When a local resident from Delta submitted a request for background information on how the government made the $3 billion decision to replace the Massey Tunnel, the government stated that there was simply no written information to be found.
It should be cause for alarm, especially for anyone concerned about how taxpayers dollars are spent. And yet, the news didn’t seem particularly surprising, perhaps because the entire history of Christy Clark’s leadership is littered with half-baked ideas, broken promises, and confusing flip-flopping.
Love him or hate him, at least Gordon Campbell had a vision for the province and knew how to run his government with some degree of competence.
So why aren’t the pitchforks out? Why aren’t the winds of change battering down the legislature?
It’s because we don’t have an effective opposition - nor an alternative government in waiting.
Can you even name the leader of the NDP? No?
That’s because he’s been practically non-existent in the media. And even if - John Horgan is his name - was more visible, he lacks the charisma or personal touch that is Clark’s greatest strength. If Justin Trudeau’s victory tells us anything, charisma is powerful and it does win elections.
That’s not to mention the sad reality that the NDP has only ever won three elections in its entire 82 year history as a provincial party.
As for the Greens, I bet you didn’t even know they are in the midst of choosing a new leader.
With no effective opposition from either the NDP or the Greens, frustrated British Columbians have been resigned to the sad fact that Christy Clark will easily win the next election and continuing governing long into the future, regardless of how competent she actually is.
The change we want, and that BC desperately needs to advance our economy and build opportunity for all, will simply not come to fruition anytime soon.
It doesn’t have to be this way. There is a way forward. It’s not easy, it’s not fast, and it will take plenty of - dare I say - hope and hard work.
We need a new political party in BC. And this big tent party needs to speak to all British Columbians.
It needs to present a vision for an economy that protects our environment and creates good-paying jobs for all. It needs to activate the productivity and potential of all British Columbians, and recognize that extreme poverty and extreme wealth is a drag on us all.
It needs to reinvest in our infrastructure, from our overcrowded schools in Surrey, to our overcrowded buses in Vancouver; from our under supported health facilities in the Interior, to our overpriced ferries on the Coast. It needs to build a new relationship with First Nations based on reconciliation to right historic wrongs of cultural genocide, and address ongoing oppression, racism and economic dispossession.
And it needs to reinspire British Columbians; get us to truly believe that together we can build a better province and a better tomorrow.
The path forward is not hazy or unclear. The policies we need are in front of us.
What we need is a passionate and driven group of British Columbians - all those who have shut off and disengaged - to stand together, get organized, and take back our province.
Because if we don’t, Christy Clark won’t have to answer to anybody. That’s bad for democracy, it’s bad for taxpayers, and it’s bad for BC.
Original Article
Source: vancouverobserver.com/
Author: Paul Hillsdon
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