Hockey and the art of croquet.

• Author: ATKINS, MICHAEL

Notwithstanding our international milquetoast image, Canadian politics is more like hockey than croquet.

What other country has both national political parties trying to kill off their leaders within six months of an election?

Of course, Northerners are no strangers to political intrigue. In Sault Ste. Marie we've seen Joe Fratesi, the ex-mayor, fight off a bitter conflict of interest investigation about his hasty and seamless segway from mayor to chief administrative officer of the city. In' Thunder Bay it was war for years between the old boroughs of Fort William' and Port Arthur;

Although the issues change, the fight is always about control. Sometimes its ideology, sometimes it is religion. (hospitals and schools) and sometimes it's about language, but mostly it is about style, strategy, personality and goodies. We live in a land of scarce resources and competition is fierce.

There is an important dust up in Sudbury between mayor Jim Gordon and the chamber of commerce which is important to note.

It is driven by competing personalities and by a huge philosophical divide.

At issue are the management, mission and. control of the Greater Sudbury Utilities Inc. (GSU).

On one side is a group of ex directors (four of them), including the new ex-chairman of the GSU who recently resigned en mass alleging a variety of infractions by the mayor who represented the city on the board. They seem. .to have the full support of the chamber of commerce, which has called for an inquiry into the whole matter. The four directors were hand picked by George Lund and his transition team, which oversaw the amalgamation of the region into one city last year.

The transition board's view of the GSU is that although there was merit in the city continuing to own the utility, it should stick to its knitting and be run more like an independent business, not an economic development experiment.

The last time Jim and George faced off in public was nearly 20 years ago when I they were both seeking' the" Tory nomination for the old provincial Sudbury riding. As I recall at the time, the mayor bused in a goodly number of folks from around the riding at the last-minute on a wintry Sudbury Saturday night and walked away with the nomination much to George's surprise and chagrin.

Suffice to say there is always more than meets the eye to these stories. Anyone who thought the mayor of all the people was going "to let George's appointees run his baby - the Sudbury Hydro Commission...