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ARNE INRA a VIEWPOINTS SRR federal election coming this fall for The official answer is no. But Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his Conservatives are certainly doing a few things that suggest they are eyeing the pos- sibility of going to the polls this year. Mr. Mulroney and members of his Cabinet in recent weeks have been getting out of Ottawa 10 rub shoulders with the vot- ers, 10 listen 10 them, 0 gauge the mood of the nation and to try 10 bolster their fortunes in the popularity polls. Just last Wednesday, visited the Mother Jacksons food process- ing plant on Simcoe Street. Wilson took a tour of the plant, which employs between 65 and 100 people (depending on the time of year) then held a private meeting with company officials. Wilson is one of Mulroney's heavy hitters in Cabinet, as he is responsible for intema- tional trade. Also on the same south Ontario tour, he spent time in Mississauga, spoke to the Manufacturers Assoc. of Durham Region and paid a visit to the Dominion Auto plant in Uxbridge. Wilson wasn't the only Cabinet minister travelling through southern Ontario last week, the heartland of Canada's manufacturing sector. External affairs minister Barbara McDougall and Revenue minister Otto Jelinek, both big hitters in the Cabinet, were on the road as well. It was the week that Ford of Canada just happened to announce a $2 billion capital injection to its plants in Windsor and Oakville. And likewise the PM himself was in this part of Ontario a few days earlier. And back in February, Mulroney made a celebrated whirl-wind every-day folks. My hunch is that Mulroney and his Cabinet are not generat- ing all this activity simply for something © do. If nodbing else, they (and the back:£oom hecking ever so fully 10 sc which way the politcal winds are blow. ing. Should they detect a.change, even one ever 0 slight, the chance of a fall campaign would look mighty good. Aside from getting out to "press the * Mul y had to do thing about the layed in heartland Ontario a couple of 'months ago by that "political up-start" from Alberta by the name of Preston Manning. Marihing brought his (and the Reform Party's) vision of Canada on a bam-storm- ing mission through Ontario in February, packing 'em in for his speeches and selling Reform Party memberships at $10 a pop. The Reform Party is getting a lot of interest from ticked-off Tories these days, a fact not un-noticed by Conservative state- gists. And October 26 is the date for the ref- erendum on sovereignty in Quebec. Mulroney has made some suggestions about a nation-wide referendum on the same issue. My guess is that he will unveil a new constitutional package, perhaps carly in September. rage spp sre hd people of Canada later in the fall, but before the Oct. 26 referendum in Quebec. This is all just speculation on my part, of course. But let's face it, there are plenty of signs on the old political wall And it will be Mulroney's big hurrah. Should he call an election, then fail to win a majority, it would be a repudiation of both his constitu- tional efforts and his Government's record on the economy. His political future is hanging in the balance. There is nothing to suggest Tory fortunes will be any better a year from now and by then, Preston Manning and his band of Reformers may have picked up more steam. As for the dae? How about October 13, the day afer Thanksgiving. IN CLOSING: Tough luck for the Port Perry MoJacks who bowed out of playoff contention Saturday night in Stayner. The team ran into a real buzz-saw in the Siskins, a tough, talented crew almost un-beatable in their home arena. Still, the MoJacks have nothing 10 hang their heads about. They enjoyed a fine sea- son in this, their 20th anniversary year. | would like to see the OHA raise the age limit (perhaps 22 years) for Junior C eligi- bility. As it is now, teams arc allowed to sign two players over the 20-year age limit, |' Why not just up the age 10 22 or 23, even? Ih my view, this would strengthen the Midget and Juvenile teams in the minor systems and would give a lot of i hockey players who are 21 and 22 years of age, a couple more seasons of competitive, contact hockey. Here in Port Perry, there are at least half a dozen very good players in this age bracket with nowhere to play the game they love so much. | have yet to hear a logical answer against raising the Junior age 1022 or 23. The OHA should take a serious look at this at the Junior C level. With more centres applying to go Junior B, raising the age level might help keep Junior C hockey alive in this part of Ontario. Let me explain. Our house has been up for sale now for a couple of weeks, which means things are tidier than they usually are. If I was on TV, I wouldn't be June Cleaver. Or even Roseanne. I'd be Peg Bundy, who is psychologically allergic to housework. So this has been hard on me, this cleaning thing. But I've been doing it, reluctantly, feeling like every day is Saturday and I'm hosting a party Saturday night but I'm not sure if anybody's going 10 show up or not. If you've ever had your house up for sale, you know what | mean. You NEVER KNOW when someone is going to show up at your doorstep. It's worse than the cops showing up -- at least they have a warrant. So you keep the place clean because you just NEVER KNOW. Except on Saturday morning. The house was not clean at all on Saturday moming. You see, we had to be somewhere i ina hurry. We didn't do our breakfast dishes. And I remem- ber Doug saying, "Shouldn't we pick up a few things, in case someone comes to look at the house?" "NO!" I said. We were late as it was, and so far, in the weeks the house had been up for sale, NOBODY except real estate agents had been through the house. "No one's going to come to look at the house," I told Doug. Ah, and those words will haunt me... We came home early Sunday after- noon. Without paying too much attention, I plunked a bunch of stuff on the kitchen table. Later, when I was. tidying up, I found a real estate agent's card buried in the mess. I looked at it, turned it over in my hands, and embarrassment suffused my face. "Nooooo," | said moaned, trying to make myself believe the card was just sit- ting there, left from the last Multiple But then our agent called Monday J We didn't make the beds. We didn't vacu- um up the popcorn from the night before. We didn't hide the dirty laundry under the bed or in the closet. And was the toilet flushed? Oh God, 1 hope so. ng and ch d my worst fears. Yes, my house had been shown Saturday. OMIGAWD, OMIGAWD, OMIGAWD... I am so embarrassed. = geLvED(| MYSTERY 4 Last week's Unsolved Mystery may be solved. Lawrence Malcolm of North Nestleton called the museum to say he believes this is the from his first marriage - - his first wite died tragi- cally of pneumonia when their youngest son was only two. Anson and Matilda had eight more children after they were married. SNAPSHOT OF THE WEEK This week's f Citizen is an hon- e Ca S ourary onel Welcome Pen Solobay! Peni Meow COW hails trom British Columbia, and Calitornia, and Marty Stubbs sent In this photo Alberta, and of the two best pais who live in Toronto, and his bam. 'Mischief the cat liked we're not sure 10 cozy up to this what's next on hereford calf when the cow was the agenda. This Just a little bit of a thing. But this wepk, though, picture was taken a long time she's in Port ago, which leads us to ask, are Perry visiting they still pals? Does size have friends and taking an impact on this great friend- in the local cul ship? Heck, no! Friends are ture. Peni rides a friends, no matter what the size! motorcycle for If you have a snapshot you'd fun and has been like to share, send It to the known to raise a Scugog Citizen, 36 Water St., few eyebrows as Port Perry, Ont., LOL 1J2. You she passes by. could win 'Snapshot of the Hey Peni, sur- Year and win a great prize! | Pred?