St. Denis keeps hold on riding Will sit on opposition bench in Tory minority parliament

by Michael Erskine

ELLIOT LAKE-It was an evening of nail-biting drama in the campaign headquarters of Liberal incumbent Brent St. Denis and NDP challenger Carol Hughes, as poll numbers seesawed back and forth throughout the night. But in the end, it was the veteran St. Denis who finally won the day in Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing.

"We knew it would be close," said a jubilant Mr. St. Denis after he was declared the victor. "Our numbers are up, Carol's numbers are up, even the Conservative numbers are up. Everyone worked very hard, but I think it is safe to say that we worked the hardest."

The results this time around were 14,652 for the Liberals, 13,244 votes for the NDP, 8,952 votes for Conservative candidate Ian West, 1,025 votes for Sarah Hutchinson, the Green Party candidate, 338 votes for Will Morin of the First Nations People's Party and 174 votes for independent Don Polmateer.

With a stronger voter turnout across the riding, all of the top three parties gained votes compared to the 2004 election, when the Liberals received 13,339 votes, the NDP 10,429, and the Conservatives 7,448. The Greens, however, dipped slightly, from 1,350 in 2004 to just over 1,000.

The NDP narrowed the gap considerably this time around, closing to within 1,408 votes of the Liberals, from a margin of over double that (2,910) in 2004.

Mr. St. Denis expressed his gratitude to the people of Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing who once again have chosen to return him to Ottawa as their representative. Mr. St. Denis also paid homage to his wife and son David, whose support was instrumental in keeping him up and on the job, and to his campaign manager, who, along with a dedicated team, managed to bring his message home to the electorate.

"Without all of your efforts we could not have done this," he said.

Ms. Hughes was gracious and philosophical in defeat, despite the heart-breakingly close final result. "I must congratulate Brent, I only wish him well," she said in conceding defeat at the Elliot Lake Curling Club. "Three percent is not a great margin and he will need to make sure the issues are addressed."

Ms. Hughes was less charitable with her Conservative opponent. "The Conservative candidate ran more as an independent," she said. "He wasn't following the national policy of his party at all."

Ms. Hutchinson, the only Island candidate in the race, who garnered 2.67 percent of the vote under the Green banner, extended her congratulations to Mr. St. Denis. "I would like to wish Brent luck in opposition," she said, adding that she has "a good working relationship" with the incumbent.

Ms. Hutchinson was concerned, however, about the percentage of the vote which returned Mr. St. Denis to Ottawa, noting that "62 percent voted against" the Liberal party in this riding by choosing other options. She feels that this underscores the need for a different democratic model. "It's time for us to move to proportional representation in this country," she said, adding, "I think more people would vote Green if they felt that their vote will count."

Ms. Hutchinson said she will continue to be involved with the Greens, whether she runs in a future election or not. She will be attending a Green Party convention in the spring, and looks forward to "starting an Electoral Distric Association in the riding, so we can tell people what the party is about and build support for whoever the candidate is."

On the national scene, Mr. St. Denis expressed shock at Prime Minister Paul Martin's announcement that he would be stepping down, but he recognized the coming time in opposition as an opportunity for the party to renew itself.

"It will be a time of renewal, a time of construction," he said. "At the same time we will be keeping a close check on the Conservatives-they will not be allowed a free reign to dismantle this country. We will be watching them."

For Ms. Hughes, tomorrow is another work day, as she returns to her job with the Canadian Labour Congress; and on election night, she said it was too early to say what politics holds for her in the future. "I had a wonderful group of people working with me-I have to send out a big thank you to my riding office, and to the national office, without whose support we could not have done this," she said.

Conservative candidate Ian West chose to spend election night in Kapuskasing, rather than at his campaign headquarters in Little Current. Attempts were made to reach him at his hotel room in the far northern reaches of the riding, but calls were not returned.

As the first poll numbers began to drift into the candidates' campaign offices in Elliot Lake, where both Mr. St. Denis and Ms. Hughes are based, tension began to build-it would be two hours until any real sense of who would be the victor emerged. In Ms. Hughes' office, orange-shirted volunteers hushed each other as phone calls came in from scrutineers in the field, to be scribbled on sheets and then posted on a board. The tally was a roller coaster for much of the evening.

Between calls, Ms. Hughes and her team remained glued to the television screen, watching breathlessly along with the rest of the country as the drama unfolded. When an NDP candidate was declared a winner, cheers would erupt, while each defeat was greeted with cries of disbelief and dismay.

