RHA Bal RR i Im LL Hil li | . HH IH ------------ 1} i A RETROSPECTIVE Thanksgiving's over and we survived Guy Fawkes Day (you remember gunpowder, treason and plot). A big event to "her nibs". The garden's put to bed, bulbs planted, watering systems drained, lawn mower waxed and cleaned, boat put in storage. The painting, decorating and cabinet installations completed, the basement cleaned and all other chores on "her nib's" list done. So now, being the first of December we can look forward to the coming Christmas period without worry. It would be normal for you to expect as article on Christmas, but this year I thought I would scoop all other media by having a look at the year past and make some comments on events, most of which will be tongue-in- cheek. It will not perhaps be up to the level of analysis given by professional pundits but hopefully will have an element of humour we can all enjoy. The County is finishing its first year as the new corporation. They seem to be settling in, particularly since we finally got to pay our taxes. Hopefully, next year we won't have to fork out in November. One issue which bothers me a little is the new garbage charges to start in January. I've really never heard any reason for these charges except some gobbledy-gook about mill rates. It seems simple to me. If South Marysburgh had in its budget sufficient funds to maintain our dump and if that amount was carried in our budget in the new corporation, then what are the extra charges for? Perhaps they'll go to pay the salaries of the people required to track down these persons who will be illegally dumping their garbage around the County which wouldn't have happened if the extra charges had not been imposed. Oh well, Government works in mysterious ways! Hopefully we have now finished with the interminable letters to the editor on animal control. Acquiring goods and services by open tender and awarding the contract to the lowest qualified bidder is a commonly recognized fair procedure everywhere even to the construction of the space shuttle. So shouldn't it be good enough to handle stray dogs and cats in the County? Hopefully, it seems as though the Ridge Road aggregates fuss is finished or well on the way to being finished. Now that Sobeys have bought out IGA except for the Atlantic division which was bought by Loblaws, I'm wondering about the YIG controversy. Suppose the new owners of IGA decide we should have a larger, more diverse store just on the edge of town. How will the rhetoric change | wonder. I'll follow this with interest, but I'm not the least bit tired of visiting the No Frills store in Belleville once or twice a month to stock up at considerable savings. Looking a little further a field it seems as though our Prime Minister had an attack of distemper or something. His repeated bad jokes about the APEC thing were quite embarrassing. Even though he may have felt as I did, that the whole issue was an attempt by the media to take a normal protest i.e. students marching and attacking police barricades, and try to make it into a scandal. I'm sure it hasn't gone away yet as the lawyers busily scramble to get paid by the taxpayers. But as a scandal, its really a non-starter. As for the conservative leadership campaign - what a bore! I decided not to even read any of the articles in the press after I found myself dozing off on the fourth word of the first sentence of the first article. Even the pictures were boring. One can however sympathize with the Tories who are desperately trying to come into the 20th century, I can understand their reluctance to join with the Reformers, who have no credibility east of Manitoba and who are mired in the 19th century. It will come as a shock to both of them when we reach December 31, 1999. Political parties can adapt. | understand that the NDP are now recognizing that some aspects of capitalism may be OK and can be incorporated into their dogma. Don't think of this as a change of principle but rather more a conversion on the road to Damascus. At the provincial level its interesting that a major criticism of the conservative common sense revolution was the speed with which the government was causing changes in a broad range of public services. Now when they make a rapid change in direction to modify a policy such as funding for schools to prevent thoughtless closures, they're accused of only making changes when forced to. Oh Well, the electorate works in mysterious ways. I have been accused at times of having a weird, if not warped sense of humour. Be that as it may, I find the situation with our neighbours to the South to be hilarious. The baying of the hounds led by Newt Gingrich for the humiliation and impeachment of their President was a horrible spectacle to see, even though I refused to watch any of the television hearings etc. To see the pack leader having to resign and be deserted by his fellow hounds restored my faith in the collective wisdom of the voters. It is a fact that a politician ignores the wishes of the public at his peril. Continued on page 12