This week, politicians from the provincial and federal governments stood on the sidelines while the RCMP threw Indigenous people to the ground and arrested them at a peaceful protest.
Thousands gathered across the country to express their anger and frustration.
It is the latest in the long history of the ugly Indigenous/Crown relations in British Columbia. This one is about a pipeline. In the past, it was forests, and fish, and the list goes on.
This government, like the last government, is letting Indigenous people down. And, when we let Indigenous people down, we let all British Columbians down.
There are demands that me and my colleagues, “take the government down!”
Surrounded by cameras capturing Sonia and I on the fringes of the rally on Belleville earlier this week, the reporters pushed microphones in front of us for a response.
Well, you have a relationship with them they said. Are you going to take the government down?
In all the noise and tension this week I learned something about myself. I believe tearing it down is the easy way out. And, I don’t believe that it changes anything. In fact, I believe it let’s us all off the hook.
So, rather than tearing it down, I prefer to elevate it. Be courageously forthright. Demand better! And, have the stubborn patience to make it work.
That is what I am committed to doing with this government in 2019.
This is an excellent example of why we need PR. If we had fought harder for it, and won, the next election would have seen many more Greens in our Ledge with a far greater chance of combating this kind of unforgivable behavior on the part of the NDP.
Well Richard we have the system we have so we need to accomplish the things you highlight under that system. And, we can & will!
Do you sometimes feel as though you are Ulysses sailing between Scylla and Charybdis? Would be great if John would see some sense and develop the courage to do those things he outlined before the vote in 2017: shut down Site C, launch a public inquiry into corruption in all facets of the Province’s doings, presenting a vigorous defense against Trans-Mountain, and going beyond to revamp the whole energy picture to effect the kind of sweeping and immediate transition required to fulfill our obligations to generations to come. This might bring us neatly in line with our aspirations on reconciliation and UNDRIP, and an adept financial management team would be able to straighten out ICBC, Hydro, Ferries, BCLC, Translink and still find financing for progressive programs to eliminate poverty (at least get the eradication process started) and homelessness, sideswiping the opioid crisis along the way. Do keep working at it. Oh, and as as old privileged white man, I hesitate to offer too much free advice to FN communities, but I see grief on the horizon for anyone involved in Steelhead’s schemes.
We keep on keepin’ on!
The only hope I see is to vote more Greens in no matter what the system is.