The Times Advocate, 2008-09-17, Page 44
Times—Advocate
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
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Editorial Opinion
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Doug Rowe -General Manager, Southwestern Ontario Division
EDITORIAL
Working
together
couple of local examples of community spirit
over the last week shouldn't go unnoticed.
The first is Canadians in Uniform Day, which saw
over 8,000 people on the grounds of the South
Huron Rec Centre over the course of the day last
Thursday to see the RCMP Musical Ride, the OPP
Golden Helmets and displays by other uniformed
professionals.
Hosted by the Exeter Lions, both the Lions and the
South Huron RCMP Musical Ride steering committee
should be congratulated for making the event a suc-
cess. Exeter's George Finch, who had the original
vision to bring the Musical Ride to Exeter, also
deserves a pat on the back.
The number of displays students could look at and
professionals they could talk to during the day
regarding future career choices was impressive and
took a lot of planning and hard work by the volun-
teers who made it possible. It was also encouraging
to see the community support the event so strongly.
Exeter needs more events such as this. While we
understand an application has been made to bring
the Musical Ride back to Exeter in a few years,
something needs to be done to bring an annual fair
back to Exeter. With seemingly every other town in
the area hosting a fair sometime during the year,
Exeter should also have one, particularly since
Exeter is bigger than places such as Kirkton, Zurich
and Hensall, towns that are able to host fairs.
The other group in town that should be recognized
for its community service is the Communities in
Bloom committee, which came home from the annu-
al awards conference in Gravenhurst over the week-
end having earned Exeter three out of a possible five
"blooms" for community beautification, an accom-
plishment they should be proud of, given the fact it's
their first year and they're a relatively small group.
Hopefully there will be even more community sup-
port of Communities in Bloom next year, including
participation from the communities in the Stephen
and Usborne wards.
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Who
do we want?
With the first week down on the election, sev-
eral things are starting to come into focus, with
the first being that it appears to be the
Conservatives' election to lose.
Another is that while Canadians seem to be
bored with all the politicians vying for
our votes, Prime Minister Stephen
Harper is winning the grudging respect
of voters.
Despite comments made over the past
couple of years about Harper's lack of
warmth and charisma, if polls can be
believed Canadians have started to
embrace the quiet, unflashy but steady
leadership of Harper.
Liberal leader Stephane Dion is finding
out what Conservative leaders such as
Robert Stanfield and Joe Clark have found out
at the hands of charismatic Liberal leaders
over the years, namely that while Dion is an
intelligent, thoughtful leader, a lack of commu-
nication skills while trying to push unpopular
policies is political death.
Dion is hearing the footsteps behind him of
both NDP leader Jack Layton as well as the
more distant but still within earshot steps of
Green Party leader Elizabeth May, both of
whom are threatening to bleed off precious
votes the Liberals can't afford to lead.
But beyond style is the question of what char-
acteristics Canadians want in a leader.
The relentless focus and need to perform for
the cameras and specifically to win the debates
with the perfect catch phrase is a los-
ing cycle, with the attention span of
voters getting shorter and shorter and
political parties responding with an
ever more glib message.
And what type of person do we
want? Is it the Bill Clinton/John
Kennedy model with rockstar charis-
ma who can dazzle on the world stage
but also with less pleasant personality
traits?
Is it the stand-offish policy driven
type such as Harper and Richard Nixon or the
solid citizen such as Gerald Ford and Joe Clark,
without the ability to charm the camera but
still be the same when the crowds aren't
around.
Politics, like dating, often comes down to
those you date and those you marry.
So the question is, do we want to get married
or are we just going to fool around for a while?
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