4 - Sunday, November 13,1988 -

North Shore News

BoB
HUNTER

© strictly personal ©.

I BEGAN this series ef pre-election columns with the
brilliant, insightful and prophetic political comment:

“In a nutshell, the Liberals are
out. Dead meat. Auto-crucifixion
city. I don’t see how anybody
conld place any faith in them so
long as John Turner heads the par-
ty. The guy is pathetic, maybe even
tragic.””

-This was only a couple of weeks
ago. As of today, the election isa
cliffhanger, with some polls put-
ting the Liberals out in front,
thanks entirely to the performance
of ‘‘pathetic, maybe even tragic’’
John Turner.

What happened? Something
amazing, that’s for sure.

I have trouble believing it was
just the televised debates,
although, clearly, public opinion
changed radically in their wake.

I watched the English-:anguage
version on tape so it could be
replayed and fast-forwarded. My
own opinion at the end was that if
anybody had won, it was probably
Ed Broadbent — Turcer and Brian
Mulroney having slugged it out to
a standstill.

Yet the vast majority of viewers
thought Turner had scored a major
victory and only a relative handful
‘would have agreed with my
assessment of Broadbent's per-
formance. As for Mulroney, it
seemed to me he fared quite
decently, given his inability to ap-
pear genuine.

This wouldn't be the first time
my perception of things has been
at odds with the majority of my
fellow Canadians. But in this case,
I believe there’s more involved

than judgments of personality or
the scoring of Rhodes scholar
debating points.

In an odd reversal of cliches,
John Turner has taken on the role
being performed south of the
border by Republican George
Bush, i.e. he has wrapped himself
in the flag and come on with
jingoistic ranting and raving,
painting his opponent as a traitor
to the values of the country.

There is nothing nice about this.
It is the lowest, oldest trick in the
book. Poor Mulroney is forced to
say ‘I love Canada too.”’

Once you have to proclaim your
love of nation ‘‘too,’’ you are ina
defensive position. Me-tooism
means someone else has taken con-
trol of the agenda.

And this, of course, is exactly
what has happened in this election.
And it was not just John Turner,
by the way, who redefined the
electoral agenda.

It was, as always, the dreaded
media.

The media, very much led by the
Toronto establishment — mainly
the Star and the CBC — have
decided that free trade is a threat
to the integrity of the beaver. They
have issued a call to arms not
much less hysterical than the
rhetoric spouted at the time of the
War of 1812: The Americans are
coming! The Americans are com-
ing!

The culture industry was, of
course, utterly opposed. And why
not? Canadian literature, movies

and such television as we have live
nearly entirely on subsidies.

Such literary stars as the country
possesses ~~ the likes of Margaret
Atwood, Pierre Berton, Farley
Mowat — have naturally come out
guns blazing eloquently, if some-
what hystevically, against the deal.

Canada is a country with one of
the highest rates of literacy in rhe
world. It would be astonishing if
these writers didn’t exercise a con-
siderable degree of influence. And
they have been unequivocal.

Merely stating that ‘‘culture’’
was protected, like Medicare, was
no answer at all, since the business
of culture can’t be neatly com-
partmentalized. Certainly in film
and ielevision, the business factors
are in fact primary. Nobody
believes for a moment that the
trade deal won't impact severcly.

In retrospect, it seems to me that
the single most damaging move the
Tories made was to replace in-
telligent, articulate economist Pat
Carney as trade minister with
foot-in-mouth-diseased John
Crosbie, scion of a wealthy New-
foundland family that would have
preferred in 1949 to have joined
the United States rather than
Canada.

Crosbie, being the glib, arrogant
ass that he is, immediately an-
nounced that he hadn’t read the
free trade agreement and,
moreover, didn’t need to.

There went the free trade dcbate
down the tubes. After that incred-
ible gaffe, the Tory position was
hopeless. What kind of a
spokesman brags about his ig-
norance?

1, for one, trusted Carney’s
judgement. A lot of people did.

On the other hand, I happen to
know that John Crosbie is a
cynical buffoon. He lacks credibil-
ity except as Parliament's Fool on
the Hill.

