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A Most Unusual Election No matter who won or lost yesterday's federal election, there will be post mortems today and for the next few weeks as the parties and candidates analyse the results and attempt to learn what tactics worked in attracting support and what didn't. Amazingly enough, it was a leadership race all the way. We don't recall any of the leaders on their advertising or speeches outlining who would form their cabinet, if elected. It was all Joe Clark, Pierre Trudeau and Ed Broadbent, nobody else was mentioned: Surely, there must have been good outstanding men and women in the contest whose names would have added credibility to a party hoping to be elected to govern. In Prime Minister Trudeau's case we believe this was a bad error in strategy, mainly because it supported his opponents' theme that he was a one man government. It must also have been a slap in the face for prominent cabinet ministers who were well known and felt they had done a good job. It rnay have been somewhat more difficult for Joe Clark to say who would be on his team because he would hesitate to make aqpointments until he was fairiy certainbe would win. And for Ed Broadbent, the underdog, it would have been even more difficult because in spite of what he said during the debate, he had very slim hopes of heading a government at this time. We recall elections in which the parties published adver- tisements complete with pictures of those who would form a cabinet team, but this time; electors were either voting for Pierre, Joe or Ed. Pierre, Joe or Ed. No matter now, the election is over. The winners will be recovering from their victory parties and the losers will be wondering where they went wrong and either deciding that they'll try next time or be so discouraged that they'll never run again. It was a good battle all the way, a tremendous satisfaction for those elected and their many workers and a real character builder for the candidates who gave it everything they had, aided by their own army of workers, but still came out on the short end. We can only wish all of those in every party camp our gratitude for doing their part in making our political system work effectively. Grim Driving Statisties There are some grim statistics that the rising cost of gas is forcing being quoted these days -- statistics more persons to ride in each car and that should send a shiver down the therefore more fatalities are spine of everyone who must get occurring. behind the wheel of a car and spend Plans to fight the increase in some time on our highways and fatal accidents call for the use of streets. radar traps, aircraft patrols and According to the Ministry of radar-equipped police cruisers. But Transportation and Communica- it's not up to the police alone to bring tions, there was a 70 per cent in- down the highway death toll. Every crease in highway fatalities in On- one of us, by practising good driving tario during the first quarter of this techniques, obeying all laws, and year. looking out for the other guy can also Two hundred and seventy lives help to reduce these frightening were lost in accidents on provincial statistics. highways during the first three Next time we get behind the months of 1979. That cornpares with wheels of our cars, let's remember 198 fatalities in the first quarter of the most recent statistics on last year. highway deaths and drive No one seems to know the reason accordingly. We can stop the for the upturn in the highway death alarming trend in fatal highway toll. However, it has been suggested accidents. King Street Nears Completion The final stages of the major reconstruction of Bowmanville's main street from Scugog to Ontario are underway and within a short time, the mud will have disappeared and be replaced by smooth asphalt, wide sidewalks, new lighting and a far more attractive appearance. In our opinion, the Dagmar Contractors have done an May Win E At this time, several days before Election Day, it would appear that either the Liberals will win more seats than the Progressive Conservatives, but not enough to have an overall majority or the PCs will be in a similar situation. If all the forecasters are accurate, there seems little prospect of any one party winning a majority. What happens now? The PCs don't necessarily take over the government if they win more than the Liberals. If Prime Minister Trudeau wants to hang onto power, the only way he can be defeated is by losing a vote of non confidence in the House of Commons. And rest assured he isn't going to give up easily, unless we are very much mistaken. And, we doubt very much if the Governor General is going to give him any problems, after all, who appointed him to the post? The result of any non confidence motion will depend entirely on how Ed Broadbent and his NDP members vote because the Socreds have too few members to be influential. Possibly you noticed the rapport or attempted rapport between Trudeau and friend 'Ed' I exceptional job and are to be commended. Businesses along the route have suffered, but arrangements were made to permit