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The Brussels Post, 1972-10-25, Page 24' Brussels Post ONTARIO WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1972 Second class mail Registration No, 0562-. Telephone 887-60917 Sugar - and Spice by Bill Smiley WWWIMM WO Government has earned re-election While, pf course, the results will not be known until Monday night there is every indication that the government under Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau will be re- turned. Polls taken, across the- country as well as the opinion of experienced reporters covering the several parties support this view. There is, of course, good reason for the results which are being pre- dicted. The Liberal government,while facing problems in some areas., has established an enviable record dur- ing its four years of office. In some parts of the country it is true there is unemployment but in many other areas workers are dif- ficult to find. The overriding fact is that the Liberal government has created more jobs than ever before in Canada's history - more than 200,000 new jobs each year for the past four years. In the last four years Canadians have discovered a new pride in the country because of the action of the Trudeau government,. The recognition of China was typical of Trudeau in- itiatives with resulting benefits in trade for Canada. Mr. Trudeau continues to speak with one voice from coast to coast and his government has made a major contribution to a united Canada while at the same time standing firm when firmness was necessary as for instance in the FLQ crisis. Farm legislation has recognized the contribution which those engaged in the industry make towards abetter Canada. There is no criticism of Mr. Stanfield as'he conscientiously ad- vances his leadership of the Conser- vatives. But his slogan "we can do better" is an admission that the Conservatives have no alternative proposals to make to solve problems. But governments are elected rid- ing by riding and the decision as to whether Mr.Trudeau or Mr.Stanfield will be prime minister depends on the rotes of those of us in ridings,such as Huron, who, through our support of one of the candidates, indicate Who, in our judgment, is best suited to head the government. In Huron there are good candid- ates, two of whom represent parties that could form a government. Both are most capable, Mr. McKinley hav- ing represented his riding in Ottawa and Mr. Thomas with a wealth of 'municipal and county experience. The choice then is between Mr. Thomas and a Liberal government headed by Mr. Trudeau or Mr. McKinley and a Conservative government headed by Mr. Stanfield. It is an important choice made easier perhaps by the record of ac- complishment which on balance has been established during the past four years. We must remember, while we mark a ballot for,Mr. Thomas or Mr. McKinley we are voting for a party to form a government to run the country. To the Editor SIR: In PaSt year on the day after Hallo, weep we 'have read or heard about phild,!! ren who received shell-onts and have found hidden dangers placed in them. This. must .be the work of a sick person but there, are .other sick people, who in. the name of fun, run, or shall. I say sneak. around on Halloween night and play so called pranks,. like .setting fires to old buildings, setting railway crossing wig- wags in 'operatien, removing traffic signs,, and placing various' kinds of objects on our highways. All these so-called tricks are unlawful and .dangerous. There are many more that I could mention., but the. ones we really want to discuss are the practice of removing traffic signs, such as the "Stop or Yield" signs, and the placing of objects on our highways. • • yes, these so-called tricks are taking place, and in some instances have caused .serious motor vehicle accidents, but for some reason they have not become front page news. Oh yes, the accident' might have made the news. but the principle. cause did not. The cause could have been that the stop sign was removed and the driver failed to. stop. I stated the principle cause could be that the sign was removed. Other causes.. of the accident could be the inattention of the Canadians, fairly phlegmatic in most ways, are mercurial in their voting. They've shown that since confederation, swinging now behind one party, then turning it out for a while, then putting it back in povver. John Diefenbaker swept the country with his fire and vision at just the right moment. Not many years later, he, couldn't even win a convention for leader- ship of his own party. And I confess with a slight blush that I'm no exception. At one time or another, I have voted for candidates of all three major parties, and Would probably have cast a vote for Social Credit if I'd ever had a chance and the right man had been running. How about you? Have you made up your mind yet, or are you still looking over the field and wishing there were some other alternative, such as