The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

grierson 18 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tues. August 28, 1984 by Cathy Robb Roy Grierson is not a Communist. Neither is his party or the people in it, he stresses, leaning forward on his elbows, at his kitchen table, eyes angry behind his trademark glasses. What he can't figure out is why some voters still can't tell the difference between a New Democrat and a Communist, and it obviously bothers him. Grierson says his campaign has been going well, but "you do get the odd hostile one who thinks you're a Communist. You try to tell them you're not but they don't want to listen. You just have to say thank-you and good-bye." It's not always easy ate, unless of course being an NDP candid- you're Ed Broadbent in a working man's town like Oshawa. But if your a } j sr * 5 yo i) vy be a : He J A fot FS fa $ Sh PE 4 ) NDP candidate Roy Grierson shows off his square dancing duds ---- 8 hobby he and his wife Doris share when he's not politicking. H & M WRIGHT OD, FEED COMPANY * DOG & CAT FOOD * FEEDS & GRAIN * ANIMAL HEALTH o PRODUCTS - OPEN - MON. - FRI. 8:00am. -530pm SATURDAY 8:00a.m.- 12 noon * LAWN & GARDEN SUPPLIES * FERTILIZER & FENCING call ... HAROLD or MELANIE BLACKSTOCK - 986-4201 name is Roy Grierson and you're 70 years old, electioneering isn't exactly a piece of cake. Especially when you're running in Durham- Northumberland, a rid- ing as diverse as it is large, ruled for the last few elections by Pro- gressive Conservatives. TOUGH AREA New Democrats have always found it tough in this area and Grierson says the party will be lucky to get 30 per cent of the vote this time around. "People say, if Ed were a Liberal, or a Conservative, I'd vote for him', Roy points out with resignation. "But we can't seem to get them to switch policies. It's particularly true in this campaign. Still, the NDP have been running a flawless campaign across the country with some "experts" predicting Ed Broadbent as the leader of the opposition in the next House. Grierson attributes the partys' success part- ly to the pair running the other parties, John Turner and Brian Mul- roney. "They're two peas in a pod. They could switch parties just as easy as you and I could switch chairs', he says. "Whereas Broadbent is different. He's his own man with clear-cut policies'. Not that Roy Grierson has to depend on Ed Broadbent for support in this riding, particu- larly in Scugog Town- ship. Roy's been involved with local issues and community groups ever since he landed in this area eight years ago. Before that, he spent much of his time in Agincourt running a Willowdale dry cleaning establishment, even though he was brought up in Winnipeg. As a kid he spent many an evening at the supper table, listening to his parents talk politics. There was no NDP party in those days and his father generally voted Liberal or Conser- vative. An uncle was the Minister of Public Works at one point and when he dropped around for a visit, the fur would fly in the heat of political debate. "We discussed quite a bit of politics and when I was at home I more or less agreed with them", he recalls. When CCF party was introduced young Grier- son didn't take note of the occasion, other than reading about it. He read the sports page and the front page and that was about it. But when the CCF drifted into the NDP, giving labour more in- put at conventions, Grierson began to take notice. + "They always seemed to be coming up with new ideas", he says. "When Tommy Douglas came along, he put those ideas into action'. Somewhere around 1963 Grierson bit the politics bug in a big way. There was an election going on and Roy went to a meeting. "There were member- ships there so I joined'. As his enthusiasm mounted, he and his wife, Doris, began door- knocking for their NDP candidate, never dreaming that one day he'd be doing the same thing for his own cam- paign. DOOR TO DOOR "A lot of people don't like it", he says about going from door to door. I don't mind it. I do it because it has to be done'. When he retired, Grierson looked around for a place to live away from the city and event- ually set his sights on Caesarea. His son lived in Seagrave so it was only natural for Roy and Doris to come east. Although he involved himself with hockey and school activities in Agin- court, thanks to his children, Rony didn't really follow . ical issues until he mm ved to Scugog. When you move to a small town, the issues involve you person- ally", he says. "You can't help but get invol- ved". Before he knew it he signed up with the Pine Ridge Garden Club and became its president for three years. He was on the Blackstock Fair Board for two years and eventually joined the Senior Citizens Club "because I'm not too proud to admit I'm a senior citizen'. LIBRARY It was through the seniors club that he got tangled up with the infamous library struggle going on in Port Perry a few years ago. Several seniors in the Club were opposed to the construction of a new library on the waterfront because they didn't want to spend the money, others in the club just didn't like the idea of a new location; but others, like Roy, were deeply concerned about the affect of a new building on the water- front could have on the lake's delicate environ- ment. "It's environmentally wrong to put it there and I still think so", he says strongly. "I think the lakefront should be pre- served for the use of people, for swimming and fishing. Now you can't get near it on the weekends'. Suddenly he was up to his neck in the cam- paign to stop the library. Writing letters, .attending meetings, and debating the issue with people on the street threw him into the thick of the controversy. "It started by saying we saved the Town Hall by petition, we saved the Post Office by petition, now let's save the old library by petition", he recalls. The fight took him to his first-ever municipal board hearing and numerous council meet- ings. And he learned a lesson that has struck with him ever since. "You learn that some politicians can't be trusted'. Grierson and his supporters lost the lib- rary battle but to this day, many local people still associate the lib- rary issue with Roy Grierson's name. He's been discovering that as he winds his way through his present political campaign. People he's never met before say, oh yeah, so you're Roy Grierson. It never ceases to amaze him how many people in the community know him from that issue. And, of course, through the work he has done for Community Care. It's been through Scugog Community Care (and later, the regional branch of the same organization) that he has touched bases with the 'have-nots' of this area. "Like single mothers, they need help the most," he explains. 'I think a lot of them would like to get off welfare and start working but they just can't do it on their own'. His concern for people like those he has met through Community Care, and for the envir- onment, puts him in agreement with most NDP policies. For Grierson, the number one issue of this election is nuclear waste disposal. "I'd like to see it moved away from pop- ulated areas and the lake", he says firmly. "They claim it's safe... but waste will be radio- active for the next 25,000 years. "There are ghost mine towns in Canada, where the hole in the ground is already there, that could be used for nuclear waste disposal, sealed and stored. And there are other options. It just doesn't have to be buried near Welcome"'. He is deeply concern- ed with the environment and with the greenhouse affect caused by co2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. CONCERNED '"That's something that is, in my opinion, just as important as the peace issue", he says. "If we don't do some- thing about it, they claim that in 40 to 75 years Toronto will be an ocean seaport. On the ocean". Fighting for jobs is also one of his main priorities, as is peace. Since Operation Dis- mantle was formed in Scugog, Roy's face has been a familiar one at regular meetings. "When I have a con- cern that I think affects a community, I like to express my thoughts. The ones who agree with me say they support me. The others say, oh, you're the guy'. GUARANTEED INVESTMENT CERTIFICATES -- Annual Rates -- 4 YEARS 5 YEARS -- MORTGAGES BOUGHT & SOLD -- Rates subject to change without notice. Call the office for more information. SCUGOG FINANCIAL SERVICES 250 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY PHONE 985-3832 All Members of Canada Deposit Insurance Corp.