- Page 6, May 2, 1979 - North Shore News pei . ise your vote -- it As: ‘we all. know, it's the duty of: every good citizen to vote — vote for somebody — on May 22. And this tinie, more than ever, there’s ‘a powerful - dollars-and-cents ‘reason for- _frarichise. Canada’s 31st federal election is going - to cost us a bundle and would be a pity to have nothing to show for all the bucks we’re spending on the thing except a guilty conscience on May Even the soaring price of food begins to look almost reasonable compared to the skyrocketing cost _of choosing . our next parliament. . - The bill forthe last federal election in 1974 — $29.1 million -- wasn’t exactly petty cash. This time, less than five years later, the price-tag has risen by a cool mites to a total of $60 -. . This includes one new item of $10 million to cover the partial reimbursement of election expenses incurred -by parties and candidates. Introduced since the last election, it’s part and parcel of a "praiseworthy new system that limits everyone's election campaign spending. But it’s also an extra $10 million out of the public purse. The semaining $50 million" repredents an increase of 72 per cent over the 1974 election. Three main factors . >have pushed the .costs higher, says. Jean-Marc . Hamel, Canada’s chief electoral officer. _ The number of eligible voters has increased from 13.3 million in 1974 to an estimated 14. 9 million ‘today. Fair enough — that's a 12 per cent increase. The number of electoral districts {i.e., seats in the next parliament) has _risen from 264 to 282. Fine — chalk up another seven per cent. : Mr. Hamel skates rather ‘lightly over the third factor, however, without offering any comparative figures. “Inflation”, he merely ‘notes, “has driven up the costs of materials and labor.” ~ He can certainly say that again. Taking into account the 12 per cent increase in voters and the seven per cent increase in ridings; the materialis-and-labor in- flation figure must be at least . 53 per cent. Mark you, we get quite a lot for our money over the eight-week election cam- period. Approximately 275,000° election workers and up to 50 million documents and forms are needed to make it possible for you to put your X on a piece of paper when polling day finally rolls round. $60 MILLION MAN, Chief Electoral Officer Jean- Marc Hamel (left) discusses distribution procedures for the May 22 federal election with two of his senior aides. Personal loan sale LFF our reguiar loan interest rate May2to26 at Ganaila rust Details on page 31 exercising our ! 1 Noel Wng he For starters, of course, there are the 282 returni officers, one for each riding, whose first job is to enumerate every voter in the riding during the opening week or so of the campaign. Knocking on doors and writing down Particulars of ‘s costi is there a part of you that’s over weight 14. 9 million voters calls for quite a lot of hired help — on the present’ occasion about 15 million dollars worth. “Then there's the paper. In Ottawa a 1,000-to buildup of instruction boo ets for election officials and can- voting forms, reporting forms for can- - didates and their agents, and expenses of voters’ lists and notices in the ridings themselves. The total paper bill works out at around $7 million. Finally, polling day ac- tivities themselves, with 65,500 individual polling Stations set up throughout the country. Each manned - by a deputy returning officer and at least one poll clerk (but often several) working a 14 to 16-hour day. Estimated ‘cost $14 million. If you've been tagging along with your pocket calculator, you'll know at this point that there’s still about $14 million to be accounted for. Some of it, of didates, ballot papers, proxy. many more. Plus the printing - Open 7 days” a week most of the ‘palance is - consumed by ‘Canada’s geography. YOUR $212,766 MP pe rineins the democratic lot to under 15 million voters scatterd over. the . world’s second largest country p mammoth problems in terms of travel and communications, especially when everything has to be done to extremely tight time schedules. \ he While a city riding may be as small as one square mile, others — such as Nunaisiag in the Northwest Territories — may be many thousands of square miles in area. Add to ‘this the hundreds of small isolated communities in all - parts of Canada and it’s fairly easy to understand _how quickly the extra millions disappear in the eight-week race against deadlines. All of which makes your MP a pretty pricey com- You can look and Feel Great this Summer! Don’t delay another day the TIME is NOW! You can Shape-Up FAST with aSPECIAL Pre- | Summer Fitness program designed specially” just for You, by Professionals. Whats more you 1l enjoy complete, . latest, most modern facilities available. don’t delay . course, goes for keeping Mr. Hamel and his permanent staff-of 45 in Ottawa, but modity. On | an. ay the. North - Shore to . under $9 Per household. . voting rights to a friend. : -to visit your local. Station. in person for: to put your X against costs a cool $212,766 to elect him -— which works. out That’ s’ Ww ” ultimately pay, via~ta regardless. of whether or not you, cast your ballot. with inflation continui its present clip, this election is still probably the cheape; you'll éver have. After all, “you'd ve dream of throwing @ coupl of movie tickets you'd paid for into the: garbage bag: you couldn’t go to the movie yourself, you'd pass them'o to. a friend. In an electi however, you can’t give your The only way to get yor money's worth on May three or four minutes it takes somebody's name — and + knows? : He or she might just 1 out to be the best MP you’ ever had. & . call now call today for your first visit appointment only it’s a limited time offer Only! “Mon. to Fri. 10 am-10pm LOE (e)fay Sat. & Sun. 10 am- 6 pm 986-5201... CO ED fri. sat. sun.