Loading...
Times Advocate, 1994-8-24, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, August 24, 1994 Publisher: Jim Beckett News Editor: Adrian Harie Business Manager: Don Smith Composition Manager: Deb Lord Advertising; Barb Consitt, Theresa Redmond News; Fred Groves, Catherine O'Brien, Ross Haugh Production; Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson Robert Nicol, Brenda Hern, Joyce Weber, Laurel Miner, Marg Flynn Transportation: Al Flynn, Al Hodgert Front Office & Accounting; Norma Jones, Elaine Pinder, Ruthanne Negrijn, Anita McDonald cc... • • 'AM COMIN! inion Publications Mall Registration Number 11386 SUBSCRIPTION ATES: CANADA Within 40 miles (65 km.) addressed to non letter carrier addresses $30.00 plus 82.10 0.5.T. Outside 40 miles (65 km.) or any letter cantor address 830.00 plus 830.00 (total 60.00) + 4.20 0.1.T. Outside Canada 899.00 (includes 888.40 postage) Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Main St., Exeter, Ontario, NOM 188 by J.W. Eady Publications Ltd. Telephone 1-519-2354331 GALT. M105210435 EII'I'ORIAI, Six easy steps to scandal squashing Aiyone hoping for an early provincial election will have had their hopes dashed yet again. It will take some time for the waves to smooth out from the latest cabinet scandal at Queens Park, and time for the voters to forget. One does have to pity Premier Bob Rae for having to deal with yet another loss -of -face before the electorate; at a time when he is trying to convince them his party really can be trusted with a second mandate. Still, the Premier has had plenty of practice with scandals these past four years, the worst of which must surely have been Shelley Martel's attempt to clear her name by insisting she lied about seeing confidential documents. This latest episode with, yet again, Evelyn Gigantes, shows that Rae has his routine down pat. He appears to ad- here to a carefully rehearsed six step plan - one that many other leaders would do well to copy. Step one: make a public statement expressing complete confidence in the beleaguered minister, and insist an inquiry will clear the minister's name. Step two: launch an inquiry, handled by people who still clearly understand who pays them. Step three: quietly ask the minister to step down. Step four: announce that the inquiry has shown the minister's indis- cretion to be a minor matter indeed. Step five: accept the minister's resigna- tion with regret. Step six; postpone election plans yet again. Fortunately, Rae has a sense of hu- mour, and can compare his plight with some levity to the days when he snorted with indignation from across the legisla- ture floor at Conservative or Liberal cabinet scandals. For the most part, the 1990 election gave the first taste of real power to peo- ple who had served as either the govern- ment's critics, or as idealists still seeking their first win at the provincial polls. Trying to balance utopian ideals of things should be done, with the reality of how they must be done, is no easy thing to do. The lessons learned in these past four years have done more to hurt the party's image than anyone else. Few were harmed, other than the cabinet ministers themselves. The results of each scandal will be carefully filed away for future reference when the NDP once again are trusted with the reins of power in Onta- rio. A.D.H. Ys .. our Views Letters to the editor Tuckersmith telephone commissioner resigns "... the recent unjustified firing of the manager indicates to me that the current board members are not interested in responsible planning..." Dcar Editor: I would Tike to advise the customers and subscrib- ers of the Tuckcrsmith Municipal Telephone Sys- tem that 1 have resigned as a Commissioner due to differences of opinion with the other Board mem- bers. We hired a new manager with many years of utility experience to provide planning, budgeting and direction to guide our telephone system in thc rapid changes that will come in the next few ycars. In my opinion thc recent unjustified firing of the Manager indicates to me that the current Board Members arc not interested in responsible planning and budgeting because the additional costs will be paid by you the customers and subscribers. Perhaps if the Commissioners themselves paid for the legal and severance costs associated with dismissal of the Manager, their decision would have been different? You the subscribers have the right to know these costs. At the same time, these Commissioners arc plan- ning to take full control of the Telephone System by means of an incorporated Co-op without considera- tion of taxation issues or alternatives such as a PUC or sale to a private company. I think you the sub- scribers have the right to know what the alternatives are before the Co-op is finalized. I believe the recent actions of the Commissioners of the Tuckcrsmith Telephone System do not represent the hest interests of thc Subscribers. I would like to say that throughout my years as a Commissioner an efficient and well organized tele- phone company for the Customers and Subscribers of the Tuckcrsmith Municipal Telephone System was my highest priority. Bob Cooper A View From Queen's Park TORONTO - Can good looks help a politician win an election? Liberal leader Lyn McLeod, the first woman to head a major party in Ontario, has acknowledged she suffers from a lack of name recognition. Only an average 21 percent of Ontarians have been able to identify her as party leader in recent polls, while 75 percent can identify New Democrat Premier Bob Rae and 35 percent Progressive Con- servative leader Mike Harris. McLeod says she is working on the problem by tactics including touring. One help to Rae in becom- ing known is that he has Keen premier