A couple of blocks away, Mr. St. Denis and his team were also glued to the television results, as intermittent cell phone calls brought reports of results from the returning office. Tension slowly began to ease and stares at the television gradually lost their intensity as Mr. St. Denis' numbers began to crawl ahead. What had begun as almost a deathwatch slowly transformed into nervous jostling-no-one willing to jinx the tide by becoming too jubilant.

"I can't believe there isn't a checkmark beside Brent's name yet," growled one supporter, as the Liberal incumbent's lead began to grow. "Look, look, that race is a lot closer and they have declared a winner there."

When the anticipated checkmark finally did appear, shouts and cheers erupted across the room. The mood was upbeat, despite the Liberal government's defeat. "It could have been much worse," Liberals consoled themselves. For Team St. Denis, at least, weeks of hard work and effort had been vindicated; it was not all in vain.

For the NDP challenger and her team, however, the consolation in bringing the party's numbers so much closer struggled to bring wan smiles to tired faces, and more than a few tears needed to be wiped away by those whose valiant efforts fell short of the mark once again.

Landowners' association chapter established on Manitoulin Island

by Jim Moodie

MANITOULIN-The local landowners' group known as the MP3-philes has joined a bigger playlist, with members near-unanimously agreeing to affiliate with a provincial organization dedicated to the protection of private property rights.

Members of the MP3-philes, also known as the Friends of Manitoulin, were recently encouraged to fill in a mail-in ballot indicating whether or not they wished to join the Ontario Landowners' Association (OLA), whose president is also the leader of the Lanark County-based Rural Revolution movement. The vote, according to Friends co-chair Mike Meeker, of Evansville, was "overwhelmingly" in favour of the group aligning itself with the OLA.

The MP3-philes group, which counts over 900 members, initially formed over fears that a local proposal to seek a World Biosphere designation through UNESCO, would, if realized, lead to an incursion of landowners' freedoms.

While that proposal was withdrawn, Mr. Meeker says the MP3s remain concerned that the idea will resurface. And they are still convinced that a World Biosphere status would impinge upon local planning.

But the spectre of a Biosphere is only one of the group's ongoing concerns. Equally worrisome is the influence of such groups as the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Georgian Bay Association, and initiatives such as the Blueprint for Biodiversity, a mapping project of significant natural areas and rare species in Ontario that was completed this summer by the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Mr. Meeker says his group resents the intrusion of any group that arrogantly presumes to have a better grasp of the Island's needs than Islanders themselves, and attempts to impose changes on the way people use their land.

"People on the Island aren't stupid, and they know how to get advice if there's something that needs to be done. We don't need people coming in and dictating to us," he says.

The group is not opposed to people migrating to the Island to enjoy its natural charms, he notes. "They're very welcome here, and it's a great thing for the Island. If they want to come, great, but come and appreciate the lifestyle that's here, instead of coming with a pushy attitude that you're going to change things and know how it's done."

Mr. Meeker says the MP3-philes will continue to "make people on the Island aware of what's going on regarding intrusions into private property rights." And, by joining the broader network of the OLA, he believes that mission will be easier to carry out, given the additional resources and support that can be accessed.

"Without a doubt, it's the loudest voices that tend to get listened to by politicians," he notes. "Joining this group should hopefully accomplish two things: one, it will give us a lot more information, as we talk to people facing the same types of problems; and secondly it will give us that louder voice."

Mr. Meeker stresses that the local group is "not some sort of weird, fringe group. We're just your average Joes, letting people know what they have to do to maintain the rights they gained, which should be sacrosanct."

He further contends that "all the people in this group are environmentalists," as the land is important to them for their livelihoods. "We want to be able to make a living, and we respect the fact that, to do that, you have to act as a steward," he notes. "But we demand a balance between that kind of environmental stewardship and making a living. We don't want to be told by someone in Paris, France or Toronto what is the best way to balance the environment with our businesses and farms. Common sense decisions should be made based on specific experiences in a specific area."

Manitoulin already has its own planning guidelines, through its Official Plan, and Mr. Meeker believes that should be protected, and amended very carefully. "If Manitoulin does a new Official Plan, that's going to be a pivotal point," he notes.

The OLA will be holding a meeting in February in Picton County, and the MP3-philes will have formal representation at that meeting, Mr. Meeker indicates.

