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WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1984, PAGE 5 "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." - Thomas Jefferson fiihi&ia ami THaE CROW'S NEST by Michael Knell I really don't care what anyone says, the current provincial Tory leadership race is just one big bore. The only exciting event in this race to date was Premier William Davis' statement of resignation and that was on Thanksgiving Day - Oct. 8. Since then, the four men considered to be the giants of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party's government have jumped into the race to succeed him. And instead of blazing the trail, they're all doing the dogpaddle. The most inspiring and thought provoking comments of the campaign to date have corne from Opposition Leader David Peterson. For the last few weeks, Peterson has been making mincement out of Larry Grossman, Dennis Tim- brell, Roy McMurtry and Frank Miller over their apparent lack of intérest in the day-to-day affairs of the province. Peterson, who isn't half the Parliamen- tarian that Davis is, has even been chewing up and spitting out the premier not only over his apparent lack of interest but the lack of interest on the part of his ministers as well. One day last week, Peterson noticed that at the beginning of Question Period, there were only four members of cabinet in the House. Since it was obvious that the government wasn't interested in the affairs of the province, Peterson stor- med out of the chamber taking his caucus with him, protesting Ontario's lame duck government. (And I'm sorry to tell you folks, but that is exactly what we have.) Peterson was ridiculed by the ruling Tories for his action although they failed miserably to demonstrate that they even resembled a government in action. the NDP sympathized with the Liberals but stayed in the chamber to carry on the business bf the house. This started out as a protest against the Tory leadership race. Its lifeless, dull, uninformative and only shows that none of the four men currently seeking the second most powerful position in this country are really not qualified for the job. None of-these gentlemen are willing to discuss the issues. They haven't talked about Ontario's role in a 21st century Canada. They have talked about crime in the streets, abortion, unemployment, bilingualism, the decay of our education system, the lack of truly free entreprise in this country, Suncor, Ontario Hydro, nuclear energy, relations with the west, with the United States or any of the truly burning issues facing the people that live in the province. Not one of them show any inclination to talk about rent control or land banking or the disintergration of the Ontario- Health Insurance Plan or any other major issue. The major television networks aren't carrying daily accounts of the can- didates movements, and each of them seldom make the front page of any of the big dailies. I'm convinced at this time in the race that William Davis is irreplaceable. Davis is both the government and the Progressive Conservative Party. For 13 years these three entities have been one and the same. What is worse for the people of the province is that the next premier of On- tario will not be as capable, as caring, as forthright, as intelligent or as patriotic. This is a personal observation, based on what I have seen and what I have read. The only man in public life in Ontario right now who can replace Bill Davis and do a good job of running this province is David Peterson. Now, I'm not too sure that his party is up to the job of forming the government. The recent defections from his caucus show that the provincial Grits are suffering the problems traditionally suffered by the federal Tories. But if any individual is capable of being Premier of Ontario then I think Peterson is that man. He cer- tainly has proved himself to be more informed, more caring, more articulate and more respectful of the people of this province than have Grossman, Miller, Timbrell and McMurtry. Unfortunately, Peterson doesn't have a party with enough talent to form a government. And it looks like the Tories are going to have the talent to make a government without a leader. And that spells trouble for this province as we head into the next century. While the Tories are confident of forming the next government no matter who is the leader they should be aware that without Davis they are vulnerable. The 41-year old dynasty could come tumbling down because the Tories don't have another Davis, Roberts or Frost to lead the party. If they want my two-cents worth, they had better pereliade Davis to stay on or find another candidate for the leadership. This leadership race has e>t to be one of the most boring I've ever witnessed. But for the Tories it is a cru al one. It is their last hope to hold onto the reins of power. It has become obvioi, in the last few weeks that the Tories have become complacent. They are in danger of becoming another version of the Trudeau Liberals. When Davis was active, the party was in no danger of this. Despite his bland reputation, Davis is a shrewd, intelligent and capable politician. He knows his constitutency and has been able to respond to it quickly. His potential successors don't seem to have this ability. In fact, when com- pared to Davis, they don't, aite frankly, measure up. The only man in the legislature who does appeai ) measure up doesn't belong to the Tories. He's a Liberal, which is a dirty word to the ears of most Canadians. And you know something, that's a shame. We may not need his party but we sure do need the man. Democracy, if it can be defined, is government by du*y eleced representaives. It is not government by concensus (except at election time); it is not gover- nment by public permission; it is not government by the public's right to Advice and Consent. "Par- ticipatory democracy" one of those buzz-words of the 60's, a good idea - became a neat bit of decep- tion. It wasn't meant to be. It was distorted to mean something like: "No politician is going to make a move without asking me first. The italics at the top of this item are mine. The "quote" is an invention of mine. And you can quote me. You can quote me as being "fed up to here" with the babbling about public opinion and gover- nment by plebiscite. Plebiscite allows for the public to make an emotional judgement based on the last impulse that felt right. Bad enough that it happens too often at election time. Recently an M.P. from a nearby riding distinguished himself for his absolute (well nearly) position on some important issues. He says his opinion reflects the wishes of his constituents. Sounds fine. Sounds "participatory". Sounds like he's looking for votes, because it doesn't make sen- se. It clearly does not make sense to say that you have no opinion until the people in your riding tell you how to think. Is that what we send intelligent, -thoughtful, educated, caring people to Ottawa or Queen's Park to do? To be a piece of carbon paper for our own precious ideas. I think not. I think we send them to govern. The M.P. in question, and there are many more like him, has made a kind of crusade out of the metric conversion "issue". I think, as an issue, it's a straw man put there to embarrass a government. And it did. Yet on he plods. Down with metric. Shove it down our throats. Who needs it? And a dutiful public wan- ting more passion than perception, more emotion than thought, says'"let's hear it for the Imperial system." We raise a generation of kids whor took to the sim- plicity and good sense of a decimal - based measuring system. It is theirs and they want no part of gallons and ounces and miles and yards and nods and chains and cubits. We cling like dinosaurs while the educators, while a generation of new kids, while the scientists, even the auto makers in Canada and U.S. (where they are supposed to hate metric) have all switched. I didn't mean to get into a long complaint about metric and its foes and friends. The issue isn't worth it. It makes good politics if you have nothing more important to do. What really sticks to my craw, and it should stick in yours, is that this politician who waits to find out what his voters were thinking before he declared himself, has come down in favour of capital punishment because his constituents have said they want it. Not all, just a majority. He seems however, to be having problems deciding what he is supposed to think about abortion. Testing the wind on his cheek, he can't decide which cheeck it is blowing on, because opinion polls say the pros and cons are divided about fifty-fifty. Tough choice. What we have is a politician whose riding won't take him off the hook. He might have to think for himself. If he's smart, he'll express their view by sitting on the fen- ce and pleading previous appointment the day the House votes. I do not believe that we can elect people to think and then tell them to stop thinking. I also believe, along with the rest of the anti-capital punishment minority, which includes the leaders of the three major political parties and the Canadian Bar Association that capital punishment accomplishes nothing. It is neither deterrent, nor just, nor moral. Hysteria and emotion are not a suitable environ- ment in which to think.'Public sentiment is not the maker of decisions. The "rash" of police killings has created a totally emotional environment. The police are police - not lawmakers. The pressure from them is making us bend. But I ask you this: is the life of a policeman any more or any less than the life of an ordinary citizen, a wife; a candy-store manager or a jealous lover? We are supposed to be especailly angry over police killing. I am angry about killing. But not angry enough to kill. EDITOR'S- Nuit: The. Solway "Iseries" on "downtown" and related community projects will return - maybe next week. Who knows? SOL WAY f zmpa LM