The Times Advocate, 2004-06-16, Page 44
Exeter Times—Advocate
Wednesday,June 16, 2004
=CNA
Editorial Opinion
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EDITORIALS
World's best
cities
Calgary residents now have something else to be
proud of, in addition to having their hockey
team just miss 'winning the Stanley Cup —
according to a recent survey, they live in the best city
in the world.
The study, done by Mercer Human Resource
Consulting, looked at cleanliness and healthy
living.
But Calgarians aren't the only people who can
be proud of the results — Canada had four
other cities in the top 20. Ottawa was fourth,
Montreal and Vancouver tied for ninth, while
Toronto was ranked 18th. There was no word
on whether the quality of each city's hockey
team had a bearing on the rankings.
Scores were based on the quality and avail-
ability of hospital and medical supplies, levels
of air pollution, infectious disease, the efficien-
cy of waste removal and sewage systems,
water potability and exposure to harmful ani-
mals and insects. Many European cities scored
low in the rankings due to high pollution and a
shortage of hospitals and medical supplies.
Calgary's accomplishment is significant when
you consider the fact it beat Honolulu for top
spot, a city most people would concur offers
more agreeable weather than Calgary. But con-
sidering Canada's small population and the fact
it simply doesn't have as many cities as many
other more heavily -populated countries, plac-
ing five cities in the top 20 is no small feat.
The same Mercer group released its rankings
of the most expensive cities in the world — no
Canadian cities made the top 25, although the
report said Canadian cities are moving up the
list because of the strength of the Canadian
dollar. Tokyo, London, Moscow, Osaka and
Hong Kong were deemed the five most expen-
sive cities to live in.
Thumbs up
Huron Park's Tim Hiemstra gets a thumbs up
for his plan to start a neighbourhood watch in
that village. Too often, Huron Park is men-
tioned in the police briefs the Times -Advocate
receives from the Huron County OPP. It's time
something was done about the repeated sense-
less acts of vandalism and crime. Here's hoping
the community gets behind Hiemstra's plans.
ThRES ALWAYS
NEXT YEARI
bk.
2004 pistributed by Canadian Artists Synd icate Inc.
Finally an interesting election
It's actually happened — Canadians have an interest-
ing federal election on their hands.
This is the first federal election in over a decade
where, two weeks before the election, the actual win-
ner isn't already known. For the past three elections,
it's been a foregone conclusion that Jean Chretien's
Liberals would sweep their way into power. Now, with
Stephen Harper's Conservatives overtak-
ing the Liberals and their leader Paul
Martin in the polls, we actually have a
close race. Of course, with nearly two
weeks left in the race, much could hap-
pen — Martin could scratch and claw his
way back into power and squeak out a
minority victory, or Harper could
increase his lead and end up with a
majority.
Whatever the result, it's about time the
increasingly arrogant and irresponsible
Liberals were made to fight for their
political lives. Over a decade ago,
Chretien brilliantly shifted his Liberals to the centre,
appealing to the majority of Canadians while conserva-
tives were split among the PC and Reform parties. A
great strategy on Chretien's part, but what remains is
a party which feels it has a divine right to govern in
Canada and a party that has lost touch with its voters.
The money -wasting scandals aren't helping the Grits
win any friends, either.
So, while June 28 isn't an appealing time to hold an
SCOTT
NIXON
AND ANOTHER
THING
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election, since many people are already on vacation or
have decided to turn off their brains for the summer,
Canadians should pay special attention to the upcom-
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I'm also weary of politicians lying to me (hello
Dalton), but that seems to be part of the package.
But while this election is an important one because
it could see a new party in office, what will the differ-
ences be? Locally, Paul Steckle of the Liberals is
against several things that have come to be seen as
Liberal beliefs — he's against abortion, decriminaliz-
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servatism is a divisive issue among Canadians, as is
the belief that Harper would like nothing more than
to cozy up to George W. Bush and his fun -loving
gang of Republicans.
Increasingly, it appears Canadians are willing to
accept the fringe parties such as the Green Party, who
have a perfect record in this country — since they've
never governed (and won't anytime soon), they've
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I can't say the same for the uninspiring traditional
parties in Canada, who've done a great job at creating
a nation of cynical voters who don't believe a thing
their politicians say.
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