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Wednesday June 28, 2000 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER A7 COMMENT M a n n in g th e m o d e r a te ? When Preston Manning looks like a moderate, you know things have gone wonky in the land. But his recent transformation into this week's moderate man is what he'll be hoping to sell over the next couple of weeks after the suiprising trouncing this weekend by upstart challenger Stockwell Day. Stunned by the results that put him so decidedly in second place, he'll be hoping to look like the temperate one; the only one to keep everyone together. I don't know about you, but the word unity doesn't immediately come to mind whenever I think about Preston Manning. Calculating, wily, manipula tive, sure. But a catalyst for unity? Hardly. It's almost laughable when you look at the energetic way in which he's sowed the seeds of disharmony and divisive ness among Canadians over the past few years. But this week, the guy's job is on the line. If he has to sell unity and co operation, he'll do it. And he's clearly desperate. Manning was expecting to watch from the sidelines, Mr. Statesman, as Tom Long and Stockwell Day duked it out, each of them trying to match the other in an bizarre battle of one upman ship. He probably thought he'd just watch them knock each other out and all he'd have to do is saunter in and pick up the pieces. But no. He's in for the fight of his life. However, no matter how this politi cal chameleon tries on various suits in the next couple of weeks, he'll still be the same old Preston Manning. And his peo ple, one suspects, are not going to buy it. (0 C o u n c il & O A K V IL L E S t a n d in g C o m m it t e e o-*TM M e e t in g s DIANE HART We have seen the last of the old boy as a real influence in policy of the right in Canada. And yet, even now, after being beaten so badly by Day on the weekend, the man sees only what he wants to see. No one showed up to vote, he explains, that's why he didn't post better results. The Manning camp believes it underperformed on Saturday because its sup porters were too certain of victory and stayed home. Hello? Too certain of victory? This is a man, after all, whose mem bers have been disgruntled for some time. All we've heard about is the dicta torial way in which he's wielded power in Ottawa. What is surprising is how Manning has been able to hold onto the top job so tenaciously for so long. But the guy looked shell shocked on Saturday. What, pray tell, have his han dlers been telling him? It's kind of like the overbearing par ent who believes he is only doing what's best for his child: and he just can't help dictating how that will be....over and over again. He continues to see himself taking the job away from prime minister Jean Chretien. He continues to view himself as some kind of tolerant, forgiving father figure when he's been nothing of the kind in recent years, ruling his flock with an iron, implacable will. You've got to love the guy for always looking in the mirror and seeing exactly what he wants to - a pretty groovy guy with a new haircut modestly going abouthis business. He doesn't see what some angry grass roots members saw in recent years; a dictator, imperious to a fault. While he spoke publicly of democracy and grass roots, he had no time for dis senters. He penalized dissension; he pun ished those who opposed him. And they vowed revenge. The timing couldn't have been better for the youthful Day. He has no time for the moderate view; in Alberta, the less moderate, the better. Expect to see Day forging ahead with the same energy and zeal helped him gamer such a wide mar gin of victory. Expect to see Manning get down to business: no more Mr. Statesman...this is war. But Manning might have left it too late; his counterattack - no matter how carefully plotted - is destined to fail because more people want a new leader than do not. For his part. Day will continue to take on Manning forcefully, without any thought of watering down the socially conservative views that took him so far in Alberta. Manning may suggest that Day's opposition to abortion and his views on gays will divide the party. And he'll paint himself as the guy to heal the divisions With the end result, Manning for the first time looks like a moderate. Preston Manning a moderate. And they say pigs don't fly. Tuesday, July 4,2 000 Council Meeting Council Chambers 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 10,2000 Planning & Development Council Council Chambers 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 1,2000 Community Services Committee 7:30 p.m. - Oakville Room Administrative Services Comm. 7:30 p.m. - Bronte Room C o u n c il Wednesday, August, 2 2000 Planning & Development Council Council Chambers 7:30 p.m. T o uchto ne & C o m m it t e e P hone L in e 815-5959 1225 TRAFALGAR RO AD · OAKVILLE, O N T A R IO · L6J 5A6 TABRICLAND V CANADA'S LARGEST