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Page Id THE WEEKEND OUTLOOK Friday March 1991 Editorial Tough times for NDP What to make of the Peter Kor- mos affair What to make of the New Democratic Party as it prepares to take its fledgling flight in the stormy and threatening skies of Ontario politics What to make of NDP leader Bob Rae now that chinks are beginning to show in his White Knight suit of armor These questions are intertwin ed and depending on the answers forthcoming from Mr and his cohorts the self- proclaimed social democrats might only get one kick at the proverbial can in terms of ruling Ontario Kormos the former Minister of Consumer and Commercial Rela tions was fired by Bob Mon day because according to Mr Kormos wasnt a team player Mr Rae also called into question Mr Kormos judgement when he added I had hoped that his political judgement would be exercised with a little more discretion and care upon assum ing a cabinet position Excuse us Bob but arent you the man who appointed Peter Kormos to the cabinet And arent you the man who demand ed that candidates be of a high standard Especially when you attacked Liberal Premier David Peterson when you were leader of the op position and are quoted in Han sard as saying Its a question of what the Premiers standards are This could just as easily apply to you Bob That Mr Kormos posed as a Sunshine Boy for the Toronto Sun or that one of his top policy advisors was once convicted of assault on a female has no bear ing on the real issue here Nor even does the fact that Kormos has admitted he once worked in a Street bookstore which sold pornographic material when he was attending universi ty Even that he was once con victed of failing to file an income return What is at issue here is Mr standards and indeed Mr Raes Judgement The New Democratic Party knew of Mr Kormos background before it allowed him to stand as a candidate for political office So did Bob Knowledge of Mr Kormos somewhat maverick background however did not stop Mr Rae from appointing the Welland- to cabinet Despite the fact that at present and in general politicians are held In low esteem by the public there still is the perception that politicians are a bit of a cut above the rest of the masses This perceptual view is about the only thing politicians have going for them right now and this more- than anything else led to the fir ing of Peter Kormos Mr blew this one from the word go and should admit his mistake rather than pussyfooting around the issue looking for the nearest exit As I See If by Colin Gibson The New Democratic Party hold a majority of seats in the On tario legislature It should also be noted however that per cent of Ontarians did not vote for the NDP Those who did were wooed by Mr Raes Agenda for People and all the promises of change for the better made during the last provincial election campaign Those election promises are now being tossed aside like an unwanted lover and the NDP is scrambling to make excuses for the excess of unrealistic pro mises made during the election campaign In fact during the election campaign the NDP was running for second spot didnt expect to win and didnt expect to be called to task for promises the party knew it couldnt keep So how does Bob Rae handle this situation By looking for a scapegoat and by promising fur ther study of the issues After Treasurer Floyd Laughren announced Ontarios deficit as with the possibility it could raise even more Mr Rae blamed the former Liberal government for the situation and stated his government is still feeling the aftershocks caused by the David Peterson regime It was left to the Treasurer and not Mr to go public with what is obvious to all and sundry Mr Laughren was quoted as say ing that keeping our promises and living up to the Agenda for People will take longer than I thought it would when we ran on that program back in the sum mer of 1990 I think that everybody understands that now Fine and dandy but couldnt Ontarios Premier Bob Rae ad mit the same thing publicly Of course not bad for the image Mr Rae should chuck his White Knight suit of armor and admit it is of no use in the cold harsh political climate of On tario Get a suit from a discount store Bob come back to the or dinary mans level and be honest with the people Believe me we can take it If you dont you will add veraci ty to another of the ousted Mr Kormos charges when he hinted there was an air of intellectual totalitarianism within the NDP You will also hear resurface the old cry used to describe your political party No Damn Policy As I see it anyway Poets Corner BLOOD RED SKIES As the son goes down I move around Keeping to the shadows Life hangs by a thread Andlve bean it said that Ill not see tomorrow If thats my destiny Itll have to be So Ill