ORE POLITICS. About 100 people squeezed into Audrey Sojonky’s West Van campaign office fora H 8 reception featuring Liberal MP Paul Martin Jr. (The office is badly in need of decoration — could someone please lend this woman some art?) Martin's the quintessential glad-hander — if he gained 50 pounds and carried a fat cigar, he'd resemble the classic Washington senator Hollywood so fondly depicts. Seems nice though, very relaxed, and very friendly. Before delivering his speech, Martin was introduced by his old pal, West Van developer Bob An- nable. Annable talked about Paul Mar- tin Sr. who, like his son, was a “fine economic manager.” He talked about Paul Jr.'s career — he was a merchant seaman and oil patch warker, then he worked as a lawyer, specializing in the coal and steel industries, before he became chairman and CEO of Ca- nadian Steel Corp. and sat on seven corporate boards. Then he became an MP (LaSalle-Emard) and, said Annable, has distinguished himself as a “singularly effective associate fi- nance and environment critic.’ Martin has a reputation for long-windedness and did an ad- mirable job of upholding that rep- utation. He first offered his condolences on our current provincial govern- ment, then bemoaned the fact that we can’t trust Ottawa any more ei- ther. He says that 'no one there is- taking power, that the Tories have no vision, that Kim Campbell will not be able to shake off the Mulroney legacy, and that she can win by default but not govern by default. ‘ He then talked about why we should vote Liberal, going all the way back to 1946 to illustrate his point. Post-war Canada, said Martin, had (relatively speaking) twice the debt that we do now. Our indus- trial base was defunct and we were ‘‘on the precipice of terrible decline.”’ But the Liberals saved us — they changed our industrial base, redefined the role of government and built the social services we have now. Presumably, there are stables full of white horses behind the Parlia- ment buildings. Another reason to vote Liberal, said Martin, is that Jean Chretien is a great guy. _ Chretien, incidentally, has im- posed three conditions on his par- ty members: that they build a fiscally responsible platform, that they make no promises they can’t AD MAN Jerry Beckerman (left) and West Vancouver developer Bob Annable. ia Louise Aird BRIGHT LIGHTS keep, and that they support ail other Liberals. The Liberal Party, said Martin, is the only true party of reform. (You get the feeling the Reform Party has the Tories and Grits a little edgy?) The Liberals have a vision and Audrey Sojonky; with her ex- cellent record in education, small business and public service, is a vehicle for that vision. Finally, Audrey got her turn at the mike. She's a good speaker but she’s kind of stiff. Audrey wants to see a partner- ship between governments, business, labor and academia, saying that if there's no coopera- tion at home, we can’t compete abroad. Her big thing is education — we need the right education for the right jobs and, since our children will compete against other coun- tries, we have to develop our in- tellectual resources. She wants education in the hands of the provinces and municipalities, but she wants it enhanced by the federal govern- ment, fe. she wants national standards and controlled, Photos Loutse Alrd AUDREY SOJONKY’S campsign office was the setting for a reception featuring Paul Martin Jv. disciplined spending. That won't rnake the near- millionaires on the schoo! boards happy, I'm sure. After Sojonky’s speech, cam- paign manager Robert Wright and campaign chairman John Mocoren worked the room, signing up vol- unteers and collecting cheques from the likes of Downtown Prize also includes: Air fare from Room, Toyota’s Erwin Smith. MLA David Mitchell had come from Victoria for the reception, and | talked to ad man Jerry Beckerman, who said | missed a good party at Gleneagles when 150 people went to hear John Turner make “a first-rate speech”’ about the awful mess the PCs have made of things and how ding money. you COUL SECOND PLAC! MBE N SEE IN-STORE AIEEE AGFA @ (HNELRER) ae ROU _ Come into any store and join the Ross Ben L Save-Cn-Foods B.C. S: thy Club - AGFA « 2 rolls 24 + 3 exp. 100 ISO 2 PACK Old Waves Club. important it is for more of us to get involved in politics. Beckerman, by the way, is on the committee which is organizing’ the West Vancouver Foundation Ball. Sounds like a rather chic af- fair and the $175 tickets are selling quickly, even though it’s not until Oct. 23.!f you want. to go, call Mo Farris at 683-3311.