Page 6, Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, November 3, 1993 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residentSI MEMBER OF: ONTARIO CANADIAN COMMUNITY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER L CN NEWSPAPER -'" ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION CANADIAN CIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD ISSN#0844-398X 26,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Inc. Box 206, 131 Brock St. N., Whitby, Ontario L1N 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Toronto Line: 427-1834 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Publisher Maurice Pifher - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimum 20% recycled content using vegetable based inks. © All written material, illustrations and advertising contained herein is protected by copynght. Any reproduction by any means for commercial purposes without the express permission of the newspaper is prohibited and is a violation of Canadien copyright law. Reprouction for non-commercial distribution should bear a credit Une to the whitby Free Press. To the editor... Emergency overtime? To the EdItor: With all the talk recently about the social contract and cutbacks in government spending on ail levels, I wonder why it is I saw a Town of Whitby crew working on a holiday. Yes, on Thanksgiving Day, there was a crew of two town workers fixing the benches in a bus shelter on Thickson Road North. There were several more benches in the back of the truck. A true emergency situation. Double-time? Triple-time? Was this really necessary on a holiday when there is no bus service anyway? I encourage others to make people aware of any abuses of our tax dollars as there are many. Kathy Keefer A bankrupt taxpayer Get the message To the EdItor: Re: 'Soetens defends his, party's record,' The Free Press, Oct. 27. You still haven't got the message, have you, René? Your arrogant assumption that you have nothing to apologize for (GST, Meech Lake, the Charlottetown Accord - and f ree trade), matched only by the unmitigated arrogance of Kim Campbell and Brian Mulroney, is the greatest reason you are now unemployed like so many other Ontarians. Your myopia, "I didn't plan on losing," was not shared by Mr. Mulroney, who abandoned ship. The Progressive Conservative Party's arrogant belief that they knew better than the "uninformed masses," surpassed only by Kim Campbell's obvious disdain for the "illiterate electorate," have served to destroy your party (something Ontarians should have done in 1988 before we lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs), and you now may join the long line of job seekers created in large measure by your party's policies and actions. David J. Gummer Whitby "I don't like the looks of this..." An 'Independent' analysis by Doug Anderson 701 votes. That's all, out of 120,000 voters, who were mad enough to vote for me. Nevertheless, voters seemed willing to ac- knowledge a fundamental weakness in the system, even if they weren't yet willing to break from the traditional old party choices. Two issues dominated this election, and they weren't jobs and the deficit. The most important issue turned out to be the Mulroney legacy - voters were determined above all else to wreak their vengeance. Liberals bewarel The second issue was the system itself - it was the issue that brought two brand new parties into existence; it was the issue that persuaded me to run; and it was the issue that allowed the Reform Party to dominate the west and come second in so many Ontario ridings. It remained a somewhat f uzzy issue as people for the f irst time were looking at new concepts like recall. Certainly people wanted their MPs to be accountable but how to achieve that was less certain. People wanted the system to change, but with only six weeks to digest eleven fundamentally dif- ferent visions of the country, most postponed the choice to another day. Even I was surprised at the extent of the various party platforms and the thought and effort that had been put into them. To relegate any can- didate to an automatic "also-ran" status ignores their contribution and is a fundamental disservice to future generations of Canadians. Assuming that most Canadians share the goals of democracy, prosperity, and our survival as a separate, respected, and confident nation, then all of these parties have a plan to achieve those goals. 1, for one, do not share the opinion that Canadians are apathetic. I believe that, if they are given real choices and know that their choices count, then they will listen and make those choices. Voters were demanding specifics in this elec- tion and most parties had them. Unfortunately, the dozen or so all candidates meetings gave only scant opportunity to discuss them. One minute to answer a question on job creation teaches you how to tr.k fast but doesn't do justice to the issue. Whether we like it or not, the next four years will see a vigorous debate on the future of our country, nôt just Quebec and the rest of Canada, but also our place in the world, changes to our so- cial programs, our standard of living - our whole way of life. This debate should include ail the players in this election. Because I believe that debate is important, I am inviting ail of the can- didates and their parties to communicate their vision through articles in this paper. But back to the present. The Liberal party has a strong mandate for the next four years but not the sort of mandate they've had in the past. We rejected power politics and have taken a tentative step towards people politics. Chretien's success in the next election will depend on how he embraces this new political reality Hehas an unprecedented opportunity to change the system. With the other two 'old' parties reduced to a few seats, real parliamentary reform is finally a possibility. Instead of childish tit for tat, parliament might actually mecome a forum for sensible debate. Certainly Reform will be pushing for it and the Bloc is unlikely to object. In fact the most important thing that Jean Chretien can do to keep Canada together is make the system work. Chretien is facing an opposition which is com- mitted to representing their constituents. For the Bloc members that commitment is a narrow one to represent Quebec interests first, but with Reform, it is a specific commitment to put constituents ahead of party. Chretien knows that voters want that kind of accountability and if the opposition delivers it and the government doesn't, guess who doesn't win the next election. Even though there will be no election for another four years, the parties and the processes will change dramatically before we choose again. MPs who want to get re-elected will concentrate more on their constituents and less on their parties. Leaders can no longer carry elections. Will I do it again? ... if the circumstances are right, and vital issues are being ignored. The next election is far more likely to be fought on issues than the past one. Who knows - the odd indepen- dent might even get elected. To the EdItor: I really don't want to keep haping on the same old stale stuff but the fact that we have elected a new government should not mean it's time we alI went back~to sleep. Durham's new Liberal MP Alex Shepherd told us during the election campaign that the North American Free Trade Agreement should be "put on the back bumer." Not too surprisingly, this is not the message his new boss is now giving out. NAFTA will have far-ranging impacts on just about every aspect of Canadian Idfe. The people whose judgment I trust on this issue -- the Canadian Environmental Law Association -- say that mere tinkering with this agreement will not do the trick. It's very important to bear in mind who stands to gain from NAFTA -- multinational corporations which do not give a hoot either for the environment or for the average citizen of Canada, Mexico, and the United States. CELA has put together six fact sheets on the expected impacts of NAFTA, and I have a few copies to spare. l'il be mailing one set to my new MP, Alex Shepherd. Anyone else who is interested in receiving a copy is welcome to give me a cail at 985-3225. Jianet Banting Greenbank To the editor... New wedgy-wear To the EdItor: The west would prefer to follow the sun, away from the east. In Ontario, we'll learn to sing 'God Bless America.' Monsieur Chretien will ask "combien?" when the 'other. nation' struts its stuff on Parliament Hill. The Maritimes wili wait for the lifeboat to arrive. Sorry, Canada, it's too late to give your head a shake now. ln kW, spineless confusion, we, liberated and mindless, found it easier turning over a worthless coin than a new leaf. Had the media suggested to us that polls indicated the Old Fart Party was leading just before the election, its leader would be PM. We've elected to replace our smelly, wet wedgy-wear with crusty, used, French-flavoured ones. Très joli. La même chose, avec un aûtre couleur. Adieu, Canada (Sorry if the French spelling is not correct. Haven't done i for a while. Refuse to again, unless facing a jail sentence.) With the trough dry, it's everyone for himself/herself from here. Cover your butt. Look to the street for wisdom and leadership, where Canadians will have to, more than ever before, remain uniquely independent of each other. Is it possible that cartography was the only. economic stimulus we needed? DerrIck Balan Whitby About NAFTA