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PAGE 14, WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2,1987 NDP'S Sarah Kelly: Accustomed to challenge By MIKE JOHNSTON One year ago this month Sarah Kelly was teaching in Singapore, the farthest thought from her mind being running in a provincial election. But when she returned to Whitby in December, 1986, she was approached by a search committee and asked to run for the NDP nomination in Durham Centre. "I had never thought about that before. Originally I said no," says the Seneca College calculus and aerodynamics teacher. She thought the committee could have picked someone with more experience, such as Whit- by councillor Tom Edwards who was asked but declined. "I thought they could have got someone else but then they asked me again in March and I accepted." Fighting for NDP policies such as equality was second nature for Kelly having fought for that at Seneca. "You have to be willing to get in yourself and make a change." enange." The Whitby resident says time commitment to the job of cam- paigning wasn't a concern but because she is a member of the Ontario Public Service Em- ployees Union, Kelly had to take a leave of absence from her job. She is on leave until Sept. 10 and should she get elected, will take an extended two-year leave. "I'm not sure exactly how it works but then it is to Seneca's advantage if I get elected." She notes Housing Minister NDP CANDIDATE Sarah Kelly talks in Whitby recently. with Rick McDonnell as she canvassed Free Press photo Alvin Curling was a Seneca em- ployee before stepping into politics. Should Kelly not get elected, she plans to return to school for one semester then perhaps put in for another exchange to teach in either Hong Kong or Malaysia. Kelly's campaign manager is Barry Salmon, an NDP cam- paign organizer. Salmon says he had a choice of running a num- ber of campaigns but he chose Durham Centre because he thought it was "the best bet." He has worked for the NDP for two years, has been in the area since January and makes his home in Ottawa. He is, however, familiar with Whitby where his wife grew up. One problem Salmon faces is the influx of new residents. "They may have phone num- bers but they are not listed anywhere. You either have to foot canvass those areas or pay Bell Canada for a list," he says. He is clearly at ease talking election numbers. While refusing to give exact figures, he says his team has "established a target." Figures from polls before distribution were put through a computer, says Salmon, and during the campaign the NDP-is polling a number of areas, one of them being Durham Centre. "The Tory network has held in Whitby," says Salmon, adding this election the Tories should drop and the Liberals go up. "It will come to turn-out on 'E' (election) day," says Salmon, noting no incumbent in the riding is helping all three par- ties. He is also counting on support from Oshawa that area in Oshawa which in past elections has supported Mike Breaugh, NDP incumbent in the Oshawa riding. Salmon, who spends 15 hours a day on the campaign, has 200 people working on the election. As with the other two parties, Kelly has a say on the final decisions. She also does not believe the polls are an in- dication of the race in Durham. Centre. "I don't hear people at the doors talking about polls. There are still a lot of undecided voters. This is going to be a close, tight race.' Some of the concerns she has heard about while canvassing are the number of portables, af- fordable housing and automobile insurance. She also takes the time to remind people the Liberals governed in an accord with the NDP. By JANET BROWNE EDITOR'S NOTE: As Free Press summer student Janet Browne, 18, an Anderson CVI graduate, leaves our employ and departs Whitby to begin university in Ottawa, she offers her thoughts as a first-time voter in the up- coming provincial election. For those like myself who have been politically dormant for the past eighteen or so years, the an- nouncement of the provincial elec- tion on Sept. 10 was a rude awakening. Vote? Me? At first, it was a real ego-booster that Canada now considered me mature enough to take on such a responsibility - like getting the keys to the car for the first time, or get- ting to choose my own bedroom furniture. But the thrill was shortlived. I suddenly realized that I had very little if any political opinion what- soever (except that my parents always voted Liberal, and my grandmother always used to tell me how 'brilliant' Trudeau was.) With such a one-sided, warped political past, I felt it best to wipe the slate clean, to rid myself of the meaningless, inaccurate, political drive that had been collected in a mind that was less than half- heartedly interested. The first advice that came my way was, "Read the papers, they'll tell you everything you want to know." I did. And they didn't. Once I'd sorted through al the garbled statements of the politicians, and the party propaganda, I managed to isolate what seemed to be the main issues. None seemed to be close enough to home to concern me. What bearing does free trade have on my life right now? (What exactly is free trade, anyway?) And being fresh out of high school, student/teacher ratios and class size aren't