Northeast council goes forward with mayor's plan,

'media bargaining' irks union

by Lindsay Kelly

NORTHEAST MANITOULIN-A proposal put forth by Northeast Town Mayor Joe Chapman to end the 17-week-old labour dispute between the Northeast Town and the union has been met with approval by town council, but the union is frowning on the manner in which it was presented.

On January 17, council met to discuss a draft of recommendations designed by the mayor. The list addressed outstanding issues between the union and the town. Town CAO Dave Williamson said the meeting produced positive results.

"The mayor's proposal was discussed at a special council meeting, and council has agreed to put its support behind the proposal," he said.

The proposal should not be construed as a concrete offer to the union, Mr. Williamson noted. However, rather than going into the negotiations with a prepared document, the town's bargaining committee will instead be bringing a set of ideas with them to kick-start the bargaining process. Some of those concepts will come from the mayor's proposal and will form the foundation for the town's bargaining position.

Mayor Chapman said council seemed enthusiastic about the proposal, and noted that, the offer of job security for all full-time employees was a major concession for the town, one which he believes warrants a compromise from the union.

"If that is on the table, we expect a significant move from them that addressees the town's concerns over efficiency," he said. "We have no interest in laying off part-time workers, but that's not language we're willing to put into the contract."

Not only is it unusual for businesses to have part-time workers' job security guaranteed in contracts, but it defeats the purpose of having part-time staff, he added. There are still some additional issues to be worked out.

The first major issue, as Mayor Chapman sees it, is the right of management to do 'union work,' which, if the town agrees to what the union wants, would prevent long-time non-unionized employees from doing jobs they have been doing regularly for years. It's not fair, the mayor said, to allow a part-time employee with only two years' experience to get priority over an employee with 20 or 25 years' experience.

The second major issue remains the flexibility of the unionized employees to work where they are needed. Rather than have too many full-time people working in one area, such as the rec centre, they could be spread around to other areas where they are needed, he added.

In addition, the mayor believes both sides need to get past the "rhetoric" being passed back and forth and focus on the real issues that are important to either side. The two sides have set aside January 26 and 27 to meet for negotiations, but Mayor Chapman said they will only get closer to a resolution if both sides come to the table ready to discuss the real issues.

"Either both sides need to compromise, or it will be a very short day," he said. "It can't only be the town that moves on the issues, or there won't be a deal."

Union representative Fred Bond reiterated the union's previously-stated position that all bargaining should take place between the union and the town and not outside the proper negotiating forum.

"The place to address the issues is at the bargaining table," he said. "Once again they are presenting something in the media. What they should have done first was sit down with the workers to see if they're close to a deal."

On perusing the proposal, Mr. Bond did not comment on its specific parts; however, he did say that there are still issues that the two sides must work out.

"It falls short in a number of areas, so I guess we'll have to come on the 26th and see if we can't get to a common ground," he said. "We always hope the town will see the error in making final offers and take the opportunity to find a solution for both sides-one that is fair and not the way they see it only."

He agrees that both sides must come to some compromise in order to satisfy both sides, and said he would remain optimistic about finding a resolution when the two parties get back to the bargaining table on January 26 and 27.

Conservatives take 124 seats, NDP doesn't quite hold balance of power in the next government

CANADA-The country has a new prime minister, led by a new party, as Stephen Harper and the Conservatives toppled Paul Martin's Liberals, winning a minority government.

Harper declared victory in the early morning hours of January 24, with a 124-seat minority government safely secured.

Following his defeat, Martin declared he would step down as leader of the Liberal party; however, he will retain his spot as MP in the Montreal riding of Lasalle-Emard.

Ontario voters drastically changed their traditional voting patterns, resulting in a 16-seat gain for the Conservatives and a gain of five seats for the NDP. Thirty-nine percent of Ontario's voters showed favour for the Liberals, which is down from a 44.7-percent show of support in 2004.

Northern Ontario, however, maitained the status quo, with six ridings split between the Northeastern Ontario Liberals and the NDP, at four and two seats respectively. All three ridings in Northwestern Ontario remained Liberal, albeit by smaller margins than in the previous election.

In Quebec, the Bloc Quebecois won 51 out of 75 ridings; in 2004 that number was 54. This is a victory for Harper who has now gained enough seats to have cabinet representation in all areas of country.

The Conservatives dominated in the Prairies. In Manitoba, they took hold of eight seats, and the NDP three, leaving the Liberals with three.

The Conservatives also won an easy victory in Saskatchewan, taking 12 seats, and leaving two to the Liberals, including that of Finance Minister Ralph Goodale. That number has changed slight from 2004, when the Conservatives had 13 of the 14 seats in the province.