access to their premises at all times, with as little inconvenience as possible. At the moment, we understand the work is well ahead of schedule, an unusual situation for a project of this magnitude. it Stiil Lose during the TV debate and their mutual disapproval of 'Mr. Clark' and his policies. Doesn't that tell you something? The something being that Mr. Broadbent and his party would rather have the Liberals in power than the PCs because they would then be in a good position to dictate terms or if the Libs didn't want to play their game, the NDP might cosy up to the Tories to see what they have to offer. In which case, they could put the PCs in power by backing them in a vote. Of course, all of this is speculative and hypothetical, but rest assured the hierarchy in every party has been considering the alternatives for some time. It's not new to have minority governments in Canada, even in recent days and Mr. Trudeau has been through it before so he's no novice. The first objective of any political party in power is to stay there, no matter what. So, if the election is close, don't start cheering too soon, if you supported the PCs and elected more members than the Libs, the victory may be only on paper this time round. Baron Among the Blossoms gar and ice Harsh LandS Even though we are into the last quarter of the twentieth century, with the tremendous technological advances that have been made, this can still be a mighty harsh land to live in. At the time of writing, my heart aches for those poor devils in southern Manitoba, and in northern Ontario, who have been victims of floods. It must be devastating to see your fine farm covered with muddy water, your house or barn collapsing under the force of a vast, callous element over which you have no control. We can blame ourselves for bad judgement, faulty management, or just plain laziness. But when Nature chooses, with her random, indifferent power, to throw a big one at us, whether it be fire, flood, drought, hail or grasshoppers, there is not much to do but weep, curse, or pray. Modern man can walk on the moon, drift through the sky in luxury at 750 miles an hour, keep himself warm and clean by flicking switches and pressing buttons. He can communicate with his fellows over thousands of miles. But when it comes to a tornado or an earthquake, there is little he can do but cower until it's over, and then try to pick up the pieces. We are not much bothered in this country by those two "acts of God". But we have plenty of our own variety: blizzards, floods, forest fires, periods of -either drought or rain that make the farmer despair. Perhaps the greatest glory of man is that he refuses to succumb to the desolation that follows these curses of nature that remind him constantly that he is a petty creature, indeed, of little more importance in the scheme of things than an ant or a cockroach, and not nearly as capable of survival over the long haul. If I were a farmer in the Red River Valley today, I'd probably feel like going out behind what was left of my barn and quietly shooting myself. But they won't do it, and that is why man will survive the worst things that Nature can do to him. He will pick up the pieces and re-build, with a stubborn and dauntless spirit that makes him refuse to give in. I've just finished reading The Pioneer Years by Barry Broadfoot, about the settling of the West. A lot of people failed in their first confrontation with the eternal hardships of the prairies: the bitter cold, the vast emptiness, the terrible daily toil, the plagues of insects, hail, drought. But even more of them fought back, with little but their human refusal to cave in under almost unbearable conditions. And their ancestors are still there. And they, too, will go on fighting the savagery of this country of ours, and triumph in the end. Today's farmer in the West has equipment his ancestor could not even dream about. He can farm four sections in the time it took his grandfather to extract a meagre crop from a quarter-section, with horses, and brutal, dawn-to-dark human labour. With the advent of the telephone and the automobile, the appaling loneliness of life on the prairies, of which Sinclair Ross writes so movingly, has disappeared. Today's farmer may even have a small air- craft to flip him into the larger towns, or across the border to the fleshpots of the States. But there still isn't a darn thing he can do about the weather. If there is drought, his crops burn and his cattle don't fatten. If there is hail, he can have a year's work wiped out in a few hours and be off to the bank to borrow for next year. He may have modern, technical advice from government. He may be art of one of the great bread- askets of the world, providing food for millions. But if it rains all summer, the bank still wants the interest on his loan, even though his crop is a disaster. Sure, L grouse just like you, and you, when bread goes up a nickel a loaf, beef prices soar, milk costs more than beer, or nearly as much, and I can't afford a head of lettuce, without cutting down on cigarettes. But when I think of the gamble a farmer