really important to me. I don't plan t, majc a career out of ME? VOTE? Dilemma of a first-time voter the motor vehicle industry, so the Auto Pact is far from the top of my list of priorities. So what issues should I, now at the threshold of adulthood, consider in order to make an intelligent choice? Plan B was to get the desired in- formation right from the horses' mouths. The first politician able to fit a few minutes into a very tight campaign schedule was Durham Centre Conservative candidate Stephanie Ball. I popped the question: "What issues does your party support that would be of concern to first-time voters?" Like most politicians from op- posing parties, Ball immediately lashed out at the Liberals for their "unfair funding mechanisms" in secondary and post secondary (namely Durham College) educational centres. After ex- plaining how the Tories would in- crease the amount of the budget that goes for education, she pointed out that with a free trade agreement with the U.S., 189,000 new jobs would be created in Canada by 1995. That cleared up the confusion of the relevancy of a free trade deal to my existence. But one thing I have learned, while trying to avoid anything slightly political, is that one must try to read between the lines ofstatements like that. If it is so easy to create that many new jobs, why didn't they do it three hundred years ago? Next, I pumped NDP spokesper- son Don Stewart. He started off by rehashing the bit about sending more money into Durham College, which seems to be the consensus for all three parties. But my ears perked up when he delved into the issue of auto insurance. The NDP, he said, will try to get rid of the "practice of assigning high risk premiums to young drivers regar-. dless of their driving record" and hope for "a dramatic reduction" in our insurance rates. He continued, saying that people our age are "particularly sen- sitive" to environmental issues (a credit I don't really deserve), and explained how the NDP was plan- ning to clean up Lake Ontario, and tighten up the sewage systems across Ontario. I underwent a momentary lapse of concentration while he explained how better pen- sion plans would create more jobs for young people. But suddenly, I recalled a significantly interesting piece of information that had managed to stick in my brain following the debate a few weeks ago. "Didn't Bob Rae say that there was going to be some phenominal increase in the minimum wage?" I ventured. Stewart assured me that this was the case, citing a figure around $6.75, but explained that this was a longterm goal of the party. There had to be a catch, There always is, it seems, with politics. Unlike the other two parties, not one sole member of the Durham Centre campaign office (including the honorable Allan Furlong him- self) could find time to address my concerns over a period of two days. I will try to keep an open mind, and assume that something doubly important must have been hap- pening, during that 48-hour period last week. (Note: Mr. Furlong returned the call on Monday). But perhaps they have no issues that would be agreeable to people in my age group. Didn't they just drop educational funding by three per cent over the two years of provin- cial rule, making it the lowest in 20 years? Or am I to attach such im- portance to the percentages which make up so much of political cam- paign rhetoric? These other brief but meaningful conversations have left me with a starting point. But, like before, I am still amidst a fog of unanswered questions, mistrusts and ignorance. That's the problem facing us late bloomers who are thrust into the world of politics and expected to vote intelligently. Without years of political enrichment behind us, the whole picture is very far from clear. Why are some of us so ignorant? Why, if the government expects us to cast a vote, isn't more relevant information being drummed in? Why must we be burdened with the guilt of not taking the initiative tp find out what those issues are? But there is an alternative to get- ting caught up in the whirlwind of politics. Several, in fact. The first was my personal choice before I was forced to look into the subject-don't vote at all. Feign total disinterest in the whole matter, refuse to get involved when hec- tored by parents or overen- thusiastic friends. Or show respect for your parents' opinions and support their can- didate - if they agree. Or, better yet, vote for the party your parents are disgusted by and say degrading things about it, just to annoy them and to assert your individuality. Or be radical, and vote for the Green Party, who fight for the well-being of worms and frogs un- scurpulously being used as bait by Ontario fishermen. In all fairness to the leaders of Ontario and the supporters in each of the ridings across the province, maybe we owe it to them to take the time to look into the matter. With approximately 200,000 students eligible to vote across Ontario, our opinions, whether intelligent or not, do mean something. Oops! Wrong number Parties are bound to have problems during a campaign but none like the problem the Liberal campaign had with 30,000 pieces of literature .hat were to be mailed out to Durhani Centre residents. The literature arrived with the wrong phone number on it.