77/E OL 'yEAVE-1/ Rough gales force two Great Lakes Freighters of f of Lake Huron 25 YEARS AGO September 20, 1962 The rough gales of Monday and Tuesday forced two Great Lakes freighters to stay out of the lake, off Goderich harbour for two nights. Both ships finally made port at 7 am Wednesday. The SS Leadale arrived Monday at 7 pm and tl?e S A.A. Hudson loaded with 117,000 bushel f wheat and barley, reached the scene some hours later. Both ships stayed a mile off the breakwalls while they waited for the wind to abate. Various vantage points around the har- bour accomodated a good crowd of sightseers, Sunday afternoon for the sailboat races staged by the Goderich Sail- ing fraternity. Both piers bore their share of spectators, as did Lighthouse Point on the lake bank. In the outer harbour area, clear of the measured triangular course, a host of small pleasure craft gathered to watch proceedings. Postponed from a week ago, because of poor weather, the Sunday regatta failed to draw as many en- tries as were expected. Four local sailing craft and one from Stratford competed in the actual race, won by Ted Roberts in his Duet Class sailboat. Ted's time for the two mile run was 50 minutes, followed by Robert Hays with an elapsed time of 63 minutes. Upwards of 600 children taxed the capacity and the acoustics of Park Theatre Saturday morning for the Pepsi Cola pro- motional show and prize draw. Paying an admission price of six Pepsi bottle caps the audience began to arrive before 9 o'clock for a show that was scheduled to begin at could cough so convincingly you'd have sworm my lungs were bleeding. I was a pretty fair sneezer too, even if I do say so myself. Sit on a hot air vent wrapped in a wool blanket for 10 minutes and you could pro- bably convince Marcus Welby M.D. that you had a fever. Once, when I was 12, I ,got three days off school with measles, until someone figured out I had developed acne. Of course, when a school-age child ac- tually does come down with something, he is nothing short of elated. Who can forget that joyous feeling of throwing up into the toilet bowl? "Aha! I got 'em now. There's no way they can send me to school after they've seen this!" Of course, when faking symptoms, you always had to be careful to avoid over- acting. Appear too sick -- and your mother was liable to not only keep you LOOKING BACK 10. A full two-hour program of colour car- toons and other featurettes brought roar- ing approval as Popeye and their other cartoon favourites appeared on the screen. 50 YEARS AGO September 15, 1937 The years rolled back for many oldtimers on Friday last when the three masted schooner J.T. Wing, sole relict of early sailing days on the Great lakes, tacked gallantly southward and'sailed ma- jestically here into the harbour with her cargo of 85,000 feet of logs for,the Goderich Manufacturing Company. It was the first time in a quarter of a century a sailing vessel of the J.T. Wing's build had graced the harbour. The last most widely known was the schooner Azov, built by John Mac- Donald. The proud old Azov sailed from this port to her doom when she foundered in 1911. As soon as the Wing was sighted, about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, as she tacked her way into the southerly wind on her way from Drummond Island, people began gathering on the lake bank and at other places along the waterfront. Arrangements have been made for a public meeting in the Conservative in- terest to be held in Goderich on Monday night and to be addressed by the Hon. Earl Rowe, the Ontario Conservative leader. The meeting will be held in the West from this angle Patrick Raftis home, but take you to see the doctor. Fooling Mom and Dad was one thing, but without a genuine disease, you didn't stand a snowball's chance with the fami- ly physician. '"There's nothing wrong with him that a street rink. Besides Mr. Rowe, the conser- vative candidates, Dr. R.H. Taylor of South Huron and Mr. W.H. Logan of Huron -Bruce, will address the meeting. This will be the first platform appearance of the Conservative leaders in Goderich. 70 YEARSAGO - September 20, 1917 Preparations now completed for the Goderich Industrial Exhibition to be held next week, promise one of the best fairs held in this -town. Merchants and manufac- turers are taking a lively interest, and the main hall will contain an attractive array of special displays. One of the largest ex- hibits will be from the Central Experimen- tal Farm, Ottawa, under the direction of the Dominion Department of Agriculture. The big special attraction will be the mounted troops from Carling's Heights, who will give daily exhibitions of drill and manoevers on horseback. An official assurance has been received by the direc- tors that these troops will positively be here. The first of the new wheat arrived in Goderich this past week and proved to be of excellent quality. The steamer Necosta arrived on Friday with the first of the new crop, there being 100,000 bushels on board for the Goderich Elevator Co. On Satur- day, the steamer Americia docked with 121,000' bushels of wheat and oats for the same company. The steamer Glenlyon came in on Monday with 150,000 bushels of wheat, 53,000 bushels of which was for the Western Canada Flour Mills. Yesterday, the steamer G.A. Richardson arrived with 100,000 bushels of wheat and oats for the Goderich Elevator Co. good kick in the seat of the pants wouldn't cure," Kindly Old Doc would exclaim! One thing that finally "cured," this absentee fo skipping school through the bogus illness route, was that once I reached high school my mother turned the chore of writing my excuse notes over to my father. Mother's notes were always short and to the point, "Pat was sick, please excuse him," that type of thing. Father was more apt to use several pieces of foolscap, detailing the nature of my "alleged," illness and his silspicions about the validity of such claims. The teachers loved them – I was just mortified. At any rate, all those years of feigning illness have finally paid off in something productive. If nothing else, I got a whole column out of it, and I'm feeling much better today, thank you.