An excellent post by a favorite BC blogger of mine 8)
The Best Place on Earth?
for those of you who don't live in British Columbia, I will tell you what has been happening as of late in this "great" province of ours.
in the latest shameful display of his to-hell-with-the-little-guy campaign, our premier, Gordon Campbell, and his wonderful group of so-called Liberals, have forced the teachers of this province to break the law and close down the public school system.
the teachers were ready to negotiate for their next contract with the government, when they were told that there would not be any such negotiations at this time, instead they would abide by the contract of the government's choosing and that would be that. the bc government then proceeded to pass this into law. the teachers say: nothing. they were to continue working as they have for the past ten years, without a negotiated contract. the bc government said "you must work under these conditions. if you refuse to work under these conditions, too bad." the teachers were not able to strike because of a previous ruling which made them an essential service. this means they could either accept the terms of the new law, fondly called Bill 12, or quit their job.
thankfully, the teachers' union decided to stand up to this dictatorial ruling and called for their members to walk off the job. so our teachers, including my mother and husband, have been defiantly walking the picket line and because of this they are criminals.
i find this incredibly frightening. i am frightened because we have elected a government which is acting in the best interest of big business as far as i can tell and has literally ripped up contracts between itself and its labourers. over a year ago, when i had just begun working in health care, i was walking the picket line. within one week we were back to work as the Liberal government wrote up a new contract to fit their directives and thus we were ordered back to work. we went, grumbling.
this has happened to other unions across the province since Gordon Campbell came to power.
i believe he has little understanding for the english language. a contract is signed by two or more parties that have come to a mutual agreement. in this province we now have a proliferation of "contracts" that have been dictated by the government and signed under duress. it has not been uncommon, either, for the Campbell government to rip up contracts and write a new one that suits their needs better. i am not making this up.
i am thrilled that the teachers are taking on the government and i am excited to see that labour in BC is behind the teachers and are conducting days of protest. so far they have shut down the province's capital and disrupted services across the province in protest. the teachers are putting their careers on the line for their students, themselves, and for each and every citizen of BC. Gordon Campbell and his government need to take their heads out of their Vancouver-centred asses and pay attention to what most British Columbians are saying: we live in a democracy! you are the criminals!
this morning i heard on the CBC that BC's crown prosecutors are refusing to prosecute the law-breaking teachers because they believe the government is also acting criminally. they believe that BC has broken international law in regards to labour: the way they have treated their labour has violated the International Standards as set by the UN. finally, some hope that those in power can think clearly!
i don't know how Gordon Campbell got re-elected; i was very sad to see him back at the helm this May. click on this link if you'd like to see him at his top form:
drunk and arrested for DUI in Hawaii. what a guy.
i am glad we live in a country where i can write these words, the teachers can walk off the job, and we can march to the Legislature without getting killed. this is exactly the freedom that the teachers are trying to protect, and the Liberals are trying to whisk away.
and, finally, for one last little shout from my soap box, i loathe what this government is trying to do with BC's image. in the past few months there have been commercials on TV, paid for by the government, that feature scenes from BC (vancouver mostly, of course) with sweeping helicopter shots and killer whales splashing to the overtones of some man saying: "BC, the best place on earth."
WHAT?
this summer we crossed the provincial border into Alberta, and i was incredibly dismayed and embarassed to see that we had new "Welcome to BC" signs - huge blue and white towers that said, you guessed it, "Welcome to BC, The Best Place on Earth."
Not only is this slogan boring and unimaginative, it is humiliatingly arrogant and smacks one over the head with the notion that we British Columbians are ignorant of the rest of the world.
when i lived in other parts of the country i learned of the stereotype we BCers have. it goes like this: we are pot-smoking, granola-munching, tree-huggers, who love our triple-shot machiatos from Starbucks. we all live in Vancouver and we don't know the rest of the country exists. this new slogan perpetuates this stereotype and embarasses me. i love the rest of the country as much as i love my home. i hope people aren't too put out by this arrogance and come experience BC for what it is, what our previous slogan told the world: we are Super, Natural BC.
Man shut the light out...scary stuff...can you imagine 8O 8O 8O ouch!