Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 8, 1990, Winnipeg, Manitoba 14 witty Peg free september doer target Carstairs during debate by Dan Lett the Only thing Gary Filmon and Gary doer usually have in common is their first but yesterday dating the last scheduled leaders debate they found a common tar Leader Sharon car in an otherwise staid held at the University of Winnipeg and sponsored by Csc fit Mon and doer combined to deliver the most punishing blows to who seemed to Lack the Energy to the most heated Exchange came Over a question about Why Carstairs was trying to distance herself from former Ontario Premier David be whose Liberal party Selides trusted in thursdays Ontario elec Carstairs attacked Filmon As a political opportunist who called an unnecessary summer Peterson has done exactly what Filmon Carstairs he took advantage of the political Opportunity of the polls when there was no Good reason to Call an election the people of Ontario said that they didst want million spent on an unnecessary election Campaign and i believe the voters of Manitoba Are going to say on tuesday we think this election Campaign was also Unne Ces it was then Filmon and doer pinned noting she tried four times during the Brief tory administration to bring the govern ment Down on votes of non conf i think youre somewhat hypo when you say that we Are the ones who Are triggering an Filmon said As he leaned towards Carstairs and pointed an accusing that but what Shes not saying is that you would have Trig gered an election three months after we were elected in 1988 when she attempted to bring us Down on both the throne speech and the she wanted to vote against it because she wanted to trigger an election out of her hunger for immediately after Hilmons at doer lashed Carstairs for complaining about the summer elec i find it rather ironic that Carstairs is attacking Filmon for calling an unnecessary doer i recall six times they threatened to defeat the government in 2a years and four times they followed after the Carstairs said it is Clear the nip and tories Are focusing on her Campaign and Al though it is twice the work to defend it is a reflection of How worried the other two parties Are of a Liberal the tories Knock liberals and the nip Knock Carstairs it always gives me a sense of some Confidence that when the tories dont like you on the right and the nip dont like you on the then maybe youre just doing some thing Filmon said later he sees the nip turning its attention to the liberals As the Best Hope of stalling a drive for a tory he has to attack the that is the Only objective that he can realistically Filmon he has said As much by saying that his goal is Only to prevent us from getting a majority govern which Means that he has to take something at the expense of the doer refused to concede that he is paying More attention to the i think i made about four charged 1 think there were two each Way and then the one on Recap was each Way As one thing All the leaders agreed on was the inability of the opposition leaders to deliver a single knockout punch during any of the six theres never in any one debate been the free Orall that would pro the knockout Carstairs Filmon said he want surprised there were no big punches because he Felt the other two parties find any real Issue with his govern doer holds up silencing Finger to Filmon during broadcast of last reelection leaders debate Auto safety crackdown sought liberals challenged to match tax Promise by Donald Campbell the morning after Ontario turfed a Liberal government partly be cause of High Premier Gary Filmon challenged Manitoba Liberal Leader Sharon Carstairs to match his pledge to freeze personal income Filmon said yesterday the Liber als would raise taxes by per Manitoba taxpayer As a result of their Campaign promises a claim his opponent you cannot make Manitoba Strong by increasing he declared in a speech directed at the Liberal it simply will not the speech was seen by some As a Las minute pitch to lure undecided or soft Liberal votes into the tory Camp by using the strongest ant tax message Filmon has delivered to Date in the the speech also included Broad jabs at the Sharon Carstairs and the Liber als voted against budgets that reduced the that Cut personal income tax and the nip raised All those taxes in the first Filmon but the Liberal Leader replied with a Strong denial of Hilmons figures and his spin on the there is no justification for his saying they the election promises would raise she adding that her programs would be funded from interest on the fiscal stabilization we Are committed to absolutely do our Best to hold the line on All Filmon has made no commitment on the sales Gaso line alcohol mining tax and corporate Filmon also seemed upbeat about the Ontario new democrats stun Ning Victory suggesting there could be benefits for Manitoba in haying an nip government in he even injected a rare moment of humor into his daily meeting with the brandishing a hastily made poster at the conclusion of the news which stated on Tario