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In Simcoe Noriii With less than two weeks to election day in the federal riding of Simcoe North voting trends and the final outcome appear difficult to pin down Although victory by Doug Lewis Progressive Conscr vative candiate is likely it is certainly not cut and dried says one political observer in Orillia Recent telephone polls show seven to 11 per cent switch from the Liberals to the PCs but this may be national trend and not typical of the riding says John Palmer head of the history department at Orillia District College and Vocational In stitute Palmer said about week ago it appeared Lewis was having real problems However the switch seems to be due to general desire for stable government at the mo ment Palmer said Palmer said one advantage the PCs have is their campaign It is very machinelike and bigtime he said The Liberal campaign on the other hand is nothing Palmersaid Walter Connell was lameduck candidate before he started He has the stigma of being Barrie candidate even though he lives in Medonte Township he said Several of the Liberals are sitting on their hands because former Liberal can diate Jack Ramsay withdrew from the running Palmer said If Ramsay were still in we would be in an entirely dif ferent ball game he said Palmer said despite some definite antiTrudeau feel ing history has shown strong Liberal vote in the riding federally however bad the can didate has been And it is going to stay there the trend will hang in He said one factor that may weaken the chance of an over whelming PC victory is the re cent retirement of Dr Philip Rynard the partys incumbent candidate and parliamentary representative in the riding for the past 22 years It has been Rynard riding for the past 22 years rather than Progressive Conservative one Palmer said Palmer said there will be certain amount of bleeding off of Rynard votes to Fayne Bullen New Democratic Party candidate Bullen who ran as an NDP candidate unsuccessfully in 1974 is wellknown Palmer said However Bullen is not likely to finish in second place even with these votes said Palmer Jobs important issue Liberal candidate claims Jobs are of prime im portance in Simcoe North dur ing the upcoming federal elec tion and concentrated effort is needed to encourage people to go out and get small business going says Walter Connell Liberal candiate for the riding Connell 45 former news broadcaster with CKRB in Bar rie said the federal govern ment has made available $1 billion for small businesses through its venture capital scheme but people in Simcoe North have not been aware of what is available due to lack of communication He said Dr Philip Rynard the ridings former Progressive Conservative member for 22 years had not made known the grants available feel Simcoe North has not had its fair share and needs it now more than ever We have lot of ground to make up resident of Medonte Township since 1978 Connell said Simcoe North is just set to boom There is screaming poten tial for development and would like to see it develop in an orderly fashion with ab solute assurance there wont be pollution on grand scale he said Representation will be the biggest issue in Simcoe North during the election and am the only person with the experience says Payne Bullen New Democratic Party can didate for the riding Bullen 50 historll teacher at Park Street Collegiate in Orillia and former NDP candiate in 1974 said his would be the best voice to go to Ottawa and let people know of the problems facing North Simcoe Bullen resident of Orillia for the past 15 years said he did not believe the two can didates opposing him in the election would be concerned with the issues at the people level The main issues are creation of jobs de cent wages keeping up with the cost of liv ing and proper housing Bullen said Bullen said unemployment in Midland and Orillia was running at 22 per cent and 10 per cent respectively which was almost as bad as Newfoundland He said the NPD would tackle the job problem with twopmnged apprenticeship program INCREASE TRAINING The first step would be to increase skill training among post high school students in reallife industry conditions and the second step would be to set up an employment agency similar to Canada Manpower but with business labor and community members on its board Bullen said The agency would serve the interest of business and industry and tiein training to jobs he said Bullen said cutting taxes for low and mid dle income earners below the 516000 range would create employment These people are spenders not savers Walter Connell Liberal candidate and by spending they create demand and Jms Low mortgage rates for people below this wage level would also make decent housing affordable Bullen said Bullen said the large corporations should pay more in taxesbut the current federal government had focused its grants on the multi million dollar companies rather tan on small business He said the NDP advocated longterm industrial plan for making sure Canadas energy and raw materials served the in terest its own people We want our people to use the raw materials to make finished poductJor ex port Bullen said DEVELOP INDISTRY The NDP would select and develop in dustries in which Canada could excel so when we produce we can compete with coudntries such as Japan and Germany he sai 0n medicare Bullen said he was not in favor of spending reductions by the govern ment Health is too valuable commodity to provide on selective basis to those who can afford it and punish those who cant he said Bullen said he also did not reducing unemployment payments Without unemployment insurance there support would be ringing depression worse than the 19305 he said Putting this money in the hands of the low income earner gave him purchasing power Bullen said The NDP candidate said his chances of elelttion this time are immensely greater as he is not up against an incumbent The Liberal candidate said one of his pet projects would be to have the area develop the production of alternate energy hardwaie ALLOTED MILLIONS The federal government has alloted about $380 million for research and development of alternate energy sources he said Solar energy would be the perfect industry to drop into this area Connell said first time political can didate Connell said he has been surprised at the amount of pro liberal sentiment he has en countered during his campaign mg feel the western part of the riding is very solidly liberal Orillia for its own sake should be but it will be the bat tleground Connell said if the riding plus his door knocking were in dications of the elections out come the Liberal party would not be faced with minority government situation He said the partys April 24 defeat at the hands of the PCs in Prince Edward Island did not discourage me although can see where it would buoy up the hopes of the Tories But think people are too sophisticated now to vote strict ly party Connell said On national unity Connell who describes himself as coasttocoast Canadian having worked in radio and television across the country said it has to be priority That is what Canadian general election is all about he said The Liberal party is the only one which can pull this issue out of the fire Connell said On other issues such as the preservation of the Ontario Health Insurance Plan Connell said he would be fighting to maintain affordable health care for residents of the riding Connell said he would also like to see firmer restrictions on the amounts of money paid out in unemployment in surance Heavy fines for defrauding the scheme would be an induce ment to take it when you need it and look out for yourself when you dont he said Election tough to call upset possible xKQ theyre big shoes to fill ULVIUII BAY the examiner My May 10 um ramst JN aRAMA ORHLM LONGFO PC candidate Lewis promises to work increase productivity empoymem Jobs at election time are motherhood thing and dont think any wonderful pro mises can be made says Doug Lewis Progressive Conser vative candidate for Simcoe North While am prepared to work hard to fight unemploy ment we have to work with the unions to increase productivi ty said Lewis 41 partner is Doug Lewis Conservative hopeful Bullen says hes man or the riding Payne Bullen and NDP worker with the law firm of Crawford Farr Lewis Worling and Booth in Orillia resident of Orillia for the past 10 years the Torontoborn Lewis said he would like to see diverse economy in Simcoe North through the development of small industries definitely think people around here want sufficient in dustry to create the demand for skilled and unskilled workers he said Lewis said there was local concern that there be variety of job opportunities to en courage young people to stay in the area but added he would not like to see total dependency on any one segment of the economy Lewis said the main issue in Simcoe North in the upcoming election will be representation He said Dr Philip Rynard former PC candidate in the riding for the past 22 years had done an excellent job as backbencher looking after the needs of his constituents and had good reputation with businessmen think they are pretty big shoes to fill but feel with my background will be best able to represent the people and do that kind ofjob for them former vicepresident of the Simcoe East and Simcoe North PC Associations Lewis has also been the partys Orillia campaign chairman in provin cial and federal elections ECONOMY ISSUE Lewis said the main issue na tionally is the economy not na tional unity Greater emphasis must be placed on Canadian raw materials being used at home he said Government spending should also hold the line and some 60000 civil servant jobs could be cut Lewis said Lewis said the Conservatives did not want to destroy the social programs set up by the Liberals but there has to be serious look at indexing for civil service pensions when no one elses pension is being in dexed He said tighter regulations on unemployment insurance spen ding are also needed There are lot of people sit ting around on unemployment and it should be corrected It is not good for the morale of the people who are working Lewis said he would like to see longterm public works pro jects rather than the bandaid approach such as the Liberal governments Canada Works Program Returning officer advises checking on advance polls Voters in Simcoe North who wish to make use of advance polls on May 12 14 and 15 can check polling station lists at their local post office to find out which advance polling station they should use says Al Roach returning officer for the riding Roach said there will be eight advance polling stations in the riding for those three days three in Orillia and one each in Coldwater Victoria Harbour Port McNicoll Midland and Penetanguishene In Orillia the advance sta tion located at 65 Colbume Street East will handle all voters from Rama and Mara Townships The Holiday Motel at 436 Lacklie Street will take voters from polls 61 to 82 and 108 to 124 while the third sta tion located at the Knights Inn 265 Memorial Street is to be us ed by voters from polls 21 to 39 and 83 to 107 Roach said In Coldwater the community centre is available as station for all voters in Medonte Township polls 125 to 142 and poll 146 which includes the Port Severn area he said Stories by Richard Thomas Roach said the advance sta tion in Victoria Harbour is located at the medical centre and will accommodate voters from polls 143 to 145 147 to 149 and 156 to 158 which make up part of Tay Township The Port McNicholl com munity centre will also ac commodate voters in parts of Tay Township who live in the area of polls 151 to 152 as well as polls 159 to 162 which in cludes Port McNicoll he said The Midland Curling Club is the advance station for polls 152 to 155 and 163 to 197 while the Penetanguishene Curling Club will take voters from polls 198 to 225 which includes the town and all of Tiny Township Roach said Roach said in the riding there are two people who are prohibited from voting and he isone As returning officer he is only able to cast vote in the case of tie Roach said this law which dates back to Confederation also prevents senior county Judge Clare from voting photos