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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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;

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