The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

March 31 , 1966 THE THIS WEEK AND NEXT by Ray Argyle Scandal That Snowballed In addition to the many ques- tions for which Mr. Justice Spence will seek answers in his inquiry into the affair of Gerda Munsinger, there is an even more important one which can be answered only by the Canadi- an people. The question is this: Have the Liberals and Conservatives plunged Canadian politics into such a morass of scandal that the slate can be wiped clean only by the removal of not just the party leaders, but several of their key lieutenants? The death struggle in which Mr. Pearson and Mr. Diefenbak- er have been locked for the past five years has seen Parliament skid continuously down the pre- cipitous slopes of demagoguery and disgrace. The country should now ask itself: Is it worth it? When the Liberal cabinet passed its order-in-council set- ting up the Munsinger inquiry, it directed only that Mr. Justice Spence investigate the charges made by Justice Minister Lucien Cardin. These charges, as all the ,country now knows, were basically that one or more Con- servative cabinet ministers had endangered Canada's_ security by associating with a woman who had allegedly engaged in espionage before her arrival in Canada in the 1950s. The manner in which the charges were blurted out as a sequence to the Opposition's at- tack over the Victor Spencer se- curity case can only be de- scribed as incredible. : One must wonder whether Mr. Cardin's outburst was a spur-of- the-moment retaliation for the unending onslaughts of Mr. Dief- ' enbaker, or whether it was part of a carefully laid government plot to destroy the Tory chief- tain. Davie Fulton, the Conserva- tive Minister of Justice at the time of the alleged indiscre- tions, has said that he had been warned a week earlier that the Munsinger case would be raised if the Tories persisted in their attack on the Government's handling of the Spencer case. Mr. Favreau, ex-Justice Min- ister, denies the Fulton charge that he tried to blackmail the Tories. The shocking disarray in which Parliament now finds it- self has been building up ever since the Diefenbaker debacle of 1962. Still determined to re- gain office, he must take much of the responsibility for the state of affairs which Mr. Pear- son accurately described as "a frightening position." It was a culmination, the PM said, of many sessions carried on in an atmosphere of extreme partisan- ship, bitterness and tension. The country must of course be told whether the Cardin charges have any basis in fact, whether Tory Cabinet ministers did or did not endanger national security, and whether Mr. Dief-' enbaker as prime minister dealt negligently with informa- tion at his disposal. These are the main points to which Mr. Justice Spence will address him- self. But the fact remains that up to the time of the appointment of the inquiry, not a shred of evidence had been produced by Mr. Cardin that any of his charges had any foundation in fact. There is a well established procedure governing the func- tions of the department of jus- tice. When an offense is sus- pected, the department calls on the police to gather evidence. If the evidence, in the opinion of the department, is sufficient to warrant charges, then charges are laid and the matter goes to the courts. This is in sharp contrast to the methods used by Mr. Cardin. He went much further afield than the issue of national secu- rity, and questioned the private morals of members of Parlia- ment, including one now dead who cannot defend himself. After another week of uproar in Parliament, Canadians could only conclude that the work of self-destruction has been well and completely done. If it is true that Mr. Cardin has com- mited political suicide, history may also judge him as the de- stroyer of both his own leader along with his hated enemy, John G. Diefenbaker. STUDENTS RAISE (Continued from page 8) The Red Cross Committee of the Department of Education invites Principals, teachers and students to suggest local projects worthy of support from the fund. Ontario's greatest concen- tration of wild gees is in James Bay & Hudson Bay. RED CROSS IS ALWAYS THERE WITHYOUR HELP ORDER NOW - POTTED LILIES - HYACINTH - MUMS and GERANIUMS. Spring Bouquets DAFFODIL - TS os a> ROSES - CARNATIONS Remember those you love with the perfect gift ... No Easter is Complete Without a Blooming gift of Flowers to Brighftn Her Eyes! MARY'S Flower Shop LADIES BONSPIEL (Continued from page |) of town. Opening ceremonies Friday morning in- cluded Scottish Piper Frank Sutherland, who led the rinks on to the ice and the Reeve, Wm.Adamo, threw the first rock. The curlers and guests were entertained on Satur- day evening at a Banquet held in the Terrace Bay Motor Hotel. Prizes were won by the L.Gervais rink of Chapleau for coming the furthest distance and L.Norris and her girls for scoring the biggest end. Entertainment was provided by local curlers in the setting of a Bunny Club. This was enjoyed by all. Mrs.Ellen Hodgkiss supplied piano accom- paniment and also played later during the social in the curling lounge when her rendition of old favor- ites drew forth a wholesale singsong. Mrs .Ruth Heller of Schreiber won the $50.00 draw. WELLING RINK CLUB CHAMPIONS In regular evening curling the Peggy Wellings rink, with Mary Dashkewytch, Joan Weaver and Gale Rose were declared club champions. Runner- up was the Stella Gusul rink with Donna Josus, Ann Matiowsky and Aine Andrews. Congratulations girls! The secret of economy is to live as cheaply the first few days after payday as you lived the last few days before. Pockets Hole (y)? Replace them only $1. TELEPHONE = SCHREIBER 115 Dry Cleaners to the North Shore