face the future Running out of time and Im on the If ne But Ill go down fighting by Phil Acton NEW FALLEN RAIN The fallen rain Draining from the sky above Never lasting too long The quiet movement White faces Imitating To entertain you The evening sky above Covering the gleaming moon A single star falls by John Acton The Halton Hills HERALD Home Newspaper of Halton Hills Established 1866 A Division of Canadian Newspaper Company Limited Guelph Street Georgetown Ontario L7G K ROBERT MALCOLMSON Publisher and General Manager 8772201 ROB RISK Managing Edl lor Editor Hail ADVERTISING CLASSIFIED Joan Man nail CIRCULATION Maria Shidboll ACCOUNTING Ace SUBSCtUPTION RATES Tha claim copyright Tha a grata thai labia Inr Billing out anora In amount paid for acti I portion of acrtartlavmar whatriar i III by WHEN YOU PUT IT 1KT0 PERSPECTIVE ITS THE AS THE AST OF AMPLE OF SEWS FOR TOY OFFICE Skeptic about Reform Party To be honest Ive been a little skeptical about the Reform Party of Canada For starters Im kind of dubious about some of their policies Besides its hard to feel entirely comfortable about any political party that would name itself after a school for wayward youths All the same I have nothing but applause for the Reform Partys most recent initiative Party leader Preston Manning has an- that prospective can didates will have to fill out a 40- page questionnaire before being allowed to run for the party in the next election Among other things the ques tionnaire will ensure that can didates are highly successful in their own fields that their closets lack skeletons and that they do not have any relatives who are likely to prove Well This clearly stamps the Reformers as a party unwilling to compromise their high prin ciples And possibly as a party with few hopes of fielding very many candidates Its always easy to be cynical of course Its easy to remember the famous observation of Groucho Marx who once said that he wouldnt be caught dead belonging to any club that would have him as a member But given the sort of esteem in which politicians are currently held you have to admit the Reformers are onto something Politics it is said is the art of the possible But when you look at a lot of the people involved you have to conclude that its also the craft of the improbable Any party that neglects to screen its candidates runs a risk Indeed it may even leave itself open to sabotage Back in my days as a Weirs World by Ian Weir Thornton newspaper reporter a few of us actually concocted such a scheme after deciding we were all peeved at the party in power The plan was fiendish in its simplicity Basically we decided that one of us would seek a nomination for this party taking great pains to seem sober and respectable As soon as he was nominated he would hit the campaign trail in a polyester leisure suit burping frequently and drinking wine from a paper bag Unfortunately this plan had one fatal flaw which lay in the difficulty finding a newspaper reporter capable of looking sober and respectable in the first place But I digress We were discuss ing the wisdom of circulating questional res for prospective political candidates The big question of course concerns the sort of questions that ought to be asked So if I could hazard a few suggestions One Are you capable of chew ing bubble gum and evading questions at the same time If not are you willing to swear off gum Two Is your motivation A the desire to serve B the desire to save the country or C the pen sion plan if you answered A or B were you able to do so with a straight face Three Do you believe your ac tions as a public servant will ultimately be judged by a Higher Power as A God B the Party Leader Barbara Four Do you have skeletons in your closet Five Do you have bats in your belfry Six Do you have any objections to party policy which could not be offset by the of an ap pointment to the Senate Seven Should the party win the next election MPs will of course be called upon to defend its economic policies When con fronted with proof that these policies are utterly ruinous is the proper response A This government is determined to stay the course B The people will come to perceive the wisdom in our position or C How bout them Jays Eight Are you truly genuinely committed to a career that will enable you to help people serve the country and hold your head high at the end of each day Nine Then why on earth do you want to get into politics Write us a letter The Herald wants to hear from you If you have an opinion you want to express or a comment to make send us a letter or drop by the office Our address is Street Georgetown On tario All letters must be signed Please include your address and telephone number for verifica tion The Herald reserves the right to edit letters due to space limita tions