FASHION FABR IC DISTRIBUTOR H ELDOVER TIL JULY 9th! ANNUAL INVENTORY Alliance exercise shows need for political reform So Tom Long's bid to become leader of the Alliance has crashed in flames, and with it, one of our nation's most cher ished fantasies-- a Canada led by an American! (Long took out U.S. citizenship in 1990.) Long's candidature, you will recall, began when Frank Klees withdrew rather than be in the pockets of his financial backers, and ended in a barefaced vote-buying scam. Bom out of scandal, dying in scandal, this sordid little episode must surely convince every citizen that Canada's political culture is now hopelessly corrupted by money. From ieft to right, from sea to shining sea-a putrid political stew of sleaze, bribery, patronage, and sweetheart deals. In Ottawa, Jane Stewart's department was just one humungous barrel of pork (now magically transformed into several smaller barrels of pork). In Ontario, if you have the money, then they have a land deal for you! Meanwhile, out west, they can't build prisons fast enough to hold the crooked ex-cabinet ministers. And now here we have Long handing out bogus Alliance memberships like two-for-one pizza coupons. Long is (of course) shocked, shocked by the revelations of corruption in Quebec. He knew nothing, nothing, nothing about it. Butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. However, those with memories will recall when Long was Harris' top back room advisor. During the conflict with teachers over Bill 160, Harris denied and denied that he was going to cut money out of our school system. Then he was confronted with a perfor mance contract for the deputy minister of education aimed at cutting $667 million out of the school budget. Harris was exposed as a shameless liar. It is hard to believe Long, his key advisor, knew nothing about that ongoing duplicity either. The pattern of Long and Harris is consistent-- first the denial, then the evasiveness, and then the blaming of subor dinates, the whole liberally coated with smarminess. Why L e tte rs to th e E d ito r should we ever believe the word of such shifty people? The incredibly crass attempt by Long-- or, if you prefer, his naughty out-of-control underlings-to buy an election is just one more layer of sleaze to feed the widespread cynicism about our political culture. Citizens are coming to realize that political power-- like our health care, water and air-is just another commodity to be bought and sold in the marketplace. If you don't bring money to the table then you can't play. Seen in this light, it is not too hard to understand the impotent rage of the poor and dispossessed that erupted outside Queen's Park recently. Instead of having the decency to go on dying quietly on the sidewalk outside the Legislature, the homeless were now hurling rocks! Violence, Mr. Harris said, was not acceptable in our `free democracy'. Well, Ontario may still have some tattered remnant vaguely resembling democracy, but as Long has clearly shown, it sure isn't free. To have homeless, helpless people dying like flies in Canada's most prosperous city almost defies comprehension, until one realises that in our polluted politics, where money rules, such people are nothing but debris, our tattered, sleazy `democracy' has nothing for them, and they have little else than rage and violence for us. The answers to these problems are not hard to find. First, we must have rigorous control of election spending. (The British model would be one example.) Second, we must bring in an electoral system of Proportional Representation, thereby having legislatures that more accurately reflect the views of the entire people, instead of instituting parliamen tary dictatorships by minorities, as is the usual case in our outdated system. The question is: how do you get comfort ably corrupt systems to reform themselves? George Patrick EVERY FABRIC, DRAPERY, U P H O L S T E R Y 8 NOTION N O W R E D U C E D F R O M * -- Special Selection! 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Ca l l ' s p a t t e r n s In d iv id u a lly p ric e d . Teens d e sc rib e d a s g o o d p e o p le (C o n tin u e d fro m p a g e A 6) , . 1 1 r J L offer! P A TTER N o n l y 1 .4 9 ea c h O ffe r valid Ju ly 3-9, 2000. L im it 10 p a tte rn s p e r custom er, w h ile q u a n titie s last. N ot valid w ith a n y o th e r d is c o u n t offers. Brennan ought to write for a tabloid where his fictive prose can find a home beside articles about alien babies and wolf children." Ironically, Mr. Brennan then goes on to express concern with respect to real estate prices in Oak Park dropping as a result of teen parties. Well, I'm sure the scathing, anti-endorsing, rhetoric he chose to print about our community will shore those up! A neighbour informed me today that Mr. Brennan is actually a real estate agent. At first, I was startled, although it then occurred to me that perhaps his damaging attack on our