The Lucknow Sentinel, 1985-11-13, Page 6Page 6—Lueknow Sentinel, Wednesday, November 13, 1985
"The Sepoy. Town"
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No communication
Canadians are being asked to believe that politicians in
various levels of government have been held at the mercy
of a bureaucracy gone wild, This would appear to be the
reason ' these politicians have been unaware of some
important matters within their. jurisdiction.
A. series of incidents in the last few months have
revealed serious. defects in communication between
ministers, including. the Prime Minister of Canada, and
the people ' who are supposed to keep „the people's
representatives informed.
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney had to repeatedly put
Ms seat on ,the line in. the House of Commons after his
aides failed to inform him of the problem 'which has
regrettably been labelled Tunagate.
Tory MPs; at least agreed that the problem had been
discussed with aides but the Prime Minister insisted it
never. made it to his attention.
The Trudeau years in Ottawa were notorious for lack of
communication, masterminded by 'the top men in the
Prime Minister's Office. The Jim Coutts -Michael Pitfield
tandem controlled• access to the Prime Minister even to
many cabinet ministers. Many feel Trudeau's lack of
access. • isdirectly responsible for both the Liberal's
humiliating loss of power in 1984 and the shambles. from
which the party is currently trying to rebuild.
Now Premier David Peterson's •new Liberal government
is finding some surprises•left over from the Tory reign and
there seems little reason to believe these 'are the only
ones.•
•
In both cases, elected officials, and one' top non -elected ,
official, claim' no' knowledge of the, incidents.
In, any case, even Liquor Control Board- of Ontario
(LCBO) chairman Jack Akroyd reports that. he had not
received information about wine containing .an alarming
level of an ingredient suspected of;causing cancer. Ithad
somehow been taken care of through the little highways
and byways known only to bureaucrats.
•The tarry, globs in the St. Clair River which contain* the
deadly chemical dioxin are news to. former Environment
Minister Andy Brandt of Sarnia. How the present
minister, Tom Bradley discovered the problem ' is a
mystery though it' may be a result of Peterson's reported
ability to get along well with civil servants. '
If aides and other bureaucrats are taking matters which
demand attention . from ministers and other ' elected
officials into•their own halnds,, there. should be more than
wrist slapping meted out as punishment.
These two provincial issues .may have endangered the
health of citizens. If an. elected representative's need to
know is being interfered with 'then concern for the public is
relegated even further back in the Musty stacks of filing
cabinets.' J.F.
We wli remember
One warm evening in early summer,.
Doctor Cameron made his way home via
the many pathways in the Caledon .Hills,
which eventually were widened into roads.
He had completed all his, visits for the day,
,and allowed his horse to proceed at a
leisurely pace while he took in the beauty
of his surroundings. The %un was sinking.
fast in the west, . sending shafts of light
through the lush foliage of the trees, which
filled the air with the balmy scent of young
fertile growth: The Lord. had'' been good to
Cameron. ' in spite ' of all the trials and
tribulations which he had been forced to
endure in the early days of immigration, he
had at last found contentment, in his
profession and his wife Rebecca, who was a
strong influence in his life. Suddenly., the
doctor became aware of a group of soldiers
marching (not too smartly) on the path
ahead. It was a most unusual sightto see
military in that part,of the countryside and
Cameron urged his horse into a trot. When
he reached the rear of the. column, fie
spoke to one of the soldiers. '
"Good evening to you, sir. And where
pray is this fine body of men bound for
today'?" ,
"We are going ter, Redtrees," the man
said with a crafty, tripmphant smile.
"We're gonna show them Scotties a thing
or two about. soldiering -, we're gonna do a
mock attack on them at dawn an' get 'em
out o' • their beds in their . nightshirts!"
The man received a sharp elbow jab in
the stomach .from the soldier' who was
marching ,next to'him.
"Keep yer trap shut. Charlie - Colonel
MacDougal warned us not ter say who .we
is goin' ter surprise. 'Ow: does yer know
this man ain't one o.' them?" '
is you. a Redtrees militiaman?" the
talkative one asked Cameron.
'1 am.a doctor,,sir," Cameron said tru'-
fully, even though he.was in fact the
Captain/Surgeon of the Caledonian 'Scot-
t' sh%
Scot-tish'.
To avertany possible suspicion, Camer-
on turned south as soon as. they came to the
fourth line. At a respectable distance, he
reined his horse and waited till the
Marching militiamen were out of site, Then
he turned around and galloped with all
speed northwards to Redtrees. Once inside
the bounds of the community, he made his
way directly to the general store and
'related what he had observed to the
commander of the ,Caledonian Scottish
Major lan Jamieson. Jamiesonlbst no time
in conferring with MacCrinimon.
• " 'Twoud appear that the mighty
MacDougal ' wishes to embarrass me ,in
payment for my treatment of him when he.
v sited me last," Jamieson said. "But what
is' good for the goose' is also good for the
gander. I suppose there is no harm in.
outwitting him." :
"Shall 1 pipe the men tae a4Sembiy?"
MacCriminon asked. '. .
"No, no: ' That will not be necessary for
the plan.I have in mind. Their mock attack
will not take place before dawn. ''''In the
meantime, a few of us will pay them a .vis'it
and relieve'. them of their equipment. You,,
MacCrimmon, will : assemble • all the
Caledon Scottish at four . in the morning.
They., are to be ' properly - dressed and
armed:, You will then march to the place
where MacDougal has been resting his -
men. He wanted to review our troops - he
shall get his chance at our place and timel"
When the: moon was at its height, a
lonely sentry guarded the overnight 'camp
and the line of piled muskets of MacDoug-
al's sleeping soldiers. He, did not see the
shadlowlike . figure of a Redtrees man
creep up behind him, but he felt the blade
of a dirk at his throat.
"Jest one wee peep out o' ye, an I'll lob
ye silly heed off ye shoulders as clean as if
its were a turnip!
:Needless to say, the poor sentry did not
utter a sound. While he was, thus neutra-
lized, some other dark, figures gathered up
all themuskets and disappeared with. them,
into the night.
When the Redtrees men had left and the
disarmed sentry at last had the courage to
find his voice, he shouted in dismay.
"Alarm! - alarm! We've been robbed."
The night air was soon filled with cries of
'distress: ."Our muskets! , Who could it be
that would rob sleeping soldiers. of their
muskets?"
The hubbub aroused Colonel MacDoug-
al. Although his 'men had been obliged to
sleep on the hard ground,' he had a tent.
erected for his comfort. He came out into
the open, hastilyfastening a trouser belt
around his fat belly.. • ,
"My God!" he shouted to everbody and .
nobody in particular, ""'We have been
outwitted. This is a damned disgrace X will
• never live' down!"