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t I PAGE A6 ♦ THE CANADIAN STATESMAN ♦ January 18,2006 Tim Whittaker Publisher Joanne Burghardt Editor-In-Chief Chris Bovie Managing Editor Fred Eismont Director of Advertising Eddie Kolodziejcak Classified Advertising Manager Kirk Bailey Distribution Manager Lillian Hook Office Manager Janice O'Neil, Cheryl Haines Composing Managers Todd Blayone Interactive Media Manager Clarington's Award-Winning Newspaper Since 1854 Œlj t Canadian Statesman Opinion | JANUARY 18, 2006 durtiamrcgion.com Phone 905-579-4400 Classifieds 905-576-9335 Distribution 905-579-4407 General Fax 905-579-2238 Newsroom Fax 905-579-1809 E-Mail newsroom@durhamregion.com 865 Farewell St., Oshawa ON L1H 7L5 Publications Mail Registration No. 07637 infodurhamregion.com EDITORIAL e-mail letters to newsroom@durhamrcgion.com Tories deserve chance to govern Stephen Harper and his team, including Durham MR Bev Oda, have earned the opportunity to implement their platform After more than 12 years of Libérai rule in Ottawa, it's time for a change.. Conservative leader Stephen Harper, who has been tested through ; two tough leadership campaigns and the 2004 federal election, has earned the chance to lead this country. Mr. Harper has' run a solid, - open campaign and has been eager to prove to a sceptical public public that he has what it takes to be prime minister. . The 46-year-old Albertan is full of ideas, if not exactly charisma, and his approaches to the problems problems we face are attractive. . Mr. Harper is taking dead aim at the scandal-plagued actions of the Liberal government of Paul Martin. While Mr. Martin may not be directly implicated in the Quebec sponsorship scandal, his Liberal party bears the blame for wasting many millions of our tax dollars for partisan gain and deserves to be punished for it at the polls. Mr.. Harper, .to counter the effects of AdScam, will introduce introduce the Federal Accountability Act, which will toughen the rules for lobbying, preventing former cabinet ministers, MPs or Ottawa staffers or civil servants from lobbying the federal government for five years after they leave office. He will also give the auditor- general more powers to uncover , wrongdoing and protect whistleblowers. whistleblowers. This is necessary at a time when Canadians are losing faith in politicians and the political process. Mr. Martin, first as finance minister, then as prime minister, minister, has long promised a lavish child-care program but has never delivered one. Mr. Harper has pledged he will provide $1,200 per year to parents parents for each child under age six to use as they see fit. He'll also give tax credits so day-care spaces can be created. Mr. Harper also has promised to do something Liberals have said they would do since 1993: He will cut the GST, first by 1 per cent immediately and by 2 per cent by the .end of his mandate. mandate. ' v That will help all Canadians save up to hundreds of dollars on purchases each year. Mr. Harper has also promised tax breaks over a wide range of groups to help promote business and to take some of the federal surpluses created over the past .eight years and put money back into the pockets of Canadians. On health care, Mr. Harper has been clear in his defence of a. single, public system, He does not back a move to two-tier health care as his politi- ' cal opponents have suggested. However, the Conservative leader leader is- mindful of the Supreme Court decision which says care must be provided in a timely manner. And, to that end, he realizes he will have to sit down with the premiers and come up with a comprehensive, long-term funding funding formula to cut wait times and make the system more efficient. Mr. Martin has made the attempt, but has simply not gone far enough. During the Liberal' leadership of Jean Chretien and Paul Martin, Martin, separatism and the Bloc Que- . becois have risen in 'power and influence. ■ }■ it's time for a new approach and Mr. Harper can provide that when it comes to issues between the federal government and Quebec. Quebec. Finally, Mr. Harper offers Canada Canada a chance to get back in the game with the United States. Mr. Harper will be a' fresh new face at the table with a new team. His leadership will perhaps mend fences with our largest trading partner and closest ally. In Durham Riding, incumbent Conservative MP Bev Oda's abilities have, been proven many times over in her first tenn of office. She stands up for her riding on Parliament Hill and as a rookie MP quickly became a trusted mémber of Mr. Harper's Conservative Conservative team, earning a coveted critic's position in the opposition. opposition. With Mr. Harper as prime minister, minister, Ms. Oda is very likely to be considered for a cabinet post and Durham would have a stronger stronger voice than ever before in Parliament. We would look to her to continue working with the riding's agricultural industry to strengthen fanning as a viable business choice, and to ensure our citizens here have access to quality health cafe without having having to travel for services. f.j-jj.y.i i v -' ; dolighan.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR e-mail letters to newsroom@durhamregion.com Durham MR not chairwoman during hospital amalgamation To the editor: Re: Durham MP criticized for work as hospital board chair, Carol Berney letter, Jan. 11. I am glad to read that Carol Berney is concerned about our hospital corporation and, in particular, particular, Lakeridge Health Bow- manville. I wish to point out that Bev Oda was not the chairwoman who oversaw the amalgamation but rather it was Judi Spring, who was the first chairwoman of Lakeridge Health Corporation. The first chairwoman was appointed after the amalgamation amalgamation was complete. Ms. Oda succeeded succeeded Ms. Spring as the second board chairwoman of Lakeridge Health, long after the amalgamation. amalgamation. . Frances Tafts Orono Call 911 in case of emergency, not Telehealth To the editor: Re: Telehealth no help to caller, John Bergeron letter, Jan. 11. 