Ad - Sunday, August 19, 1984 - North Shore News

Caligula Factor.

Caligula, of course, was
the mad Roman emperor
whose corruption was so
brilliantly portrayed in the
movie by Bob Guiccone. A
poster advertising the film
showed Caligula’s sneering
face on a tarnished coin,
blood welling up instead of
tears around the eyes.

Caligula believed himself
to be a god.

After forcing senators’
wives to become prostitutes
to finance his bizarre in-
dulgences, castrating the few
decent men around him, hav-
ing his only loyal supporter’s
head sliced off, forcing
citizens to bow down before
his horse, and ordering his
soldiers to run about naked,
Caligula was finally
assassinated and a gibbering
idiot was installed in his
place.

I offer the tale of Caligula
as a metaphor for the reign of
Pierre Trudeau.

Ottawa will do nicely as the
equivalent of ancient Rome,
with its corrupt senate, its
fawning supplicants fingering
the hem of power, its deceits,
its arrogance, its lust for
centralization.

Hanging over the cam-
paign is the contemptuous,
curled lip of the man who led
the Liberal Party since that
ruinous summer 16 years ago
when we fell for the red rose
and the black belt, the flips

strictly personal

by Bob Hunter

Caligula factor

OR ME, the central issue in this election is the

off the diving board, the
screaming groupies.

In the end, hike Caligula,
Trudeau had stuck it to us
from almost every angle.

And still the Liberals
fawned.

As the election nears its
end, the stench of patronage
remains as thick as the air
around a packing plant.

“In the end
Trudeau had
Stuck it to
us from
every angle’’

I am one of those people
who subscribes to the theory
that Trudeau deliberately
saddled John Turner with all
those appointments to the
public trough in order to
shaft him. That would be ex-

‘actly like Trudeau/Caligula,

wouldn’t it?

During his leadership cam-
paign, Turner earned massive
favor in the eyes of the elec-
torate precisely because he
was seen to be getting even
with Trudeau, who had tried
to emasculate him nearly a
decade ago.

But once the shining knight

OVER EMPLOYMENT

became the new Liberal
leader, a horrifying trans-
formation occurred. He
began to look like Caligula!
Sound like Caligula. Act like
Caligula. All he lacked was
that jaded aura, which would
have come with ume.

Personally, I can feel sorry
for Turner. He is probably
going to go down in history
as Canada’s version of
Gerald Ford, the man who
became president without be-
ing elected and who pardon-
ed Richard Nixon. The voters
never forgave him.

The moment Turner
agreed to implement
Trudeau’s last outrageous
patronage scam, he tainted
himself, like Ford, beyond
repair. That’s why | still see
the outline of Caligula’s face
on every dented coin, even
though Turner’s mug shot
has been pasted over
Trudeau’s.

And that’s why, more than
any other reason, this elec-
tion is really an act of
revenge. Unable to. strike
down Caligula himself, we
are bent on chopping at his
gibbering successor.

There is a tide of revulsion
that runs deeper even than
our anxieties about jobs.
Turner inherited a_ soiled
mantle. And remember, he 1s
prime minister in title only.
Mainly, he is the leader of the
party of bozos who pro-
strated themselves before
Trudeau even as he was stick-
ing the knife in one last me.

The guy simply made too
many of us (not just Turner)

Professionals set to
tackle candidates

UNEMPLOYED PROFESSIONALI

workers are

adding a new twist to the federal election cam

paign.

A Vancouver” group sts
hoping to  inundate can
didates with Coptes of pro
fessional’s resumes to make
them aware of the extent of
the unemployment problem

“The purpose of this ac
tion is to prove to the polit
cians that skillect, intelligent
unemployed people cxist in

significant’) numbers,"’ says
the Professtonal Develop
ment Group, which os
organizing the action

A secondary purpose, the
group says, is to spur can
didates to come up with
speafic action to deal wath
unemployment

Individuals who wish to

become involved are being
asked to send three copies of
then resume or statement of
qualifications to the Profes-
sional Development at 14
bast 4th Street in Van
couve}:r

As well as the resume,
those responding ate asked
to send the name of their
nding so that copies of the
document can be sent to
local Candidates

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~. WHERE YOU WANT TO

want to throw up. The stench
lingers.

And that’s the essence of
the Caligula Factor.

It’s not just Turner who
has to carry the can. Can-
didates like lona Cam-
pagnolo, Paul Manning and
Dave Brousson are equally
tainted. Even if they don’t
personally need fumigation,
their party sure does.

1 mean, the first question
that comes to mind when I
think about a Liberal can-
didate is: Which part of the
pork barrel are you really
aiming for?

Put another way, the
underlying question of this
election is: Who pardoned
Trudeau? I know who it was.
It was John. It was the
Liberals. All of ’em.

‘‘Are you losing
money on the job?’’

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call.

Campaign tfeadquarters

1050 Marine Drive, North Vancouver

Authonzed by Edward G Byrd. official agent tor Mary (¢ ollins

984-4581