WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1980, PAGE 19 Dickerson to carry Liberal banner By MICHAEL KNELL Free Press Staff After two ballots and ap- proximately two hours of voting the Ontario Riding Liberal Association elected Pickering Regional Coun- cillor Doug Dickerson to be their standard-bearer in the February 18 general elec- tion. Over 600 of the party's faithful gathered in the cafeteria of the Pickering High School to listen to the four nominees. Racing with Dickerson for the candidancy were: Ror. Sproule, a former executive assistant to former MP and cabinet minister Norm Cafik; former Whitby town councillor and reeve Gordon Hanha; and Claremont public relations practioner Bruce Findley. In the first ballot none of the candidates received the required majority and a second was held after Hanna and Sproule withdrew from the race. In his nomination speech Dickerson attacked the Tories and said that they were without experience and leadership. "I believe that the Liberal party offers a balanced team," he told his attentive and enthusiastic audience, "a team that brings with it depth and experience - a team that has leadership at the helm and strength in the hull." Dickerson refuted Tory claims that the Liberals and the NDP brought on the elec- tion. "It is an election which has been brought on by a government that did not recognize a crisis when it was in the middle of it. "It was brought on by Tory arrogance - of thinking they could shaft the poor and middle income people in this country and the Liberals would sit idly by," he said. Dickerson also said that he supported former prime minister and Liberal leader Pierre Trudeau's promise to roll back the 18 cents a gallon increase in gasoline prices and that he did not agree with the Tory position that the increase would cut consumption. He also chastised the Con- servatives for not exempting public transit claiming that if the price of fuel went up so .would public transit fares and this move would offset any additional ridership. The major issue of the election he told his audience was the budget that handed down by Finance Minister John Crosbie and sub- sequently brought down the Tories' seven month old government. Dickerson claimed that the budget would have in- creased the rate of inflation by two per cent, the unem- ployment rate over one per cent and would have caused a drop in the gross national product of more than one per cent. "This was admitted to in the Conservative gover- nment's own background budget paper," he said. Dickerson said that he believes most Canadians are willing to sacrifice something to help their country attain a better economic position. "I, like most of you, am prepared to bite the bullet in this time of international upheaval if it will help Canada," he said. "And I beleive that Canadians from coast to coast are ready to do their part." Dickerson went on to say that he did not feel that the Tory budget "cut through to the heart of the problem." Conservative claims that the increase in the price of energy would not affect the poor were also attacked by Dickerson. "The Tories said higher energy cost were on their way," he said, "but they also said that the poor would not be hurt. "Ontario Treasurer Frank Miller Calculated that the budget hikes in energy prices and energy taxes would have been $575 next year for the typicle Ontario family. "The families with a 'below average income' would have been eligible for an energy tax credit of.$110. "That would still cost the poor and middle income family an extra $465 in just the first year." Dickerson said that the budget was all the Liberals were willing to take and went on to describe some of the Tory failures in the last seven months. "We were promised a dollar that would be worth 90 **CHORNEY cents U.S.," he said. "We got a dollar worth 84 cents." "We were promised low interest rates. We got the highest rates in Canada's history. "We were promised $2 billion in tax cuts to stimulate the economy. We got a $3.5 billion in tax in- creases. "We were told the em- bassy would move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. We got no move and cancelled con- tracts from the Arabs. "We were told our gas reserves would be conser- ved. They promptly pushed our exports from two trillion cubic feet to 3.75 trillion cubic feet. "We were told the gas pipeline would be extended from Montreal to Quebec City. The spadework hasn't even begun. "We were promised legislation to make housewives eligible for the Canada Pension Plan. The legislation -was never in- troduced." 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