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Home My WebLink AboutThe Times Advocate, 2004-06-30, Page 44 Exeter Times–Advocate Wednesday,June 30, 2004 zkxna =CNA Editorial Opinion TIMES ADVOCATE PUBLICATIONS MAIL REGISTRATION NUMBER 07511 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada, through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP), toward our mailing casts. Jim Beckett Publisher and Editor Deb Lord Production Manager &Published by Metroland Printing, rt Publishing & Distributing Ltd. Metroland 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850 Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6 • (519) 235-1331 EDITORIALS Fear beats anger We Canadians sure are a forgiving lot, aren't we? What happened to all that anger? All that outrage against the Liberals and Adscam, the gun registry and the HRDC boondoggle? In typical Canadian fashion, Canadians briefly got angry towards the Liberals, thought better of it, and decided a Liberal government they don't trust is preferable to a Conservative government they fear. The message voters sent to the Liberals Monday night went something like this: "We're really not happy with you and think you should be punished, but since we don't like the other parties either, we're going to give you one more chance." What Monday's election also shows is that, like it or not, Stephen Harper and his supporters are going to have to accept the fact Canadians aren't ready for a shift to a U.S.-style right wing govern- ment. We are, in fact, different from our neighbours to the south and suspect the Conservative Party is simply the Canadian Alliance with a new name. Locally, the popularity of Liberal Paul Steckle in Huron -Bruce is impressive. With the scuttlebutt in the coffee shops saying Steckle would be in the fight of his life against Conservative Barb Fisher to win a fourth term, Steckle actually improved on his 2000 election results, gaining almost 4,000 more votes this time around. Of course, the fact Steckle is seen by many as one of the Liberals' more right wing politicians doesn't hurt him in Huron -Bruce, either. Here, Steckle gets the right wing vote, plus the vote of people who refuse to vote anything but Liberal. It would have been extremely difficult for Fisher to defeat Steckle, given the fact the two politicians share many of the same beliefs. Again, Huron - Bruce voters stuck with the politician they knew rather than opting for change. Conservatives and their supporters can pretend to be happy about Monday's election results — they forced the Liberals into a minority government and are building a new party after the merger of the Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party. But Monday's loss is still a crushing defeat — with voter anger at an all-time high in light of Adscam and the Ontario provincial budget, the best the Conservatives could do was steal a few seats away from the Liberals, who must be quite pleased with themselves today. And Monday's election results means you can pretty much throw polls out the window. Most polls in the last month agreed the Conservatives would win a minority government, when in fact, they real- ly didn't come close. Ontario, so important for the Conservatives' bid to form the next government, voted Liberal again. It's clear the Conservatives have much work to do — Canadians don't trust the Liberals, but they trust the Conservatives even less. Not exactly a positive political climate we live in. F About the Times -Advocate Debating the debate By now it will all be over except the finger pointing and recriminations. All that will be left is the contor- tions as winners backflip away from the fingers - crossed -behind -their -back promises they have made for the last six weeks. The other alternative might be a party with a win just out of arms reach and ready to sell its soul faster than Michael Moore can demolish a buffet. But although this was one of the more meaningful elections since 1979, or at least one in which the out- come wasn't decided before hand, it hasn't been a shining example of democracy in action. With the first close election in decades, all parties were willing to wade into the sewer. Seeing a threat to their God-given right to rule, the Liberals described the Conservative plat- form as `unCanadian' while the Conservatives replied by describing Paul Martin as soft on protecting children. The NDP was just as willing to reduce the contest to the lowest common denominator by saying Liberal leader Paul Martin was respon- sible for the deaths of homeless people. But the low point of the campaign was the leaders' debate. At one point, before television's all -seeing but knowing nothing eye and before the age of politicians mugging for the camera, a leaders' debate may have been useful. But a debate today isn't just a waste of time, it bor- ders on distasteful if not worse. The usefulness of such events seems questionable. At what point was it decid- ed that politicians should be able to prove they have the ability to shout down and finger point better than the other guy (or girl)? Being able to recall in a matter of seconds whatever answers have been pre-programmed into their brain hardly demonstrates the qualities we're looking for in a leader such as integrity, honesty and the ability to make unpopular decisions without looking at the latest polls. It does however appeal to segments of the population swayed by glib answers and `Slick Willie' type style. If it is absolutely necessary to hold such debates, perhaps it's time to revert to broad- casting them only on the radio where issues might take precedence over appearance, But if the leaders insist on conducting them- selves with the grace of a third-rate circus, maybe they need a lesson from the Dr. Marvin Monroe school of therapy. If nothing else, the entertainment value of watching them shock each other stupid would generate higher ratings than the current format. Chicken wire could be strung across the stage so audiences could actively participate in the political process and honestly show how they feel about our leaders with a well thrown but harmless whiskey bottle. Of course the best solution would be to toss out the `debate' anyway and replace it with something where the leaders are sat down one at a time out of reach of their handlers and take real questions. Now that would be real entertainment. PAT B BACK 40 VIEW 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 4:30 pm. Closed on Holidays. 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For example, Jim Beckett's e-mail address is <jbeck- ett@southhuron.com> Our general e-mail address is ads@southhuron.com. The Times -Advocate Team Publisher/Editor Jim Beckett ext. 109 Advertising Barb Consitt ext. 110 REPORTERS Scott Nixon ext. 105 Pat Bolen ext. 113 Mary Simmons ext. 107 CUSTOMER SERVICE Sue Rollings ext. 101 Carol Powe ext. 102 COMPOSITION DEPARTMENT Manager Deb Lord ext. 114/103 Sharlene Young ext. 103 ACCOUNTING STAFF Anita McDonald ext. 104 Ruth Slaght ext. 106 Patty Case ext. 111 Christina Scott ext. 108 Marg Pertschy ext. 208