and on 1'V al- most daily for four years. Harris has had publicity from leading in an elec- tion in 1990 and an aggressive, go -for -jugular style of attack which attracts attention. McLeod in her two years as leader has been more cautious and tentative and said less that is worth- while, supposedly because the Liberals are delaying, announcing policies until an election, valid reasons voters may not know her. By Eric Doivd But looks also appear to have played some part in Ontario politics. The successful premiers in recent years all have had reasonably impressive physical appearances. Tory premier John Robarts was a barrel-chested, ex -university football player, strong -jawed, sleekly moustached and handsome enough he would not have looked out of place cast as an aging matinee idol. He killed himself when he lost some of his vig- or. William Davis, his successor, had the same foot- baller's build and strong, regular face, later inclined to pudginess. Liberal David Peterson, after he re- placed his glasses with contact lenses, had maga- zines gushing he looked 'like a Greek god,' al- though looking so pretty while the province plunged downhill economically later may have helped him lose him an election. No-one would describe Rae as handsome, but he has a clean-cut, professorial look. Compare them with some they beat. Liberal Rob- ert Nixon, defeated by Roberts and twice by Davis, had the bookish, bespectacled face of a teacher on old flat tlough���ii By Adrian Harte •,ri, How about a Swamp Celebration? After musing last week on the Woodstock '94 music festival, I gave some thought as to why Huron County doesn't have any huge event drawing over 100,000 people at a time. I do know the Huron Tourism Association is putting together a Maple Syrup Festival in the county next spring. I can't say I'm thrilled about it personally, because I hate the stuff. It's just one of those tastes I'll have to admit I never acquired. Still; if it is a success, it will still be a fairly low-key event, with tours through sugar bushes and spe- cial dinners at restaurants. So what would I do if asked to come up with a big new festival for this area? Well, we've got no scenery to compete with oth- er areas, and the bean thing has been done. I think we're only left with one point of pride - the Hay Swamp is home to the biggest and most vicious mos- quitoes in the world. I know, there are parts of northern Ontario and Manitoba, muskeg -type regions, that claim insects to pick you clean - but we've got proof of superiority. Those other places still have moose and bear; ours were eat- en by the skeeters years ago. Only the deer seem to be quick enough to keep ahead of the winged beasties. I can see it now: The Great Mosquito Festival, or maybe The Swamp Celebration. Thou- sands would arrive, parking at the side of the gravel roads that criss-cross the swamp's mysteri- ous interior. Positively Stom- pin' could play their Hay Swamp song as the main theme, while vendors show off the lat- est in repellents and bug zap- pers. Conservation groups could display more friendly al- ternatives, such as using martin houses, or bat boxes to see thou- sands of skeeters eaten a day. There could be swatting com- petitions, as long as the govern- ment people who frowned on the Ailsa Craig turtle races don't get wind of it. The grand finale on the Sun- day night would be the Swamp Race, in which brave competi- tors strip down nearly naked for a one -kilometre race through the swamp at sundown. I would leave it up to the organizers to decide if the winner was the one with the most bites, or the least. It all depends on your point of view. No doubt, this is one area in which South Huron County res- idents can be held up as world- class experts. Even if we don't realize it, we know our mosqui- toes. Who appeals to Canadian voters? the brawny body of a farmer (he had been both.) Liberal Stuart Smith, the most cerebral leader, who lost twice 10 Davis, had a thin, brooding face and long hair which made it easier for Tories to la- bel him to his disadvantage 'that sex therapist from Montreal' (he was a psychiatrist.) Tory Larry Grossman, a loser to Peterson, was short so that opponents scoffed 'stand up, Larry' when he stood and spoke. Short-lived Tory prime minister Joe Clark was thought to look so ordinary that 'when he came into a room, you didn't know whether to stand up or send him out for coffee.' When McLeod arrives, you would feel almost cer- tain the first thing she would do is get a good cup of tea brewing. Liberal friends concede she does not have a commanding presence and it is something she is working on. She is five feet, chubby, middle-aged, motherly - in her sensible woolens and tweeds with no pretence to glamor or gesture to the fashion of the moment, she looks like everyone's Auntie May, the favourite, reliable one who is always there with the cough medicine and blankets. When she steps outside her office to speak, aides put out a stool for her to stand on. But McLeod is the first woman leader and accord- ing to the polls, which put her party if not herself well ahead, could be the next premier and already is a powerful influence: but for her disapproval, as an example, the NDP's bill giving equal rights to same- sex couples would now be law. Other women connected to politics of less signifi- cance to Ontarians have become much better known by sight. Examples include Shelley Peterson, actress wifc of a premier, lona Campagnolo, a federal min- ister and minor one at that, and Jacqueline Kennedy, wife of a U.S. president. What they had in common was a touch of glamor - there can be no doubt McLeod would be more on TV and in the papers and better known if she looked like Jackie Kennedy.