takes, the amount of work he must do, and what he gets for his product at the rail-head, I can only shake my head andmutter, "Why do they doit? I wouldn't." Well, my friend, it's going to get a lot worse. With the millions of acres of junk land in this country on which to build houses, our blinkered politicians continue to allow industry and developers to buy up rich farmland, andturn it into factories that pollute with essences, highways that pollute with gas fumes, and high-rises that pollute with people. Ta ke a trip abroad. Check the prices of farm products. Ours are still among the cheapest in the world. When you have to pay $5.00 for a pound of meat, 40 cents each for tomatoes, and $2.00 for a loaf of bread, don't cry. Just remember that you read it here first. The farmer in this country has been getting royally screwed for decades, and he knows it. Prime Minister Trudeau chooses to call the farmer's anger "whining." My hat is off to them. Pick up the pieces, boys, and rebuild. We need you. Very much. 104 King Bowman Dear Sir, To chronicle th the past two reconstruction to East in Bowmanv to record th definitive f communication tax-paying homeowner, th Newcastle and th Durham. Two weeks Ferguson, deputy Dunham of the Pi Department of t Newcastle, assur unsympatheticall been the onlyc during all reconstruction. always receive response from Mr I will now go on some facts: 1 Homeowners Street East, affected area did not receive ville, Ontario personal notification of the proposed commencement or May 17, 1979 completion dates of the reconstruction. 2. Neglect on the part of the ,he events of Town of Newcastle in months of providing a designated storm King Street sewer hook-up. ille would be 3. Removal, without e classic, permission or consultation, of lack of an historic piece of cement between a inscribed W. CANN from the resident front walk of private property. e Town of This house, at the above he Region of address, was built by W. Cann in 1886. ago Mr. Someresults: y to Mr. J. 1.Mr.A.GuileroftheTown ?ublic Works of Newcastle, advised me that he Town of notice of reconstruction was ed me most placed in the local weekly y that I have newspaper and that it is my complainant responsibility to purchase and of the read this paper . . . 'it is too (I have expensive to inform each d a polite homeowner by hand delivery . Dunham). ormai' n record with Weeks after the reconstruction began, and within the after numerous telephone calls, I did receive a letter from Mr. Dunham stating a date by which time the construction in the block between George and Ontario Streets should be completed. 2. A storm sewer hook-up was dug May 16 - two months after reconstruction began. It was at a meeting with the Planning Board on May 15 than an oversight of the designated hook-up was noted by Mr. Edward Samuel. 3. Mr. Glen Rousseau, construction co-ordinator for the Town of Newcastle, denied any knowledge of, or responsibility for, the removal of the piece of cement inscribed W. CANN from my front walk. Some comments: 1. While communicating with individual homeowners is considered to be too great an expense and inconvenience, it is apparently not too great an expense or inconvenience to have to re-dig the road to install a designated storm sewer hook-up which the Town of Newcastle Public Works Department overlooked. 2. The arrogance evident in the defacing of my private property is a disgrace. No one questioned whether I minded having the inscribed concrete removed, no one told me it was earmarked for removal and, even if I purchased and read the local weekly newspaper, there was no announcement that this was to occur. The removal of the historic piece of concrete happened just four days before the Town of Newcastle-designated "Bowmanville Museum Day, May 18, 1979." With such hypocrisy do our leaders eulogize and destroy! Sincerely, Margot Samuel. May 14th, 1979 Dear John. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Courtice Secondary School Drama Society for an excel- lent presentation of the musical "Joseph" held a week ago in the Darlington Sports Centre. Their Director, Cathy Coverly should be proud of the cast who performed so well despite the inclimate condi- tions in the Centre. They were terrific! Once again, thank you Courtice Secondary School Drama Society for an enjoyable evening. Yours truly, Thomas A. Fanning, R.D.M.R. Director Department of Community Services. May 14th. 1979 Dear John 1 I was present at the children's bowling banquet held at the Canadian Legion last Friday evening. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Harold Bennett who has been in charge of the Youth' Bowling for twenty-one years, also his faithful volunteers. There is no doubt in my mind that many youth owe Harold Bennett a vote of thanks. Yours truly, Thomas A. Fanning, R.D.M.R. Director Department of Community Services Dear Mr. James: The Bowmanville Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society wish to thank you for all the publicity which you gave to us through your paper during our recent compaign. Many thanks! Sincerely yours. Betty Dakin Secretary.