beautiful, friendly community was simply a reflection of some bitter ness in having zero listings in his own backyard. As another neighbour put it so well, "If he can't sell here, nobody will damn-it!" Whatever the motive, I am nonetheless pleased to find Mr. Brennan following the Oak Park resale market so closely, and encourage him to take personal advantage. Mr. Brennan finishes with a ramble on society and our teen children in gen eral, which I found very offensive and completely out of touch. My daughter and her teen friends are fine people, who attend, in my opinion, the very best school in Halton -- Iroquois Ridge. These teens and their families are the "cream of the crop" and I am very proud to be part of such a commu nity, both in Oak Park and Oakville. Mr. Brennan's explanation of teenage behaviour goes from bad to worse with the labelling of teens as "troubled," fol lowed by more references to guns and anti-society activity. Thankfully, all is not lost, and Mr. Brennan does acknowledge there are at least a few good kids out there. What utter non sense all this is! As for the "attention seeking" theory Mr. Brennan offers, I believe in the case of June 3rd, teenagers seeking attention had very lit tle to do with how the night unravelled, although the same cannot be said of some adults. I would like to close by saying that in my life I do for the most part try to ignore the squeaky wheels of society. I'll smile when they spew their verbal garbage, ignore their selfish actions, and even sign their trivial self-serving petitions. This time, however, a response was obligatory. Mr. Brennan's effort to equate one aberrant event with the demise of Western Civilization sug gests a serious lack of how to think clearly. Such a jejune attitude about teens and the consequences of actions, which are not commonplace, reflects a real problem; namely, how one individ ual aimed with false information, can create an illusion which passes for real ity. This is the quintessential example of demagoguery in print. Don Whittaker Sale held over til July 9,2000, on selected in-stock merchandise only. Sorry, no special orders. Most items available in most stores. Look tor the red sale tags. Sale goods sold as-is. All sales final. Please note: the term `regular price' refers to Fabricland's regular chain-store price. O PEN S U N D A Y S 12-5 140 Rebecca St. O A K V IL L E 844-7728 REGION OF HALTON OPEN HOUSE FOR W ATER AND W ASTEW ATER PIPELINES "THE BIG PIPE" You are invited to attend an Open House for Information on the progress of water and wastewater pipelines to Milton, future servicing plans for the lands to the Palermo Community, and the proposed traffic management plan for construction through the Regional Road #25 and Dundas Street intersection. This construction will take place over the summer months. The Open House will be held on: DATE: TIME: LOCATION: Thursday, June 29, 2000 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Region of Halton Administration Building 1151 Bronte Road, Oakville North Auditorium (use north parking lot). Encourage Your Child To Read A Newspaper ...and the winning number is... #27964 r B u tto n D ra w P r i z e d A Caribbean cruise fo r tw o aboard Costa Cruise Lines c o m p lim e n ts o f At the Open House you will be able to review display panels featuring information about the project and ask questions of staff from the Region of Halton as well as the design-build team, the D'ORAZIO-WALTER Joint Venture regarding: · · · An update on the construction of major water and wastewater trunk mains between Oakville and Milton and particularly the timing of construction for the Palermo Area. A proposed Traffic Management Plan for the Regional Road #25 and Dundas Street intersection pipeline crossing and road reconstruction work. An overview o f future servicing plans for the lands in the Palermo Community. The overall purpose of the meeting is to share our plans with you and receive your comments. If you are unable to attend the Public Information Meeting and wish to provide comments or receive further information about this project, please contact: David Ohashi Region of Halton Buriington/Milton/Oakville: (905) 825-6030, ext.7691 Georgetown: (905) 878-8113, Acton: (519) 853-0501 Aldershot (905) 639-4540, Streetsville: (905) 823-6720 Fax: (905)847-2192 A dventure H ou se Trave B rin g y o u r w in n in g b u tto n d o w n to th e W e owe our children the greatest education we can give them , and encoi them to ie a a a newspaper is an im portant part o f that education, for yoi enjoy tor ie rest o f their lives. O a k v ille W a te rfro n t O ffice to cla im y o u r prize! (Call 8 4 7 -7 9 7 5 ) v E-mail: ohashid@region.halton.on.ca Karla Kolll Dillon Consulting Limited www.region.halton.on.ca Oa]u/\Uey jW atfcrfrxmr FejttvaL Phone: (416)229-4646 Fax: (416)229-4692 E-mail: kkolli@dillon.ca T h e O a k v il l e B e a v e r 11 nil starts ivith tie ivsj hii ter.