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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-01-06, Page 44 Lucknow Sentinel • Wednesday, January 6, 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 POSTMEDIA JOHN BAUMAN Group Manager, Media Sales john.bauman@sunmedia.ca JOYJURJENS 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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The Sentinel is available on microfilm at: GODERICH LIBRARY, (from 1875) 52 Montreal Street Goderich ON N7A 1 M3 Goderich li brary@huroncounty.ca KINCARDINE LIBRARY, (from 1875 to 1900 & 1935 to 1959) 727 Queen Street Kincardine ON N2Z 1Z9 The Lucknow Sentinel is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent ethical organization established to deal with editorial concerns. For more information or to file a complaint go to www.mediacouncil.ca or call toll free 1-844-877-1163. We acknowledge the financial support of the Govemment of Canada through the Canadian Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. Canada .10cna Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and the Ontario Community Newspapers Association Trudeau won't actually pull out the CF -18s and other predictions for 2016 Tte holidays are over (thank- fully), k ully), but one task remains; he crystal -ball column. My record of NewYear's sooth-saying has been mixed, it's fair to say. Last year's performance, sadly, was no different. First prediction: On Dec. 30, 2014 I wrote "there will be no spring election. The PM will wait for the fixed date in October, as promised, despite his party's recent uptick in the polls, and despite the apparent allure of getting the cam- paign out of the way ahead of the much -anticipated trail of sus- pended former Conservative sena- tor Mike Duffy, to begin in April." My reasoning was that then - prime minister Stephen Harper had promised unequivocally to abide by the fixed -election date, would not want to be seen to vio- late this promise for crass political purposes and — perhaps most importantly — enjoyed governing. Whywould he risk getting the heave-ho before he had to? I had also heard from Conservative sources that the war drums were not beating in the ridings, as they would have had a spring election been imminent. Result: Bingo. A -plus. Even a blind squirrel, as former U.S. defence secretary Donald Rums- feld famously noted, finds a nut now and then. Harper waited, of course, which turned out rather badly for his party and his personal goal of squashing the upstart Justin Trudeau, now the Prime Minister. Column Michael Den Tandt Conservatives reclining around their hearths this winter, grinding their teeth and cursing Trudeau's name, will speculate about what might have happened had Harper opted for a February -March cam- paign lasting five weeks, pre-empt- ing Duffy and before the Liberals got a chance to find their footing. Possibly, given the level of fatigue with the ancien regime that emerged last October, the outcome would have been no different. We'll never know. Second prediction: "When the election does come, I wrote, "the Conservatives will win it, narrowly, with a minority. The Trudeau Lib- erals will more than double their seat count, from the current 35, and replace the New Democrats as the Official Opposition. But there will be no immediate unseating of the Harper government by a Liberal - NDP coalition .. " Result: Bunrer sounds. D -minus! It seemed a safe bet to make; too safe, as it turned out. The thrust of much speculation late in 2014 - whether the Liberal and New Democratic parties would join forces to unseat Harper - was superseded by the Liberal wave, resulting in 184 Grit seats. In the end it came down to the desire for change, a rejection of identity poli- tics, and Trudeau's exceeding expectations in five TV debates. It will be some time, one suspects, before Canada's Tories again build an electoral strategy largely on run- ning down an opposing leader. Third prediction: Predicated on my expectation of a modest Liberal resurgence, I wrote a year ago that "leadership machinations will begin in eamestwithin the Con- servative and New Democrat camps" Result: So-so. B -minus, anyone? Harper, of course, is now haunting his local Chapters bookstore, taking selfies in Las Vegas and rediscover- ing the blessed non -pressure of being an ordinary Member of Par- liament. The Conservatives are on the leadership hunt, but on an extended two-year timeline, with interim leader Rona Ambrose minding the store till then. NDP leader Thomas Mulcair faces a leadership review at his party's convention in April, the outcome of which is uncertain. Now, on to 2016. Here goes. 1. Mulcair will remain NDP boss. The Liberal custom, established by inglorious precedent, is to drag each losing leader out behind the barn and send him to the afterlife with a curt thank -you. New Demo- crats have a tradition of sticking with leaders through several elec- tion cycles. They are also, to state Food security harmed by processing void The biggest news story for much as four per cent. Canadians in 2016 could Many Canadian households be rising food prices. The will be able to accommodate that University of Guelph's food increase comfortably, but others institute estimates the average will find it difficult. Already, there household spent an additional are households finding it difficult $325 on food in 2015, and sug- to make ends meet, especially gests consumers will be spend- with rising electricity costs in ing an additional increase of Ontario. For those on social assis- approximately $345 in 2016. tance or holding down several According to the institute, meat low-paying jobs, a bigger grocery prices are expected to rise from bill represents a financial crisis. 2.5 to 4.5 per cent, fish and sea- There are two reasons for the food from one to three per cent, cost increase in food. Although dairy and eggs by as much as two Canada's agricultural sector is per cent, fruit and nuts by 2.5 to highly productive and diverse, 4.5 per cent and vegetables by as much of the food we consume is much as four per cent. Overall, imported, especially fruits and the institute is forecasting that vegetables. food costs could climb by as Canadians are particularly vul- nerable with a sinking dollar. The other reason is a changing climate and the impact on parts of the world that have tradition- ally been highly productive. Cali- fornia's Central Valley, which grows much of the vegetables for the U.S. and is a significant source for Canadians, has suf- fered under drought for several years and its crop production has been impacted. Some of this food inflation was inevitable as Canadians and their governments allowed the nation's food security to be lessened. No nation should be dependent on another for something as basic as food, and yet Canada, a nation with the natural capacity to the obvious, accustomed to not winning. Mulcair is at his best in the House of Commons. He'll have plenty of opportunities to shine as the Trudeau Liberals lose their baby teeth. 2. Trudeau and his cabinet will reverse course on a couple of major policy files early in 2016. The first will be their pledge to withdraw Canadian CF -18 fighters from the battle against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. The second will be their apparent determination to reform Canada's electoral system without a referen- dum. In the first case the flip-flop will be attributed to changing cir- cumstances on the ground; in the second case, to political necessity. In both cases, theywill emerge politically better off as a result, despite sustaining short-term damage due to the broken promises. 3. Speaking of which: The federal deficit in the first Trudeau-era budget, expected in February, will be just under $20 billion — roughly twice what was pledged in the recent campaign. 4. Stephen Harper will make sev- eral everal public appearances in which he reveals both a human side and a self -deprecating sense of humour, causing Conservatives to shake their heads and wonder (again) at what might have been. 5. Donald Trump will win the Republican nomination and Hillary Clinton the U.S. Presidency. But it will be a very near -run thing. produce a bounty, looks beyond its own border for much of its food. Part of the problem is alack of processing facilities. Ontario fann- ers are adept at growing crops, but lack the domestic facilities to have some of those crops processed. This is a recent phenomenon; since the turn of the century, Ontario has lost its fruit processing industry and much of its vegetable processing industry. We have fewer meat pack- ing acking plants than ever before. When our dollar was stronger, the loss or reduction of these facilities didn't have as much an impact in the average household. Now it does. — Peter Epp