Mao-Tse-Tung or Guy Lombardo? It's hard to choose. The present government has not exactly won wild plaudits in the last four years. It has achieved little in cutting expenses and taxes, in 'fighting inflation, in creating employment, and in buying Canada back from foreign investors., It is doubtful whether any other party would have done better. How about the Prime Minister? Can he swing it virtually on his own, as he did last time? From my tiny vantage point, it looks as though he's running scared. Last trip around, he had an enor- mously favorable press. He was some thing new and exciting, a swinger with a razor-sharp mind and a charmin g shrug. The women loved him. But now he's an old married man with a family, the press has soured, and you don't hear that word ochar- isma" being tossed around. He's deadly serious in his comrnercials.114 IS resort- ing for the first time to the old back- room politics with what look suspiciously like election bribes to various parts of the country. What would he do if he lost? I think he'd pick up his marbles and go home. He's always been a winner, and he has none of the • parliamentary skill, the pa- tience and the doggedness that make a, good Opposition leader. Well, then there's honest Bob Stan- field. He's hard-Working and oozes in- tegrity and is intelligent. But lordy,, lardy, if only he'd take a course in public speaking, He'd probably make a solid but uninspiring prime minister. But is it Worth it to change the WhOle government for a fellow whose slogan driver, to recognize the danger, failing to remember that where two roads cross or meet, is, a danger spot, and that extra care should always be taken. Another cause could be the condition pf the vehicle such as having only one light, improper- ly aimed lights, the condition of 'the veh- icle's brakes or the surface on which the vehicle is travelling. All these factors and many mor e play an im- portant role in the prevention of an ac- cident, but in this case, the major cause was the removal of the sign. The same reasoning applies to the placing of ob- jects on the highways and the throwing of objects at vehicles using the highways. Granted, the driver has his respon- sibilities but we as parents, adults, teen- agers or children have our responsib- ilities too. I again ask, "Will you be. a Murderer this year or in the years to come, or will you cause the accident that makes the news by your sick idea of fun?" Stop and think if you can that the person killed or injured could be a mem- ber of your family, a relative or a close friend, and if that's not enough you could be the victim of your own prank. Ray Primeau, Seaforth, Constable OPP 00.25,1972. is about as fatuous and feeble as you'd find: "we Can Do Better."? Better than what? Better than nothing, a good. Tory might retort. Even that isn't good enough. There's something I can't stand about David Lewis, head of the N.D.P. He's smar t y. He has only one tune. And he has that old-fashioned belief that there's a Big Business rapist forever hiding under the bed of that perennial spinster, the Canadian socialist party. That leaves Real Caouette. There's a real firebrand for you. I'd rather listen to one of his speeches, even though I can barely follow it, than any given number of shrugging Pierre, bumbling Bob and I-can-give-it-to-you-wholesale David. If I were a rural French-Canadian, I'd certainly say, "Dat Caouette is de bes', bet." Well then, what in the world does one do? It's easy for the faithful of any party. They'd vote for an ape if he were running on the party ticket. Some of them are so rigid that they'd even vote for a woman. But the rest of us are faced with the same old spectacle: the government des- perately shoring up the old levee, and the others all howling that they will do this and that and thus, if only. That makes us get d9wn to the local level and take a look at the candidates, trying to disassociate them from their leaders. In my riding, we have three. There's the incumbent, a Tory, a doctor, an elderly man who is a master of poli- ticking and never misses a fiftieth anni- versary or a ninetieth birthday in the riding, we have a handsome, youngish lawyer who has done a lot of work in muni- cipal and service club affairs, and Sings at weddings. And we have a university student, full of ideals and somewhat blinkered when it comes to reality. Three generations. And do you know who is going to win? The elderly doctor; who has been years in parliament and shciuld have retired gracefully, after making a mark on the face of our history that could be wiped off with a kleenex. Because this is a Tory riding, and that's it. The student will get his lumps, the lawyer will get Some experience, and the old gentlema n will get the gold ring. Well, that's elections and I Can't even tell my wife how to vote, because she -thinks Trudeau is still sorta cute and Margaret is beautiful. My guess? Liberals back in With a minority government. ilowe'eil dangers