Editorial_08-50

Jeff Green | Dec 18, 2008

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I don’t mind sharing with you, dear readers (and I use the plural optimistically), that I am somewhat perturbed that my candidacy for the leadership of the Liberal Party has had absolutely no impact.

Ever since I made my announcement in these pages, sometime in October, the Liberal Party establishment has issued no response.

Imagine my surprise, then when I read that after flirting with taking power without any leader in place, all of the official candidates but one have withdrawn from the race, and one Michael Ignatieff is now the leader of the party. Case closed.

All of this has made me consider withdrawing from the race.

However, after much thought, I have decided to soldier on. The party, and the country, needs me.

I know that it takes money to run a political campaign, especially against such long odds, and I am encouraged because even though I have only raised 15 cents thus far for my campaign, most of that money has come in within the past three weeks. Clearly I have momentum on my side.

As well, there are sure to be many disgruntled supporters of Bob Rae and the other guy who was running (his name escapes me) who are looking for an alternative to Iggy.

I will share my two-pronged pitch to party members with you now, and I encourage every one of you to join the Federal Liberal Party and stop the Ignatieff madness.

First, Ignatieff is so boring that just by having a pulse I should be able to excite more support. He is almost as dismal a figure as Steven Harper is, even if he has bushy eyebrows in place of Harper’s close-set eyes. They are both so dour and humourless that Jack Layton is almost appealing in comparison.

Secondly, and this is my main pitch, the Liberals are clearly headed for the political wilderness. Heck, Ignatieff himself has pulled them back from the brink of power, and they need a leader with wilderness skills.

Mr. Ignatieff has lived in the great cities of the world for 60 years. I, however, have lived on a back road for twenty years, chopping wood, living through ice storms, waiting to be plowed out, and dealing with rodents and unruly children. I may not know much about real wilderness, but I venture to say Ignatieff knows nothing at all about the wilderness. He has been too busy writing books.

I offer myself up as the original grizzly grit, running against the polished and privileged.

But enough of this nonsense.

This is our final issue of 2008, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our community columnists, volunteers and staff for their efforts this year. I would also like to thank our loyal advertisers who make it all possible.

The corporate concentration of the newspaper industry has come into our region in force this year, and we face unprecedented competition from regional and national players whose reach dwarfs ours.

As the only independent player in the market we serve, with all of our staff, writers, and the vast majority of our advertisers coming from within our distribution area, we are happy to report that we have more than held our own in this new environment thus far.

Notwithstanding the economic challenges that are coming our way, we are confident that we will be able to continue to present important information, lively stories, and a bit of local colour to our readers when the “North Frontenac” enters its 38th year of service to the community with the publication of our first issue for 2009 on January 8th.

Happy Christmas to all.

(Special note: Jule Koch-Brison has been the heart and soul of this newspaper for the past 8 years. Those of you who know her, know that her commitment to the paper has been a reflection of her unwavering commitment to her neighbours and the wider community. Jule underwent an operation last week, and we are all hopeful for a speedy recovery. JG)

PS – If you notice there are more mistakes in this paper than usual, that’s because Jule has not been here to catch them, so it’s really her fault.

A special thank you to Chava Field-Green for taking up the slack this week.