When Mulrorfey first handed the
free trade ball to Carney he said:
“‘Watch her run with it.”’ But the
moment she passed to Crosbie, he
fumbled

The roots of the collapse of
public support for free trade go
back to that debacle. John Turner
has merely been capitalizing on it@

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~=: FAMINOW

for NV. Dist. WMAYOR
Peter's POLICIES ana ISSUES

7. NO REPRESENTATION BY ACCLAMATION!
No one should hold office by Acclamation — tax-payers and
residents must have a CHOICE, to elect their representatives.

2. PUT A HANDLE ON TAXES! .
Yearly tax increases must stop — future taxes must be levied
fairly on residential, commercial, & industria! properties, commen-
surate with tax-payers’ ability to pay.

3. DEMAND HOME PURCHASE TAX BE REMOVED!
Provincial HOME PURCHASE TAX is both unfair & burdensome
—- it imposes great hardship on the citizens.

4. PUT SUITE JUSTICE (SUITE BYLAW) ON TOP OF
THE AGENDA!
a) Zoning on the basis of people use, as implemented by Mayor
& Council/87 — rather than building use, is a dengerous route
to travel. NO ONE — not even the MAYOR, has a right to dic-
tate, as to who is to tive in the bedraom, the living room or the
kitchen.
b) Existing In-Law Suite (!!legal Suite Bylaw) smacks of prejuaice
— discrimination and is flawed in terms of enforcement. It brings
hardship to unrelated good citizens and other deserving members
of our society, and prevents them from legaily occupying a dwell-
ing unit — i.e. senicr citizens, young couples, students and
single-parents,
c) Properly controjied suites in single-family homes, NEED NOF,
affect the neighboring property values, and often do ease hurricn
& financial hardships, for both mortgage-ourdened home owners
& lower income tenants, especially single parents.
5. IMMEDIATE CALL ON COUNCIL TO RECONSIDER CROSS-
COUNTRY ROUTE (STOP BRAEMAR-DEMPSEY ROAD LINK!}
Declare a moratorium on Braemar-Dempsey Link Project! Long-.
time Resident-Taxpayers deserve a priority consideration, and pro-
tection of their amenities and their quality of life, over the new
development.

6 .SAVE OUR SHORES! (S.0.S.) - MAPLEWOOD FLATS
With a projected population growth for the District to 100,000 from
70,000, 35,00 east of Seymour River) our shore must be vigorously
protected from pollution & high density!
(Did any of you swim in Deep Cove this summer?)
7. FORCEFUL PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT!
a) By prosecution of polluters of our forests, waters, and air.
b) Stop desecration of our forests!

(Lip service is not enough)
c) Our motto should be: “SAVE OUR FOREST — PLANT A TREE”
8. VIGOROUS CONTROL OF DENSITY!
a) Intensified density destroys the District's high quality character
to our present community and our quality of life;
b) f shall not only tisten to the cry of District citizens — from
Norgate to the Woodlands ...

1 SHALL HEAR YOu .....

9. PUT TRAFFIC IMPROVEMENT ON FRONT BURNER
a) Population growth brings traffic congestion (take a drive on
Marine any afternoon — or talk to Norgate residents)

And where are the improvement of Dollarton Highway and the
over-passes of Lonsdale and Westview? .
b) Immediate effort in conjunction with our sister cities & ;
municipalities must be made in order to provide adequate
transportation in a growing community;

10. BECAUSE, | AM CONCERNED FOR THE
PRESERVATION

of your and your children’s life & the human race;

and BECAUSE, | love our Planet: | stand for the principle of:

a) UNIVERSAL DISARMAMENT, and

b) DECLARATION OF NUCLEAR FREE CANADA ZONE:

Elected officials, be they grass root Municipal, or Provincial &

Federal, they MUST mirror the concern of their people, be it in

housing, transit, sewage, environment or disarmament!

c) Indeed, it is heartfelt to know that the leaders of the world, are

beginning to abandon the arms race (NOTE THE “I.N.F. TREA-

Ty") let us all give them a hand ..

GO FORWARD WITH FAMINOW
Give Peter your vote... he will do the job!

for info and transporiation phone 929-7221!

Hoe Tr tet doe The Es SL ee see ont er LN le