In Alberta, the Conservatives took all 28 seats, including that in the riding of Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan.

In the Prairies overall, the NDP had gained in popularity by 2.2 percent, and the Conservaties by 3.7 percent, while the Liberals dropped in favour by 6.6 percent.

British Columbia saw the Conservatives take 17 seats, which is five fewer than in 2004, the Liberals took nine seats, and the NDP won 10. It's a huge gain for the NDP, who doubled their seats from the 2004 election.

In Atlantic Canada, the Liberals secured 20 seats, the Conservatives took nine, and the NDP garnered three. That is a slight change from 2004, when the Liberals had 22 seats. The changes occurred in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the Liberals won four seats, down from five in 2004, and in New Brunswick, where the Liberals won six seats, down from seven.

Liberal MP Brent St. Denis, surrounding by family and supporters, celebrates a nail-biter victory on Monday night in Elliot Lake. The wily veteran will now return to Ottawa and hope to keep the Tories honest as an opposition member.

photo by Michael Erskine

EDITORIAL

Voters have delivered demand for party co-operation

At the recent Manitoulin All-Candidates Night, held mid-point through the election, the enduring theme of Will Morin, candidate for the First People's National Party, was that the people of Canada needed the wisdom and guidance of all the national parties.

The results of Monday's federal General Election, with no individual national party either being able to form a majority government, or to govern as a minority with the support of any one other national federalist party, indicate that Mr. Morin may indeed get his wish of co-operation.

Canadians have voted for change. Cautious change.

And the mosaic we are sending to Ottawa speaks volumes about our collective wisdom as a nation.

Mr. Harper will have the opportunity of trying out some of his Conservative policies on Canadians, but these will be mitigated by the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois, because he will rely on some or all of them, issue by issue, in order to govern.

The Liberals, who have been given a sharp slap by Canadian voters, have the opportunity of regrouping under a new leader.

The New Democratic Party will not be quite the kingmaker it was under the Liberal minority government. The NDP has, however, posted (as this piece is being written) an excellent showing of 29 seats (a gain of 10) in the House of Commons and so are in a better position to act as this country's national conscience.

The Bloc Quebecois has dropped in popular support in Quebec, losing seats in large part to Conservatives, a federalist party.

While still a substantial force, there are now fewer separatists to take their seats in the House of Commons and the popular vote for the Bloc Quebecois is much eroded.

On Monday, then, Canadians gave the Conservatives a chance to try  out their policies, told the Liberals to regroup, gave the NDP their most seats in over 20 years and decreased the authority of the separatists in Quebec.

All in all, it wasn't a bad day's work. Implicit in the wise decisions voters made that day is their expectation that the parties, just as Mr. Morin wished for at the All-Candidates Night, will quickly find a way to co-operate to govern this great country.

The genius of our one citizen-one vote democratic system is that the voters are never wrong. In this case, denying, by a tantalizing tiny margin, any two parties the ability to get together to govern-without the support of a third party-means that Canadians have chosen to throw out everyone's campaign promises. Instead, they have told the collective parliamentarians to bring in legislation with which they can all more or less agree, and which, in consequence, will be in the nation's best interests.

Canadians have tolerated an election just 18 months after the last one. It's a guarantee that they will not tolerate another one for at least three, more likely four, years from now, and that any party or parties that precipitate another trip to the polls before that time will be severely punished in that special way that voters have.

For our political system, for Canadians as a people, this is an ideal outcome and one that offers opportunities all parties must look forward to.

In Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing, the race was hard-fought and, while his margin of victory was smaller this time, Liberal Brent St. Denis can be justifiably proud of increasing his vote count.

Similarly, NDP candidate Carol Hughes, as the runner-up, halved the number of votes separating herself and Mr. St. Denis in comparison to their election battle of 2004 and she and her team also deserve credit for a good campaign.

Manitoulin's local candidate, Sarah Hutchinson of the Green Party, did a yeoman's job of presenting the facts of her party's platform in a reasoned and charming way, and it is to be hoped we will see her on the hustings again--but not for another three or four years.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Student wants right to attend school of choice

I don't want to be stuck on reserves all my life

To the Expositor:

I'm writing this for freedom of speech. My name is Sydney Kanasawe. I'm from Buzwah on the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve. My band claims it cannot pay for my tuition to attend off-reserve secondary education, which I don't understand. I am only 14-years-old and just starting Grade 9, this past September.

