4 - Wednesday, May 29, 1991 - North Shore News A tale of woe from Ontario: NDP look like one-term wonders TWICE, I have watched provincial New Democratic par- ties come to power. Twice — I think — I have watched them fall. The first time was of course in B.C. when Dave Barrett delivered the inevitable coup de grace to the aging W.A.C. Bennett, who had ruled a tern or two too long. Poor Barrett was out in three years, chewed up and spat out by the unions, betrayed by the en- vironmentalists, crucified by the media. Of course, we bring on our own karma, Barrett no less than any- one else. Can’t feel too sorry for him. Then last summer, nearly two decades later, 1! happened to be in Ontario when Bob Rae got in. Am I some sort of socialist germ spore, spreading disease on the political wind? Maybe I should be hired by the NDP to go from province to province, infec- ting the collective subconscious. Or, better yet, get paid way more by the Tories and Liberals to leave the country entirely! History never repeats itself. (Nor, 1am tempted to say, should it bother.) The election of Bob Rae in Ontario 1990 was a quite different phenomenon from the election of Dave Barrett in B.C. in 1972, It is only from the moment of the two men being elected that the parallels begin. I strongly suspect that Bob Rae’s government will turn out to be a one-term wonder too. In fact, I am beginning to suspect that Rae and his advisors — maybe even his Cabinet — are convinced that ‘‘doing a Barrett”’ is their fate, no matter what they do. So they have given up on the hope of winning the next election, and ase just going to cut loose on the law books and treasury while they can. Certainly, they are acting as though they don’t care. Having just budgeted for a $9.7 billion provincial deficit — an unheard of record-high debt, which has already cost the pro- vince its “Triple A’’ Wall Street rating, the new government is alienating monarchists and en- vironmentalists alike, one moment striking down the Oath to the Queen which every Toronto cop used to swear, the next arbitrarily changing the rules in the high- stakes garbage disposal game be- ing played in southern Ontario. Top civil servants are being promised incredible wage hikes. Instead of worrying about car- bon dioxide emissions, the new government is putting its time and energy into automobile insurance. Instead of protecting the ozone, the NDPers fret about sexism in beer ads. They have also fumbled the ball outrageously in the not-so-small matter of promising to shift gears away from nuclear power. Under previous regimes, On- tario has grown to be 60% dependent on nukes, the miuaintenence cost of which has been going up almost as fast as budget overruns on capital in- vestment. The stark reality for Ontario is that it may be past the point where it can jettison its nuclear reactors, for the simple reason that Ontario Hydro’s debt has reached some $60 billion, which happens to constitute most of the province’s total debt load. Any moves that would threaten hydro’s ability to maintain its in- terest payments — i.e., anything Bob x STRICTLY PERSONAL that would endanger the energy supply that the great southern On- tario industrial machine requires — wouid be viewed with extreme alarm in the international money markets, Ontario's ability to borrow could be quickly and severely af- fected. And there would go Bob Rae’s ability to raise the money he needs to deficit-finance his way through the recession, if, that’s his plan. For all I know, he may have just decided to say hang the debt, it’s the next government’s prob- lem. We'll be safely back in op- position by then. As a sign of the government’s fall from grace with the public, just one day last week there were no fewer than three major protests in front of Queen’s Park, the provincial legislature. By ‘‘protests,’* I mean an ex- tremely ritualized Ontario version: elaborate set-pieces of street theatre in which unhappy groups of citizens mass on the steps of the building and chant slogans and wave banners. Cabinet ministers come down to talk to them. But the ministers are shouted down, once by an in- novative chant: ‘‘Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit!’’ On this particular day, there had been a miscominunication be- tween the various protesters and the chap who books the protests in. This is a legitimate bureaucrat performing a legitimate bureau- cratic function: making sure the protesters have their hour or so with the mikes and the loudspeakers on the lawn in front of Queen's Park, so they can boo their brains out. Thei; they go away, and 2 new group moves into positicn. The only trouble was on this occasion, two different groups were booked into the same time slot. You can imagine how upset the media were, let alone the second batch of protesters, having to cool their heels on the other side of the park before their turn. Their hour finally came, and they hollered and shook their fists and acted every bit as ferocious as they could, before an organizer poked a finger at her watch, and they all furled their banners and trundled happily away. No sooner were they finished than |,600 truckers rumbled into view, surrounding the place with theiz dig diesel-beiching rigs. The poor NDP, I thought. Barely into their first term, and already they're dead meat. Maybe one term doesn’t look so bad, after ail. ATTA AES Put Canada's Census to work for you When you complete and mail your Census form June 4, you help to ensure that your community gets its fair share of funding for schools, hospitals, vital social services, housing, efficient public transit and roads, community parks, day care, and effective law enforcement. Any information you give on vour Census form is protected by law and kept confidential. The Census only happens once every five years. That's why it's so important that you count yourself in. Please complete and mail your Census form june 4th. Because, with you, the Census makes good: sense. If you haven't received your Census form by June 1st, please call toll free, 1-800-267-1991. Call for HELP from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Thursday, May 30th through Friday June 7th (excluding Sunday). 1-800-267-1991 a J ) oe Ween, Soman ame)