Manitoba is open for Busi Ontario is going to find that it has the taxes in place by the liberals and the mismanagement and the ant business policies of the he i think this May be a real Opportunity for the future of and were thinking about putting these signs at the Border to let people know were open for Busi by Bruce Owen the provinces automobile dealers Are demanding legislation that would make All used car sales in Manitoba subject to a safety inspection before the vehicle is Regis theres a High Standard for dealers to but not for the Guy who Sells a car a week out of his Back Manitoba motor dealers association spokesman Bob Kozminski everyone should be playing by the same Kozminski said All Manitoba has to do is follow what has been in place in Ontario for several in that All cars must be taken to a provincial inspector to be certified Safe before i dont think its very complicate he Kozminski said in used car dealers must either give buyers an unsafe motor vehicle certificate or a Safe motor vehicle certificate at the time of if the buyer receives a Safe vehicle it has to be presented to the motor vehicles Branch before the car is if the buyer gets an unsafe certify it must be signed by a licensed after a safety before the car is the association says because Pri vate dealers do not have to follow these Many unsafe used cars Are being sold to unsuspecting the dealers say the Large number of unsafe vehicles on the Road con tribute to High insurance costs and sometimes traffic the association is calling on each political party to clarify its positions on mandatory safety inspections on used Liberal transportation critic de Mandrake said he supports the groups but adds any legislation would have to have some anybody who registers a vehicle must have a safety Mandrake a comprehensive vehicle inspection should be done on every vehicle by a Journeyman who called for tougher legislation last said any new Laws would protect used car in that the Public would know the vehicle there buying is Road consumer and corporate affairs ministered Connery said the government has had discussions in the past about safety inspections on used but no proposed policies have been its something Well be address ing in the he nip consumer and corporate affairs critic Jim Maloway said he supports tougher legislation for used car but adds car dealers should be willing to tighten up their own Industry if such legislation comes to they should be a Little More responsible he there just trying to put the dealers interests up front during an election and that fair Maloway said additional Legisla Tion should be passed which would require dealers to keep the manufacturers suggested retail Price stickers on the front windows of new instead of replacing it with a dealers sticker and jacking up the Price by As much As Maloway also said Manitoba should pass its own Lemon which would Force manufacturers to either replace a car that is mechanically unsound or refund the Cost of the car to the multicultural policy unveiled by grits Liberal Leader Sharon Carstairs yesterday pledged to enhance Powers for the Manitoba intercultural Council As part of a five Point multiculturalism Carstairs said under the Liberal the introduction of a new multicultural act would help strengthen the Council and restore its Power to fund Carstairs also pledged to establish an office to More efficiently and fairly evaluate the academic credentials of foreign trained professionals so they could be licensed in a countrywide data she should be established with other provinces to share information about academic and professional standards in other countries that might Aid in the transition of these immigrants to jobs in their chosen other promises included d developing a Canada awareness program to help immigrants make a smoother transition in Manitoba and be More economically Sel Suffi client d bolstering provincial English As a second language programs and improving salaries and contracts for teachers d introducing a human rights curriculum to Deal with issues like racism and multiculturalism d establishing a oneyear paid internship program for foreign trained Carstairs five Point plan professionals in Exchange for five years of medical practice in a Rural or Northern More voters using Advance polls the turnout at Advance polls in this years provincial election is per cent ahead of the 1988 Richard acting chief elec toral said he said in a statement voters who will be unable to get to the polls on election Day had voted by compared with at the same Point in the last elec a total of voters cast and Vance ballots in an elections Manitoba spokesman said the last Advance polls will be open from noon to 6 today and tomorrow at the returning office in each election Day polls will be open from 8 to 8 Balasko said any qualified voter whose name didst make the voters list can be sworn in at a poll by providing two pieces of identification to a Deputy returning officer and signing an oath of voters asked to Trust Filmon on uncharted ride by Donald Campbell the