My last day was on Friday, October 28. My point is, I would like to stay in MSS because I feel I have more opportunities than the high school on my reserve. Yet I'm sure if any student who wants to go there, they are welcome. I'm not saying anything bad about it at all.

MSS has four other reserves going there. It gives me more of a challenge to stay in school, plus I get to make new friends from all over the Island. My parents know how and what I need to prepare for high school. I don't want to move away from home to go to school and I would see my parents every day. I don't mind the 45-minute ride back and forth. I don't want to be stuck on reserves all my life.

Wasse-Abin High has only Wiky students go there; I don't see five or more buses comes in from different places. My parents have been going to meeting after meeting, trying really hard to keep me in school. The board of education has said we have a high school here on the reserve. But that does not answer my questions. Education does. "My education is my right".

At the band council meetings, they will not let my parents speak. Why not? The chief and council go to Vegas Keewadin for meetings, spending a lot of money going off reserve. Our money goes to pay for building the school. I thought it was freedom of choice. Deep in my parents' hearts, they say education is my right. Big time. Mii Gwetch.

Sydney Kanasawe

Wikwemikong

Sparring Wiky sides like groundhogs and bears

Community must be informed before rallying behind venture

To the Expositor:

The bears and groundhogs in the fictitious story attached at bottom, were supposed to be in hibernation in mid-winter. Their human counterparts, however, are always ready to take up the arguments in relation to the band custom election code which swirled about our community recently.

In the story, the wise old bear and a lowly squirrel decide the significance of a critical issue as they see it. Like the animals in the story, some people in Wikwemikong put their opinions first and asked questions later.

The wise old bear is the voting public, who, along with the squirrel, made a fair assessment of the events surrounding the ratification vote held on January 6 here in Wiky.

Surely the message received was that honour and respect of peoples' opinions needs to be heeded, even though one has to wonder if the matter hasn't opened up a Pandora's box of possibilities for the future.

On the whole, the ratification vote descended on an unsuspecting community who were not prepared for all the wrangling it created. Voters were 'taken by surprise' by being confronted by issues fraught with inconsistencies and changing stories from day to day. People naturally reacted to the 'surprise element' which put them on the defensive and caused them to vote 'no,' more to be safe than sorry.

Band custom elections are an excellent concept: there hasn't been any here since 1874, when the Department of Indian Affairs began to conduct band elections. That being said, the current round of band custom elections is in its infancy, if it even survives very long in anyone's memory. It was compounded by fears of inclusion, exclusion or various other suspicions which complicated the issue.

The average man on the street felt uninformed and either abstained from voting, or voted 'no' to an issue he didn't understand well.

While band custom election codes will grace future band council business and meetings, for the time being, it is a 'hurried piece of legislation; clearly in need of further study.

If information was in fact withheld about band custom election codes, one band councillor alone cannot shoulder blame, as it is a joint band council initiative.

The public cannot be expected to get politically motivated by an issue they don't understand. The community must rally behind a venture, after accessing all information possible about it themselves, in order to determine a policy's impact on the community.

As long as politics inspires a plebiscite (on anything), it signifies the matter has gone 'beyond talking stages' and has fallen into someone else's lap, which makes no sense to the average voter, no matter how well or sophisticated an issue has been prepared or posed.

The expression, "What part of 'no' do you not understand?" has earned a new meaning in Wikwemikong as a result of the ratification vote on January 6.

Essentially it means it's not a 'dead issue' entirely, and could easily re-surface sometime on an unsuspecting community, like a predator does on his prey. It is also the proverbial case of "waking the sleeping giant" and not knowing how to confront it.

Loretta Peltier

Wikwemikong, Ontario

Bear Day

The animals of the forest once had a party to celebrate winter on what the bears called "Bear Day." The groundhog said it should be called "Groundhog Day" because they could predict how much longer winter would be. The bears said that was nonsense and argued it should be called "Bear Day" because no one would know why the name should change.

When the argument was getting out of hand, a wise old bear settled the argument by suggesting they have the party first, and settle the question later. This is what they did...and the groundhogs appeared to have won the argument.

The squirrel, who had not participated in the squabble, was watching from a high branch on a tree and said both sides were silly anyway. It was he who predicted how long winter would be by storing foodstuffs, long before winter ever started in the first place!

Send your Dear Dave and Beth letters to Box 369, Little Current, Ont., P0P 1K0, , or pop them through the mail slot on the front door of the Expositor office.