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XK 4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, December 1, 1987 Editorial Comments Put It | To The People Funny how Canadians always seem to be able to find some reason to rip and tear at each other's throats. Not too many years ago, it was the metric system, official bil- inguglism; then the great debate over the Constitution, Western alienation, Quebec separatism and the referendum. More recently, we've been haggling over the Meech Lake Accord. And now we have free trade. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney is bound and determined to push ahead with a free trade agreement between Canada and the United States, even if all ten provincial premiers are not in favour of the deal. As of last week, the Prime Minister could count seven premiers on his side, while Ontario's David Peterson, Manitoba's Howard Pawley and PEIl's Joe Ghiz remain firmly on the opposite side of the fence. Vowing that he refuses to 'govern by committee,' the Prime Minister last week also vowed to plow ahead with the deal with the Americans. The political rhetoric and downright nastiness is fast reaching dangerous proportions in this free trade issue. Saskatchewan Premier Grant Devine, a strong supporter, ripped into Ontario Premier David Peterson, and at one point last week Devine suggested that if Peter- son is successful in blocking a free trade agreement, the Yanks would be more than justified in ripping up the Auto Pact agreement which is of tremendous importance to Ontario's car manufacturing industry. As with so many of the other "national debates' that have rock- ed Canada and threatened at times to split this country completely, the free trade issue is getting lost in a lot of nit-picking and invec- tiveness with political overtones. : We may never know whether a free trade deal is really of benefit to ALL the country. Obviously, Premier David Peterson is not about to change his tune. After all, he campaigned against free trade inthe September election and won a landslide victory in the process. What's happening in this free trade debate is an ugly display of regionalism. The pushers for free trade are accusing Ontario of be- ing the "fat cat" province which refused to give up anything to allow other areas of the country to share in the wealth Ontario enjoys. This is not the first time these accusations have been bandied about. Is a free trade deal worth the fracture of civil relations among the ten provinces? Are we going to see our very Confederation teeter if a deal goes through? Are we going to have a decade or so of inter- nal bickering and quibbling? Is this debate going to sap our strengths and energies as a nation, at the very time when world trade and economic conditions demand that all areas of this country pull together for the sake of the country? Are we going to reach the point where instead of fighting for a competitive edge in the world market- place, we are fighting against ourselves? One hopes not, but if the events of last week are any indication. it's a wishful hope at best. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney has on occasion over the last cou- ple of months, hinted that he just might 'go to the people' on the free trade issue, and call a quick election. But maybe an election is what the country needs to settle this once and for all. Free trade with the United States may be a good thing for Canada over the long haul, but is it worth all the internal squabbling? : This is a major issue for the country. Plowing ahead without at least moderate support from all the provinces would be worse than no free trade deal. Put it to the people. Call an election on this issue, if you dare, Port Perry STA 235 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY. ONTARIO - Phone 985-7383 PO Box90 LOB INO J PETER HVIDSTEN Mr. Prime Minister. (+ CNA - cn (== Member of the Publisher Canadas Community New spaper Kise EAN ang Ontar Community ewspaper SSOCianor Advertising Manager Published overs Toesdav tw Ihe Port Perry Star Co (20 Port Perry Onta JB McCLELLAND Editor CATHY OLLIFFE iil vig News & Features Subscription Rate In Canada $20 00 per year Elsewhere $60 00 per year Single Cray S50 advertsements produced by the adve © protected under Copyright the publishe COPYRIGHT -- All layout and tung department of the Port Perry Star Company Limited ar and may nO! be reproduced without! the writen DermssO OOS: hon Of I EXPRE 2 ae? 8 17ems oR (ESS hatterbox SWEET DREAMS A fool for Christmas, I am. I can't get enough of the holiday season. If it were a swimming pool, I would bathe in it. I would immerse myself in it. Christmas is like an old pair of slippers -- you want to snuggle into them and wiggle your toes and grin foolishly. Christmas is like your bed in the morning, all warm and toasty. You don't want to leave it. It's so unbelievably comfortable, you swear you could remain in it for the rest of your days. Christmas is like the first snowfall of the season for a four year old, who dives into it, nose first, giggles and rolls, and makes snow angels. Christmas is like finding out you have more money in your savings account than you thought. It's the anticipation of Christmas Eve, the heart-in-your-throat stress of wondering if Santa has come. It's the magic of walking down a church aisle for the midnight service, the way everyone smiles, the stained glass windows, the candlelight. It's throwing yourself down a hill on a Krazy Karpet. It's marching through acres of forest to find the perfect Christmas tree. It's the sweetness of plum pudding, the bite of a rum and egg nog, the sparkle of Mom's best crystal on the Christmas dinner table. It's the madly happy crush of shoppers on Christmas Eve. It's hot cocoa and frosty morn- ings. It's making snowmen, and trimming the tree. It's mistletoe and kissing and family drives frou the neighbourhood admiring Christmas lights. It's tradition. It's magic. And it's almost upon us. I can't think of anything I love more than Christmas, and of the good things that surround it. One of my favourite parts of Christmas is a fairly new tradition a friend and I have developed. Not that we're alone in this tradition, because thousands the world over share in the annual crea- tion of gingerbread houses. There's just something that's unmistakably Christmas about gingerbread houses. Maybe it's the spicy aroma of gingerbread, hot from the oven. Maybe it's the colourful candy decorations. Maybe it's the warmth experienced from sharing the task of making a gingerbread house. It's something entire families can work on together. A parent may have to do the actual baking, but kids of all ages revel in the decorating. I share gingerbread duties with a friend, Angie. I don't know who came up with the idea, but last year we tackled a gingerbread house each. It was the first time for both of us, and it took us a solid week to complete ---- about five by Cathy Olliffe hours every night. Ours weren't average gingerbread houses. At least, that's what we want to believe. They were homemade masterpieces and we did everything from making the dough from scratch, to creating "snow" icing for the rooftops. Angie made her family a stone church, com- plete with stained glass windows lit up. I made an old-fashioned saltbox, complete with a tiny ginger- bread man splitting wood, and his gingerbread wife, bearing gifts. We put everything we had into these houses. And we were so incredibly proud of the results, that we wouldn't let anyone eat them. Angie's is still wrapped up and hidden away. I also wrapped mine up and placed it in the attic ---- only to discover a couple of weeks ago that a mouse had chewed large holes through it. Well, at least someone enjoyed it. Doesn't matter though, because we're already starting work on this year's pair of gingerbread homes. Last week we spent three hours cutting out patterns, and another hour or so making dough. This week we'll start baking, and by next week, hopefully, we'll be done. Unfortunately, we won't be able to enter our houses (Angie is making a Dutch house -- I'm making schoolhouse) in the Star's Gingerbread House Contest. I've helped organize it, see, and Angie is helping with the judging. But just because we can't enter, doesn't mean we're not enthusiastically looking forward to the contest. On the contrary, we can hardly wait to see what other people come up with (it'll give us ideas for next year!). Gingerbread houses look great, they smell great, and they taste even better (just ask the mouse that ate mine). And it'll be exciting to see - a whole room full of them during the contest judging. If gingerbread houses are part of your Christmas tradition, why not take part in our con- test? You could win some cash, and even if you don't, you'll gather a few ideas on your own. Speaking of ideas, if you need some, magazines are a good place to look. The new edi- tion of Good Housekeeping has 28 (I think) full- colour photos and instructions. It's also a good magazine to pick up if you're thinking of tackling gingerbread for the first time. But the most important tip is this: ginger- bread houses always look better if they're made with a friend or with family. Because friends and family are what Christmas is all about. a i ! k I --