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ha. Adal ad a. dh 4b __ Zee. di Editorial ¢ -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, August 30 1988 Comments THE ELECTION Will Canada have a federal election this year? It would sure seem that we are heading to the polis late in October or early November. There have been all kinds of nomination meetings, candidates for the Conservative Party have announced their intention to seek the nomi- nation, and officials from all parties have been quietly lin- ing up office space to use as committee rooms for the campaign. Despite all this activity, the people apparently will have to wait another three weeks before finding out for certain if an election is coming up this fall. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney told a CBC national audience Sunday night that he will wait until September 17 before making an announcement one way or another. What's so special about this date? The Prime Minister likes historical occasions, and this date marks the 4th an- niversary of his Government's swearing in after the land- slide victory at the polls September 4, 1984. OK, there's nothing wrong with a little "historical occa- sion" in matters such as these, and maybe waiting to see i He popular opinion polls shift another point or two in is favour. But once September 17 rolls around, let's get on with the election call, and get the darn thing underway. If the big announcement does come on September 17, the election date will be Monday, November 7. And that will muddy things up for Ontario voters who will be Smack in.the middle of municipal election campaigns on that date. But no matter. This country needs a federal election in the worst sort of way. We have had four years of the Mull- roney brand of government, and there are several criti- cally important pieces of business on the national plate _ right now, that should be decided by nothing else but a federal election call. Obviously free trade is the most important piece of na- tional business that must be put to the people. But there are others as well, like the multi-billion proposal for a fleet of nuclear powered subs; the lack of an abortion law in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling last winter, and 'the much-talked about tax reform that is supposed to pro- vide a break for middle income earners. These issues, and others need to be defined by the three major parties and then thrown out to the Canadian public for a decision. Where are we $oing on govern- ment spending? How big is the deficit? What will be the policy on interest rates and the value of the dollar in rela- tion to other currencies? What kind of economic policies are needed to keep the country moving forward at an ac- ceptable rate, while at the same time keeping a lid on in- flation, which has been creeping in recent months? The national agenda is full. The issues on the plate are of major importance to the country and the people who live here. The Conservatives have had four years in power. An election call is necessary, even if the P.M. Jans to wait for the right "historical moment" to make at call. a. Port Perry Go | (®CNA (= 235 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO Phone 985-7383 P.0.Box90 LOB 1NO J. PETER HVIDSTEN Member of the nd an uray Newspaper sini 48 a rio mu . EUR eer 1 pu ASSHIR : tar Co. Ltd., , Ontario. 1B. r Perry rio Authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for cash payment of postage in cash. © COPYRIGHT -- All layout and composition of advertisements produced by the adver- tising department of the Port Perry Star Company Limited are protected under copyright and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. OV YOUR MARK - - GET SET - - - Chatterbox by Cathy Olliffe THE GALL OF IT ALL Doug and | always enjoy catching Golden Girls on TV. Not that we watch it all the time, but if it happens to be on when we flip on the tube, we'll hunker down and give it a look. When we turned on the television Tuesday night, we were just in time to see Sophie, the crotchedy old mom in her 80's, having what she thought was a heart attack. Ole Sophie was lying on the couch under an afghan, contemplating dying, while waiting for paramedics to arrive. She'd just pigged out on an extremely fat- tening dinner, after spending an entire day nibbling on things like fettucine, cheesecake and two boxes of Milk Duds. "I just love "em," she said, "even though they pull out my dentures." | watched the show with more than usual in- terest. . "I'll bet," | said to Doug, "she's not having a heart attack at all. After eating all that stuff, she's probably having a gall bladder attack." Doug thought it was just gas, and figured the old lady would end the show with a big fart. Anyways, after listening to nearly a half an hour of Sophie saying good-bye to her daughter and friends, the doctor arrived and checked her heart. : Her ticker, she was told, was just fine. "Looks like your gall bladder," the good doc said. | grinned over at Doug in triumph. And then thought for a second what a coincidence it was for us to be watching a show about about a gall bladder attack, when | had just had one. My attack happened on the previous Thurs- day. | was just fixing dinner when it hit me, just below toad oo in an iron bang a a ally spre around my ina r- cle of intense stabbing pain. Although Doug ate his dinner, | couldn't touch anything. couldn't sit, couldn't stand, couldn't lie down--actually, no matter what po- sition | tried, | just couldn't make the pain go away. "it's just gas," Doug said, and | WE although | sekiom get gas, and when | have in the past, it naver fel this laughs at me--I've gotta get something to stop it." N The ride into the hospital was the longest "ride from Caesarea to Port Perry I'd ever tak- en. Moaning and twisting in my seat the whole time, | was beginning to think that maybe | was having a heart attack. And then, when we finally arrived at the hos- pital, the pain all but disappeared. How embarrassing, | thought to myself, as | waited for the doctor. It was a busy night in the emergency department, and | had to wait for quite a while. ut three-quarters of an hour after | arrived, | walked from my guemey to tell a nurse, "| really think it was just gas--it's practi- cally gone now, so I'm going to go home." "Go back and sit down," the nurse told me firmly. | sighed and did as | was told. As soon as | sat back down, the pain started again., Good thing | listened to the nurse. Minutes later, Dr. Jones came to have a look at me. He asked a lot of questions and then poked and prodded for awhile before he de- termined my most sensitive spot was directly under my ribcage on the right side. "That's where your gall bladder is," he said. Visions of a scar from my ribs to my belly but- ton immediately flashed through my head. | half expected to hear him say he was going to yank it out then and there. Fortunaiely, he just told me to check in the next day for an ultrasound examination, and ordered a shot of Demerol to get me through the night. Ah yes, Demerol. One shot of that in my be- hind, and the pain was gone. | had the best sleep of my life that night. No wonder people can get addicted to that stuff. The next day, feeling wrung out like a dish- rag (still the effects of the drug, | think), | went to the medical centre and had an ultrasound done. The doctor looked at the screen at a re of my guts and said whimsically, "Look at all those little fellahs. Quite a mess of stones you have there." \ | asked what is stones in a gall "They take it out." More visions of foot long scars raced through my head. When my mother had her bladder out she a fairly substantial scar so | (Turn to page eight) nerally done about gall-