Manitoba tories drive for a majority government has been a Lowrick Campaign asking Manitoba to take a Canoe ride with Gary Filmon without saying where Hes their message has been simple and repeated often Trust us to keep taxes Down and manage Well beware of the other two parties for scare away investment and raise in this election the Choice is Filmon has said we can go Forward with a government committed to manage responsibly and keep taxes or we can slip Back to the bad old ways of eve increasing taxes and spending that will doom us to economic the tory campaigns Success is due in part to its its also due to the oppositions inability to convince voters that a Canoe trip with the conservatives would leave the province up a Creek without a the opposition has had plenty of material to work with in the past six months a shelved property a constitutional aboriginal a doctors the environment and abundant signs the Economy has the tories have also escaped being Hurt by the timing of the election a summer Campaign when a bumper crop is in the Field and four months prior to Campaign analysis get which proved so devastating to Ontario Premier David the liberals and Dps inability to stick any negative labels on Filmon even his association with Brian Mulroney and the Federal tories is due largely to the popularity the conservative Leader enjoys from his opportunistic stand on Meech its been hard to combat his image on Meech said one grit that to image of him in Ottawa counts for so much you cant Tell people he supported the Deal for two years when everyone in the province was against behind Hilmons the tories have waged a Battle for their elusive majority with a strategy that has been filled with at the elections opening news Filmon said he needed a new mandate to Deal with the pressing issues facing the yet nothing of what he has put Forward has been an earthmoving policy to build a future the party has run whats called a coattails Campaign playing up the leaders boy nextdoor yet at the same time telling us Little about the Man and leading him through tightly scripted the Campaign strategists have also gone to great lengths to disassociate themselves with the Federal tories and yet at the same time some of Mulroney local friends have helped run a similarly styled Campaign to that which returned the tory prime minister to Power in Filmon said his government wants to take action to help out Small towns and yet his major agriculture policy statement was a pledge to fight Ottawa for up to billion in farm support while at the same time not offering a Nickel Filmon said this Campaign is about helping Manitoban live within their yet he is not committing himself to bringing a balanced budget and is Likely to also increase the provincial careful tory strategy but most surprising about the tory Campaign is the degree to which it has been based upon a strategy that takes Only one slip to to his Filmon has handled the pressure Filmon has been More More than in past that Confidence has been carefully held in Check and has rarely come across As he has avoided naive statements during the five week race such As the quip during the 1988 Campaign when he explained that better times for the province were Only a phone Call to Ottawa and he has Portage his Canoe around potential Whitewater issues such As Mulroney and concerns about How the tories treat health care and social Filmon has played along with the carefully devised strategy to have the Premier meet voters one none in Coffee and Chat sessions in targeted swing while he May not be the most skilled debater of the three he has been effective and charming meeting voters in Small that skill is built into the tories Campaign strategy designed to woo undecided by using comprehensive Telephone a personalized letter writing Campaign and Gary Filmon action cards created to give voters impression they can Tell Gary personally whats bugging the program is based on a similar scheme used by the Federal tories in one which proved enormously postelection results revealed it helped Sway As Many As 65 per cent of undecided some of the Liberal Ridings the tories have targeted include Seine Selkirk and the they have have focussed on nip territory in the Dauphin and Brandon it is remarkable How the party has adapted to the it want that Long ago that the former basketball was playing Ball with a pack of Guys who were looking for a but the incredibly Good Fortune in the timing of the Defeated nip government in 1988 put doubts about Hilmons leadership at the time on even though the tories blew what appeared to be a sure this Summers Cowkey Campaign has been built upon past failures the tories have but the polls show they have Learned Well from their yet they clearly Arent Over confident the win is in the bag their Leader wont let its Filmon who has the most to win on election but he also has the most to lose if the Canoe does sink before it reaches the if he delivers anything less than a majority this a former tory la some of the boys from the country will be Riding into town with a ;