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Scugog Citizen -- Tuesday, February 25, 1092 7 a VIEWPOINTS (STITT I don't know about you, but I have been having a tough time trying to make some sense out of the Shelley Martel inquiry going on at Queens Park. Martel is the NDP Minister for Northern Affairs and the inquiry is a strange one, 0 say the least. At issue (I think) in this inquiry is whether or not, Martel was in pos- session of confidential information about OHIP billing by a Sudbury doctor. Early last December at a social function, Mudrtel apparently told a group of people she had seen the file on the doctor. Queried later in the Legislature, she didn't deny the remark, but said she "made it up," and had not seen any confidential files. You go figure that one out, coming from a Minister of the Crown, Anyway, this inquiry into this strange behavior has been on-going for a couple of weeks now, which is fine. But the legal fees, to be paid by the tax-payers, could soar to $500,000. Half a million loonies in legal fees to find out how much a cabinet minister knew? Come on. This is reaching the point of utter-stupidity. Where does the money come from? After reading that figure, I started to do a slow boil thinking about $500,000. it's not much for the provincial government, but just think what Scugog Township could do with a $500,000 windfall, Scugog, like every other municipality in the country, is facing a severe cash crunch this year. Having $500,000 10 spend on "people services" likes parks and recreation, or even 10 fix the pot-holes in a few roads (maybe pave the arena parking lot, AKA the mud hole) Hey, $500,000 cash would make a decent down payment on a new rec facility for the people of Scugog. Somehow, the thought of that much moncy going into legal fees for an inquiry into the conduct of a Cabinet minister leaves me slightly aghast. Martel should resign. If she indeed did "see the file" on the Sudbury doctor, that is grounds for her resignation. If she didn't, but just said she did, that 100 is grounds, for being so petty and inept, not to mention the fact she could now be costing taxpayers upwards of $500,000. CONGRATULATIONS: OK, accuse me of a conflict of interest here in offering con- grats to a group of about 25 girls from Commish and Port Perry High School who make up the choir "Northern Explosion." This choir has been chosen to compete in the finals of the "Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat Choral Challenge." The choi recently at the Pantages Theatre in Toronto. And if "Northem Explosion" should get past the finals, the group will be one of four choirs to be part of the musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat" in Toronto this summer. The music for this show is by some guy named Andrew Lloyd Webber, whoever he is. I know these young ladies have worked hard to get as far as the finals, and | know 'they are very excited. Now, my conflict of interest in using this space 0 say "congrats and break a leg?" My 12-year old daughter is a member of the choir, Let's just say I'm wearing a "proud Daddy" hat right now. The finals are March 9 at Pantages. Since we're plugging things in this space, you might want to caich a perfor- mance of "Arsenic and Old Lace," which opens at Port Perry's Town Hall 1873 this Thursday night (Feb. 27) for six shows. The Borelians are staging "Arsenic," and this local theatre group has a well-camed reputation for high quality productions. They should have a great time with this beloved classic. Tickets (at Irwin Smith Music) are a "steal" at $10 each. Why drive 50 miles for an evening of fine entertainment? The Borelians are as good an amateur theatre group as you'll find and they have the provincial awards to prove it. IN CLOSING. As I write this (last Friday) the Olympics still had a couple of days to run. I am appalled at some of the crit- icism directed at Canadians who did not fin- ish in the medals, especially the figure skaters. Just whose expectations are they supposed to meet, anyway? And for the life of me, I can't figure out why curling is not an Olympic competition. There are any number of biathalons (ski/shooy/ski) luges and bobs, but not curl- ing. Surely, one of the most popular of win- ter sports should be a medal sport. And why not broomball? It's as much a winter sport as water polo is to the summer Olympics. Ice fishing? No, not yet. Of course curling and broomball have only limited appeal to world-wide TV audi- ences, not nearly as popular as acrial skiing. And it's TV (with the huge dollars) that rules international athletics these days. 1 enjoy the Olympics, summer and win- ter, especially the human clement of triumph and failure, ecstasy and agony. That Algerian who wobbled his way over the fin- ish line in a cross country ski race didn't win a medal, but imagine the memory he'll take home with him. 1 hope we never lose sight of the fact that sport at all levels is just another dimension of was selected from 19 choirs who auditioned the human Brian Mulroney could have earned himself some real Brownie points Friday at the Canadian Farm Family Rally in Ottawa, but he blew it. As you can see by the big spread in today's paper, I took part in the rally, and like an estimated 40,000 other people from all over Canada, I got up in the wee hours and sat on a bus for untold hours. For me, I only had to get up at 4 am. (!) but farmers from Windsor had to get up at 1:30 a.m. to be at the rally on time, and farmers from British Columbia paid a small fortune to fly all the way to Otawa. All told, people put out a lot of effort to show their support for the federal gov- emment"s GATT negotiations, and they really expected the Prime Minister would show a litle effort in return. He would have been cheered if he had taken five minutes and acknowledged the crowd on Parliament Hill. But instead of making that small effort, he sent Don Mazankowski. Hey, nothing against the Deputy Prime Minister, but it wasn't him the crowd wanted to see. They wanted Brian, and th®y let the feds know it in no uncertain terms. In fact, not seeing Brian Mulroney was the only disappointment of the whole trip. I sure hope Mulroney had a good reason for not being there -- the rally was planned weeks in advance. He should have made the effort. Hey, but it wouldn't be Brian Mulroney if he didn't offend someone, would it? I just want to thank Karen Yellowlees for inviting me to join in the rally. She invited all newspapers from throughout the Durham Region, and three of us went -- two from Oshawa and the Citizen (shows you who really cares about farm- ing issues). When I woke up that moming at four o'clock, I wanted nothing more than to go back to bed for some shut-eye and I couldn't believe I agreed to go on the trip. But I'm really glad I went. I was too young for all the protests of the '60s, and the euphoria of the Ouawa rally was something I will never forget. It was amazing, simply amazing. My parents and grandparents were farmers, and the rally on Friday really made me proud to come from farming stock. I hope, more than anything, that Canadian farmers are successful in the GATT negotiations, and that the family farm continues to be an important Canadian institution for centuries to come. P= UnsiLvED MYg ERY 4 Cute little tykes, aren't Especially the smil- ing one. This trio of children was obvi- ously well loved, and well taken care of. But no one wrote their names on the _ back of this photo, taken by Port Perry photographer W. H. Leonard. lf you can identify them, call the Scugog Shores Museum at 985- 3589. SNAPSHOT OF THE WEEK I (a) friends. Janet Buchan sent In this photo of her great- granddaughter, Fierney Deridder, with her best pal In the world, Nickina. The pooch weighs 165 Dale Irvin doesn't mind the cold. As the owner of JD Fishing & Archery, winter is his busiest time of year. People come from all over Canada to fish In Lake Scugog. The biggest catch that Dale has ever seen was a 12.29 Ib. pick- erel. An avid out- doorsman himself, Dale takes off Ibs., and while we're not sure how much Flerney weighs, we're willing to bet It's not anywhere near that much. If you have a snapshot you'd like to share, send it to the Scugog Citizen, 36 Water St., Port Perry, Ont., LOL 1J2. when time allows. He likes all kinds of music and Is a self- confessed junk food junkie! Dale has to know the lake con- ditions and local hot spots for all the fishermen who pass through Port. So, If they ain't biting, stop in and see Dale. moose hunting