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Vol. 14, No. 36 Wednesday, September 5, 1984 20 Pages Fenneilre-electedinlandslide By MICHAEL KNELL Free Press Staff It was more than landslide. Anyway yo look at it, it was slaughter. The Ontari Riding Liberal and Ne' Democratic partie didn't have a prayer. From the moment th polls closed, Scott Fer nell, the incumben Progressive Conser vative Member o Parliament for thi riding took a comman ding lead in the polls. At approximately 9:4 p.m. last night, the unof ficial results with 281 o 289 pols reporting Fen neil had earned 31,30 votes to Liberal Gar3 Herrema's 13,261 anc the NDP's Geoff Risor 11,910.1 The unofficial result- aiso gave E ennell .a complete sweep ol almost every poll'in the riding. Of the 289 polls Fennell lost only five. He took al 74 polls 'n Ajax, ail 96 ir Pickering, 34 of 37 in Uxbridge and 109of 111 in Whitby. It was no contest from the time the results started to pour in. When 30 polls had been coun- ted, the Tory backben- cher had 3,582 supported while Herrema, the chairman of Durham Region, had 1,407 and Rison, a high school teacher at Whitby's An- derson Collegiate, had 1,767. In fact, it looked for a time as though Rison would put the local NDP in second place as he failed to do in the election of 1979 and 1980. (It is interesting to note that Herrema, 'a former mayor of Ux- bridge won only two of the polls in the riding's most northern tnuicipality.) But with victory comes crushing respon- sibility. Before a huge crowd (some estimated almost 1,000), Fennell said that his win and the win of his party nationally only means that he and they will only have to work all that much harder to get tbe country back on its feet again. (At press time the Tories had 187 of 282 seats in the House of Commons with the Liberals holding 38, the NDP 21 and one in- dependant.) Fennell gave most of the credit for bis victory to bis party workers, whom he said turned out help attract new in- dustry to the riding, not a only to create new jobs U but to offset increasing a residential property ta, c rates. w "We need more in- s dustry in this riding t< offset the residential ta:k e rate," he said adding '- that the localMP can do It much to help bring that r- industry into the riding. ?f In a brief interview s with the Free Press 1- Fennell said that he wasn't too sure of what. 5 kind of role he would play in the new gover- f nment. - While he would accept 2 a cabinet position, he Y said one ha§ not been of- d fered to him as of yet. n "I would serve if asked, but I don't know, s if will be asked." The returning mem- f ber said that he would like to pursue his past, interests of small business and other economy issues in the new administration. Rison 's last stand This will be the last time Ontario Riding voters. will see Geoff Rison out on the hustings. Having been the local New Democratie Party's standardbearer in 1979, 1980 and now 1984 federal election cam- paigns, he reckons its time to step asidé for new blood. "It's been a great ex- perience," Rison, a Whitby high school teacher said, "You really get to see how the political system works but I think its time for somebody else to take a crack at it." Despite local party hopes that he would bring the NDP into second place locally, he again found himself in third place when all the votes were counted late last night. Re-elected incumbent Progressive ·Conser- vative MP Scott Fennell swept the ridings with 31,302 votes. Liberal Gary Herrema won1 13,261 votes while Rison polled 11,910.' While he admitted, he's glad the campaign is over, Risoni believes that he bas improved the NDP's local stature. in greater numbers than ever before. This is the first time he has won a majority of votes in this riding. When he defeated his Liberal op- ponents in 1979 and 1980, he gained two sizable plurai ties but no majority. "This has been a somewhat over- whelming victory," he told his supporters. "We have a responsibility now. We have to show Canada that it can be run properly and that it is the greatest country in the world. The Progressive Con-- servative government, under -Prime Minister- designate Brian Mulroney, will have to, Fennell, said fulfill the words of the laie Liberal prime minister Sir Wilfred Laurier. "We have to prove that he was right: that the 20th century belongs to Canada." One of his most im- mediate concerns is to "We should have more votes than we've ever had before," he said, "We've got a real firm organization - not a big one, but a good one." He is also predicting that the day will soon come when Canada will have a two party system. He believes that the Liberals are doomed to extinction and that the NDP and the Tories will be left to fight for power in Canada. "It has become very much apparent in this election that probably in the next decade we will have a two party system," Rison said, "The Liberal Party may A victorious Scott Fennell greets his suporters Herrema has no regrets Gary Herrema was gracious in defeat but was not without some criticism of his own par- ty for its defeat in last night's federal e,lection. Herrema, the Ontario Riding Liberal Party candidate, was almost five weeks off the mark and had to work twice as hard to even try to catch up to incumbent Progressive Conser- vative MP Scott Fen- nell. But it didn't make any difference, the bat- tle wasn't even close. Herrema, the chair- man of Durham Region for four years, lost to Fennell earning only 13,261 votes compared to his 31,302 at the final unofficial count, with 281 of 289 reporting. The NDP's Geoff Rison ear- ned 11,910 votes. He put part of the blame for the party's loss. squarely on the shoulder of Prime Minister John Turner. "I think he allowed it to be lost when he took the patronage," Herrema said, referring 'to the appointment of 17 Grit MP's to high gover- nment and judicial posts. at the insistence of for- mer prime minister Pierre Trudeau. "He should have told him (Trudeau) to stuff it.1 Herrema doesn't think he will run again for Parliament pointing out that the next elec- tio'i will fall just before his 50th birthday. But that doesn't mean the local Liberals haven't made gains in the riding. "They are now a force to be reckoned with, " he said, "They know what the issues are and everyone in the riding knows that there is more to being an MP than looking after pen- sions and passports." But the Uxbridge farmer leaves this cam- paign with no regrets. "I ran for a spot·in the government of Canada, not everyone gets that chance," Herrema said, "And that's not bad foi a guy who couldn't speak English when he came to Canada as a child. There was no anti- Trudeau sentiment ex- pressed during his cam- paign, Herrema said adding that he got the feeling that people felt it was time for a change. "People felt that this was a time for change." go the way of the Dodo bird." And he is not sure that this is necessarily a bad thing for the country. A two party system will also improve the NDP's chances for forming a national government. But he leaves the campaign with no regrets although as president of the local NDP organization he' will continue to· be ac- tive inparty affairs and plans to hold a helping hand in his campaign manager's - Don Stewart - bid to unseat Durham West MPP George Ashe in the next provincial election. fwM Geoff Rison i Gary Herrema 1~