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His hair is snowy white and he wears a hearing aid in his left ear. His pace has slowed astepor two. He is, after all, eighty two years old, and hag been fighting in the political trenches since first elected to the House of Commons in 1940. But the eyes still sparkle and dart, and when he warms to the task of criticis- ing and ridiculing the polic- ies of the Prime Minister and the federal Liberals, John George Diefenbaker has no equal. He can keep an audi- ence hanging on his every word. The partisan crowd who turned out May 2 at the Bowmanville High School to hear the Chief were not disappointed. For forty five minutes the former Prime Minister and leader of the federal Tories ripped and slashed his way through the Liberals and their policies. The audience, of course, loved it. And a measure of the man's popularity and appeal was evident by the fact that the 650-seat audi- torium was over-flowing,{ and a half-dozen classrooms had to be equipped with closed-circuit television monitors so that those who couldn't get in would at least be able to see and hear the man whose name is a house- hold word in every part of Canada. Not even the open- ing game of the Toronto- Montreal hockey series kept the faithful and the support- ers away. The occasion was the nom- ination meeting of Durham- Northumberland Conserva- tive incumbent Al Lawrence, who won by acclamation. But the evening belonged to Diefenbaker. The crowd stood-and ap- | SR a Nn nea A the municipal savings & loan corporation INVEST NOW! 1/8% INTEREST PAID ANNUALLY FOR 5 YEARS DON FORDER Insurance Agency Lid. 2d WATER STREET, PORT PERRY Phone: 985-8471 | : DO IT YOURSELF AND SAVE! PL eid 3 PA SE Te plauded loudly as Mr. Diefenbaker entered the auditorium and made his way to the stage behind two - pipers dressed in the Mackenzie tartan of the Bowmanville Pipe Band. The main thrust of his attack against the federal Liberals centered around the economic problems in the country and he cited the - depressed" dollar, inflation, the million plus Canadians who are out of work, and the drying up of foreign markets... for Canadian-produced goods.Mentioning the fact the federal government bor- rowed $825 million on April 28 from the West Germans, he said the country is going downhill on the economic roller coaster." "If this country was a private business," he ex- claimed,*it would be bank- rupt." Several times during his speech, Mr. Diefenbaker paused, and looking directly at the audience asked "Where is this country going?" At one point he ask- ed whether Canada as a nation is going to pass out of existance. Answering his own question he replied,*'No. It shall not, must not and will not." HUMOUR The former Prime Mini- ster didn't dwell on the bi- - lingualism issue, but he did get a hearty laugh with the anecdote about the western farmer with four children who was asked what he thought about them learning French. "Not too much," replied the farmer. "If En- glish was good enough for the Lord to write the Bible, it's good enough for me." And Mr. Diefenbaker took a shot at finance minister Jean Chretien, saying with a smile on his face and a gleam in his eye that "'Chre- tien speaks in both langu- ages with equal duplicity." As might be expected from a man who spent the last decade battling with Pierre Trudeau in and out of the House of Commons, Mr. Diefenbaker's sharpest criti- cism was directed against the Prime Minister. He (Trudeau) has increas- ed the size of his cabinet, and has got rid of all the good members," he exclaimed. He tore into the wasteful government spending, claiming that it now costs nearly $2 million to run the PM's office each year, as opposed to $50,000 in 1962. 'What other nation," he ask- ed, "has increased govern- ment spending by one hun- dred and fifty per cent?" Mr Diefenbaker mentioned the figure of $100,000 spent on the official summer residence of i x.y "r aaa aaa EE TE TIE SES PRCT (ELA PIE SLA ON "'Dief,"" A182... The firm dedication to principles that has. characterized the long political career of John G. Diefenbaker is captured in this photo of "the Chief" the Prime Minister in the Gatineau Hills north of Ottawa, claiming that when he was the PM, he spent -about one hundred dollars on it. Mr Diefenbaker has been a long time critic of the Prime Minister's treatment of Parliament, and he said that "while Trudeau sits in all his - pristine beauty, Parliament is a sham and an imitation." He derided the Prime Mini- EO A WELL INSULATED HOUSE IS COOLER IN THE SUMMER ster for using a four-letter word that wasn't "work," and for referring to some of the opposition as "having a 'canine ancestry." Jabbing his finger at the audience, Mr. Diefenbaker recalled the statement by the Prime Minister that infla- tion would be wrestled to the ground. "Well," he said with a smile on his face, 'there have been no falls in that match yet." Mr. Diefen- D = $ 10 cu.ft. BAG 5.785 FREE use of BLOWER with purchase of 10 or more bags. PORT PERRY RENT-ALL 159 CASIMIR STREET 985-7356 A -- AO AA wad i EERE i] 1 ag PORT PERRY STAR -- Wednesday, May 10, 1978 -- 15 e's Still Going Strong during his speech before a large crowd at Durham orthumberland PC nomination meeting May 3 at Bowmanville High School. baker mentioned the murder two weeks ago of an RCMP officer in Saskatoon and sug- gested that capital punish- ment be brought back. He said that in Canada there are at least seven people behind bars for the murder of a police officer or prison guard, and he mentioned a Conservative motion second- ed by Al Lawrence last week that was put before the House of Commons. It calls for an immediate re-enact- ment of the the death penalty for the murder of police or prison officials, and that the whole issue of capital punish- ment be put before the peo- plein a national referendum. THE POLLS While stating that he doesn't pay too much atten- tion to Gallup polls, Mr. Diefenbaker did mention the results of a poll released the day of his speech in Bow- manville which showed the Liberals and Conservatives tied at forty one per cent. "That poll," he said, 'has scared the wits out of the Prime Minister." Despite the fact that Mr. Diefenbaker has not been ATEN .Chief,"' Prime Minister for more than fifteen years or leader of the Tories for more than a -decade, he has a tremendous following, especially in the rural areas of the country. Many people in the audience were sporting lapel buttons which read "Keep the and there were numerous politicians from all levels in attendance in- cluding former Cabinet Mini- ster George Hees, M.P. Bill Scott from Victoria-Haldi- mand, M.P.P. Sam Cureatz, former Ontario health mini- ster Matt Dymond, Durham Region chairman Walter- Beath and several other municipal politicians. Mr. Diefenbaker had strong words of support for candidate Al Lawrence call- ing him an outstanding member - who understands Parliament and is not afraid to speak out on issues. Prior to and following his address, Mr. Diefenbaker, who wore a white carnation in the lapel of his dark-grey, pin striped suit, mingled and chatted with many of the estimated 1,200 people who turned out to see the amaz- ing octogenarian. os ARAN TN A A TA AA RAs ot Vo ye A