Page THE HERALD OUTLOOK Saturday November Political reality The New Democratic Party lives in Ontario or does it For years the NDPers often maligned as the No Damn Policy party nibbled on the edge of voter respectability simply because of their constant harping on the sidelines at government and even official opposition stances on issues The NDP Holier than thou attitude irked a fair number of people and similarly turnedoff a fair section of the voting populace in Ontario because simply put there were no potatoes to go with the beefs Prior to the recent provincial election campaign NDP cial party leader Bob Rae was regarded in some circles as more of a liability to the party than an asset He had jumped from federal politics into the provincial fray and took over the leadership of the provincial NDP in Rather than inject new life into the moribund provincial party with his and media perceived wimpish ways only served to further entrench the NDPers as a political entity with no basis in reality An image change was needed from the perceptual point of view for both the party and its leader Much in the same way the pro vincial Liberal party underwent a metamorphosis when David Peterson shed some pounds ched from glasses to contact lenses insisted on constantly sporting a red tie and allowed his hair to be well highlighted by the silvery sheen to some he had become almost overnight a Bill Davis clone FANFARE PI EASE Then all of a sudden with the ill timed calling of the provincial election by the Liberals we were Midden introduced to Badger Boh He had shed the cloak if Redundant and was all of a sudden the fierce champion of the people of the environment of the downtrodden of the pick a cause The rejuvenated who had been tempted to return to the federal scene and contest the leadership of the federal NDP party had led his party out of the wasteland to become the first elected social democratic party in Ontario political history The reality was however that although the won seats at Queens Park claiming a clear majority the party had only cap tured per cent of the vote clearly not a resounding vote of confidence from the electorate Last Tuesdays Throne Speech outlining the course the NDP wishes to chart over its fiveyear mandate was a lesson in political reality that should not be lost on those who voted NDP At best the Throne Speech tossed a few tidbits to those who wished for political change m the province At worst it was vague ing commissions and studies on issues the had promised to address the election cam paign Welcome to political reality Once elected a political party main function is to survive to stay in power to perpetuate itself It cannot do that by appearing too radical despite election cam rhetoric The will attempt to find the middle ground just as the Liberals and the Progressive Conservative parties have in On tano for years That really is too bad especial ly when what is needed today not just in Ontario but a cross Canada is innovative creative and courageous leadership to change in a system which is not working Badger Bob has put his costume and appears to emerged again as Robert Watch out when he switches lenses In a similar vein has anyone heard from our newly electee North Noel Duignan lately Since his election Sept Mr has provided one col of his activities The people of North are your constituents Mr Duignan they have a right to know of your activities on their behalf and similarly your views on cial matters which affect them Drop us a line sometime okay Noel Editorial Poets THE BIRTHDAY GIFT They laugh and play He said What do you want for With drugs and chances your birthday Sticks and stones You havent told me yet Can break your bones Id like to give you something But drugs will always destroy But I dont know what to get you Would you like a dozen roses What kind of future arc they Or a charm upon a chain planning Or a bright canary in a cage What kind or choices are they That will sit with you and being given sing Life or death I said I didnt want the flowers Only they will choose Or a necklace or a pet Their goal in life What I wanted most of all By Christine Deforest 1 knew Id never get Terra Hed give me anything I asked Even the stars above THIS EARTH Yet he couldnt give This earth was meant as a What I wanted most garden of Eden And that was JubI his love Its wonders and beauty untold Brooke After all lifes a great purpose Acton Of friendship and love we now The freshness and beauty of the I OF A CHILD morning A long time ago To enjoy it rather than gold Cbtldrens laughter could You can climb to the top of the always be heard mountain Laughter caused from the To be able is great but bold of playing chlldrens games Our dreams and we And their dreams and plans build for Unfold and blossom It the roots of success we are Bat in todays society told Innocent gifts of life If we could live without pain or Brought into a world of heartache violence Life then would never grow old games have cbang By Albert Brooks The Halton Hills w no naiiun HERALD Home Newspaper of Halton Hills Established 1866 A Division of Canadian Newspaper Company Limited Guelph Street Georgetown Ontario 3Z6 ROBERT Publisher and General Manager 8772201 u do CLASSIFIED Joan Ml mil CIRCULATION Shidboll ACCOUNTING Accountant SUBSCRIPTION RATES Harald claim copyright on ill original and a distilling malarial by I la amployaaa and In AdiaMltlng Quaan St Toronto Ontario 1MB Monti I Ou abac Tha that I ha thill not llaola lor riling of aircta In beyond amount paid tor actually by I hat portion of advartJiamant In which aitor auch anor I to ill aaraanta or and ba no liability lor In Mill on of any advartliaminl tha amount paid lor auch Thanks to Mr Spicer Just to make sure theres no misunderstanding let me make this clear right off the bat Im delighted that Keith Spicer has decided to save Canada After all its high time for SOMEBODY to save the country and most of the logical can are unavailable for the job Sir John A dead Wayne in A and you and I will be tied up this weekend winterizing the car If Mr Spicer volunteered to save the nation then it would presumably have been left to the politicians to take another stab And we have a pret ty shrewd suspicion where this would lead It would be time to rename the place North Idaho and get on with memorizing the Pledge of Allegiance Even so I ve been left just a bit perplexed by the preliminary news reports on Mr Spicer s quest Mr as you know has been named by the government to head a citizens committee on future Mr Spicer has proclaimed that his first is to seek nation saving advice from poets and ordinary Canadians As such his first move was to hold community meetings in and Well This is urn in teresting Just for starters I a little dubious about this notion of seek ing ordinary Canadians in These are not or Ian Weir dinary Canadians These are very cold Canadians Furthermore Im not too sure about this insistence on seeking the advice of ordinary Cana dians in the first place primari ly because Ive never been sure what this term means Politicians use the term fre quently But being called an or dinary Canadian sounds a lot like being defined as the two- legged version of generic brand dishwashing detergent Which kind of makes you wonder how Mr Spicer plans to make his ap peal to us You sir You look bland and undistinguished Tell me how would YOU save the country Im also a little doubtful about placing priority on the advice of poets Now I certainly have nothing against poets 1 know several of them They can be fine fellows particularly when they re sober But if you re looking for so meone who can restructure a political system youll probably find that poets are just slightly more qualified than say newspaper columnists I trust I need say no more on this point But it gets even more in teresting According to the news reports Mr Spicer told the folks in that ordinary Canadians should let him know how they want his committee to solicit their advice at communi ty gatherings at their places of work or in their homes Its this third option that sets a few bells ringing isnt if Pause for a moment and imagine that a panel of government appointees have announced their intention to come to your home to seek your advice on the Constitution Now try to imagine your response Would you a bake cookies bone up quickly on your constitutional history or c unchain the Rottweiler But most interesting of all was the response Mr Spicer received when he solicited the opinion of resident Em- mannual Felix described as a 70- yearold Inuvialuit hunter According to the news report Mr Spicer who told Mr Felix that members of the Canadian family are fighting with each other and the government is sear ching for a way to end the quar relling was given a brief sermon on the value of spanking children who misbehave pretty obvious whom Mr Felix is referring to And perhaps this really IS the best way to deal with the First Ministers Ah well We mustn scoff or Instead lets wish Mr Spicer all the best in his efforts to save the country After all we have nothing to lose do we If nothing else this could stand as quite a colorful incident in the history of North Idaho