1 was 'compelled to respond to a gentleman's letter regarding a call to Telehealth for his wife. He believed that she was hav- ' ing a possible heart attack. People have to realize that any condition that may be life-threatening life-threatening is a medical emergency. Telehealth first establishes your, chosen language. The very next direction is to hang up if it is a medical emergency emergency and call 911. A suspected heart problem, stroke, loss of consciousness, difficulty breathing, breathing, or uncontrollable bleeding is something that requires immediate immediate medical attention! - Call 911. The operators are trained to assess the situation and send help. Don't ever wait 17 minutes if you think someone is having a heart attack. I am not trying to be critical, calling for medical help can be very stressful. stressful. We are constantly reminded of the backlog in our ERs and sadly, there is no exaggeration in that'fact. Regardless, if someone someone is suffering any condition that may be life-threatening, call 911. Lori-Ann Davie Newcastle Ed had good ideas for electoral reform To the editor: Re: This campaign could use sonie Ed, Tim Kelly column, Jan. 11. ' There is no doubt that Ed Broadbent was a great parliamentarian parliamentarian and is a great Cana dian. . He enjoys the respect of many, regardless of their political affiliation. affiliation. I heard his speech when he decided not to seek re-election and the thing he said was his greatest disappointment was the lack of electoral and parliamentary parliamentary reform. There is no doubt our current current electoral system is unfair, delivers distorted results and no longer serves Canada well. We must change to a better electoral system based on proportional representation. 1 We should do it for Ed, to strengthen our democracy, and mostly for Canada. Geoff Daw Whitby LETTERS We welcome letters that include name, city of residence and phone numbers for verification. Writers are generally limited to 200' words and one submission submission in 30 days. We decline announcements, poetry, open letters, consumer complaints, congratulations and thank you .notes. The editor reserves the right to edit copy for length, style and clarity. The newspaper newspaper contacts only those people people whose submissions have been chosen for publication. FAX: 905-579-1809; E-MAIL: Newsroom ©durhamregion. com. Make sure you vote next Monday Polls open from 9:30 to 9:30; don't miss your chance to make a difference on election day in an important historic way Yeah, yeah, so it's a winter election. There's every possibility it could snow, or sleet, or hail or whatever. It will indubitably be cold, or at least it certainly will be relative to the last federal election, which was held in June 2004. And it's been a long, some might even say boring, campaign. campaign. But those arc not good enough CpVv % Jennifer Stone reasons not to get out there next Monday, if you have not already done so through the wide array of special early opportunities which arc provided by Elections Canada. Last time around in Durham, 51,333 of 82,078 eligible voters cast ballots, That works out to about 62.5 per cent; So, we're a little better than the rest of the , country, where less than 61 per cent voted, (That, incidentally, was our lowest national turnout since 1896, Highest ever, at 79.4 per cent, was in 1958, when John Diefenbaker's government was re-elected in a massive landslide. Thank you, Elections Canada, for those little tidbits.) Though we were a little better than the rest of the nation, , those are still positively dismal numbers. numbers. Surely, we can do better this lime around, given the case with which one can cast a ballot, There were advance polls, and anyone in the riding has been able to go to the returning office in Court ice any day during the election - including Christmas and New Year's Day - to vote. Next Monday, on election day, polling stations across the riding will be open a full 12 hours, from 9:30 a.m, to 9:30 p.m., which should make voting convenient for even those with the most difficult difficult of schedules. Work shouldn't really get in the way, either. According to Elections Canada, "all employees who are qualified electors, that is, those who arc 18 years of age or older and Canadian citizens on polling day, are entitled to three consecutive hours on polling day for the purpose purpose of casting their ballots." If an employee's hours of work do not allow him or her three consecutive hours to vote, the employer must allow him or her sufficient time off to allow three consecutive hours for that purpose." purpose." If you aren't sure if you're on the voter's list or where to vote, call the local returning office at 1-866 238-4198, They should be able to hook you up with your ballot. Not only is it important to vole 1 this time around, but it will be important to pay attention to results. , •That's where we come in. The Mctroland Durham Region Media Group will have a team of more than 20 in the field, working to get the results to you as quickly as possible, via our website at www.durhamrcgion. com. Durham riding-specific results will be available at http://dur- hamrcgion.typcpad.com/dur- liainjiding/. •Though polls don't close till 9:30 p.m., we'll start our live coverage at 8 p.m., to let you know how this exciting and interesting piece of Canadian and local history unfolds. Reporter Jennifer Stone s column appears every other Wednesday. E-mail jstone@durhamregion. com. Follow Jennifer's election BLOG durhamreglon.com/dr/lodolocllons/ CLICK AND SAY ! Today's question: :j Have you found advantage^ in the new transit system yefej disadvantages or is it just! service as usual? . : Improved service No change Difficult to use Cast your vote online infodurhamregicm.com Î) ' j Last week's ! question: Have you decided who ,yofl will vote for in the Jan. federal election? Conservative 34.6% Green 3.6% Liberal 45.6% . : > v , 1 NDP 14.6% . $ Undecided 1.6% ! . Votes cast: 1,943 HAVE YOUR SAY S Which party do yoii think ; ! will form the next federal j 'jj government? : Ron Alldred "The Conservatives - they'll have a minority and possibly a majority." .! •.ÆJ \.;§ÉÉ Jody Riley "I'm hoping the Liberals. They are the lesser of the evils." KimTully "The Conservatives, because. the Liberals are so bad they 1' make the Conservatives lookvj good." Sandra McBride "The Conservatives, because they are leading in the polls and Canada needs a change.". 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