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The Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-02-10, Page 44 Lucknow Sentinel • Wednesday, February 10, 2016 www.lucknowsentinel.com The Lucknow Sentinel PUBLISHED WEEKLY P.O. Box 400, 619 Campbell Street Lucknow Ontario NOG 2H0 phone: 519-528-2822 fax: 519-528-3529 www.lucknowsentinel.com POSTMEN.A a- J.. ray JOHN BAUMAN Group Manager, Media Sales john.bauman@sunmedia.ca JOY JURJENS Office Administrator lucknow.sentinel@sunmedia.ca LINDSAY THEODULE Media Sales Consultant lindsay.theodule@sunmedia.ca MARIE DAVID Group Advertising Director 519 376-2250 ext. 514301 or 510 364-2001 ext. 531024 Publications Mail Agreement No. 40064683 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO SENTINEL CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT P.O. 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We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. mlucknow Sentinel Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and the Ontario Community Newspapers Association Michael Den Tandt: Trudeau could do with a little less sunshine ATs the milestone of Prime Minister Justin rudeau's first 100 days in office comes and goes, he'd do well to smack someone in the jaw, figuratively speaking, and scowl now and then. Before we get to that, though, let's put paid to the emerging Conservative theme that the Trudeau Liberals at this early juncture are revealed as naive bunglers who stum- bled into office on a wave and are now, due to ineptitude and leftist ideology, quickly unspooling all the grand achievements of the Harper era. It's really not that simple; particularly not the last bit Think of it: The Tories under Stephen Harper managed to claim 99 seats Oct. 19. That speaks well of the party's foun- dation. But it also makes plain the extent of its failure. A pop- ular vote of just under 32 per cent means Harper arguably could have won again. That he didn't is mostly his fault, but not entirely. Where were the reasonable, centrist voices and party elders when HQ decided to set aside the economy and security and make the niqab, the veil wom by an infinitesimally small minority of Canadian Muslim women, the ballot question? The paralysis now in the Senate, as everyone there tries to figure out how they can get anything done with no one in charge, has drawn much sar- donic criticism. But the cata- lyst for Trudeau's smashing of the old structure was 10 years 4 Column Michael Den Tandt of old-style Senate carpetbag- gery, punctuated by a series of disastrously misguided appointments. In this area as in so many others, the Con- servative approach was to try halfheartedly for reform, fail, then give up. Trudeau is castigated because his democratic - reform agenda, within parlia- ment and more broadly, is too ambitious, self-interested, ill- conceived or idealistic. It may be some or all of that. But his agenda exists because, for the four years during which they held majority power with under 40 per cent of the popu- lar vote, the Conservatives governed as though they'd won 80 per cent. Aboriginal affairs? Certainly Trudeau's sweeping promises of wholesale renewal will eventually disappoint, to one degree or another. They are set up to disappoint because, since the apology for residen- tial schools in 2008, inequity between aboriginal and non - aboriginal living standards has been allowed to fester. No one seems to understand why the First Nations Education Act, which showed promise, was allowed to careen into the weeds in 2014. The Conserva- tives stepped back and gave up. Contrary to the current Lib- eral narrative, there was no great effort to sell the benefits of pipelines under the Harper government. There was legis- lation, rammed through via omnibus bill, to ease develop- ment When public and envi- ronmentalist opposition mounted, the Tories quietly stepped back The Conservatives, in sum, midwifed each of the intracta- ble problems Trudeau has promised, perhaps rashly, to fix. That he is meeting right and left with any mayor or premier willing to have lunch or coffee, and drawing rave reviews from most, is as much an indictment of Harper's pointless taciturnity as it is an endorsement of Trudeau's penchant for free- wheeling engagement How would election 2015 have gone, one wonders, if Stephen Harper had waded into a crowd of strangers now and then, or made a speech to a non-partisan audience? That said, the whirl of Trudeau's engagement and buffet of grand promises has a downside, beyond the possi- bility of failure or delay. It sug- gests tonally that this PM is still operating as a gregarious, eager -to -please newcomer, and in the process not being mindful enough of the 60 per cent of Canadians who voted for a party other than his and who do not believe the sun shines more brightly when he enters a room, to put this expression more politely than I would like to. Since 1993, Canadians have had a certain kind of curtly domineering leadership, with the brief exception of Paul Martin in 2004-5. A nation of 35 million is a super tanker, not a speedboat. To symbolically prostrate one- self before "ordinary" people, as Trudeau did recently on the CBC, was bold and made for some interesting TV It also in some segments made him look ineffectual. It will not likely be sustainable as mistakes and disappointments pile up. The reality is that, for the next two and -a -half years, such pag- eantry is not necessary, and probably presents more risk than it's worth. Trudeau could do worse now than to pull a Jean Chretien and lower his profile, while pressing forward with a couple of signature poli- cies that appeal to Conserva- tives, as well as some tailored for Dippers, and thus stake his claim to governing for all Cana- dians rather than just those who voted for him. When he engages he would be smart to avoid his comfort zone, down- town, and head to Blue country. That is where Harper failed, after all. It's something Trudeau understands, because it's how he cam- paigned for his party's leader- ship. It's something he is not now doing and should do, as he gets down to the nitty-gritty of governing. Lent is upon us Ruth Dobrensky Lucknow News What are you giving up for Lent? For me, I always give up my greatest temptations, chocolate and ice cream, and it's a real diffi- culty. I can almost understand how people with serious addic- tions like smoking have trouble quitting, especially when I sud- denly have a craving and then remember, no chocolate or ice cream til Easter. Feb. 9 was a busy day around local churches with pancake sup- pers for people to enjoy. The idea being that you eat up all the rich foods in your house before Lent starts and then go to church today for Ash Wednesday to start the Lenten season of sacrifice. For myself, I flipped pancakes at St. Paul's Trinity in Wingham last night until I looked like a pancake. Tonight I'll be back there for our Ash Wednesday service. I learned something new last week on TV Jared Keeso, one of the stars of 19-2, the police show set in Montreal, is from Listowel and will soon be on TV in another show, a comedy, about small-town life and its characters. The name of the show is Letterkenny Problems and there are six episodes, so far, but it's only on Crave TV. Apparently, Jared and some of his acting friends used to play hockey together and decided to make this show where a couple of good old boys tell you all their problems. If you have Crave TV and get to see it, let me know howit is. This coming weekend many people will be celebrating Valen- tine's Day, some have started early, like the Blyth Legion Ladies Auxiliary who held a Valentine's bingo yesterday. Sympathy of the community to the families of: Keith Tyler, 73, Lucknow; Flora Willits, 93, Bel - more; Graham Work, 94, Brussels; and, Norma Jean Lindsay, 88, Toronto.