The media is shoveling a lot of hoo-ha right now about politicians facing “harassment”. Some of this is around a video where Captain Kirk tells off BC open-net salmon farmers.
THE FEDS: STARRING FISHERIES & OCEANS CANADA.
For background you need to know that Prime Minister Trudeau mandated the end of open-net pen salmon farms way back in 2019 (because disease and parasites from the pens were picked up by the wild salmon swimming by). Three ministers later (Bernadette Jordan, Joyce Murray, Diane Lebouthillier) the ministry (along with Wilkinson from Natural Resources – guess Diane felt she needed backup) recently announced permanent closure of open-net pens BUT NOT FOR FIVE MORE YEARS!
This after steadily decreasing numbers of salmon and numerous reports from independent scientists about parasites and disease. British Columbia is the only region on the North American Pacific coast still allowing open-net pen farms. Independent scientists have alleged that senior Fisheries & Oceans officials gag their scientists which has resulted in Fisheries being currently investigated by the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner.
Mandated five years ago! And no results from that mandate, just a promise of five MORE years delay. It’s not hard to see the frustration of those who care. Thing is, politicians and their assistants deliberately don’t read citizen emails, don’t listen to their phone calls, just leave a trail of electronic excuses of “larger than normal” volumes.
Now Canadians have a reputation for being polite. Unresponsive Canadian politicians are forcing that rep to shatter. Why not stop the useless politeness and take the opportunity to vent? Even if it doesn’t wake the comatose politician, you take your stand and get it off your chest (til the next time). And if you’re lucky, the useless politician won’t return after the next election.
A recent video shows Canadian William Shatner doing just that, after he explains that after observing the Fisheries debacle “I just can’t be Canadian about it any longer”. A lot of his following statements are hard to hear with all the bleeps.
THE FLEEING BRITISH COLUMBIA NDP GOVERNMENT
Bravo Mr Shatner!!! A lot of us concerned with multiple pressures of climate change, unaffordable housing, food insecurity, escalating crime and so on, just don’t have any more endurance/reason to hold up that politeness image to an unresponsive politician with uncreative excuses, secretive tendencies, delusions of grandeur and possible receipt of kickbacks/bribes. Remind you of another politician? Like the former BC Premier John Horgan?
I don’t know their reasons but consider it a good thing that a number of BC politicians are reportedly not running for election again.
George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change who never did create a list or law for BC endangered species. Because it would restrain the logging industry?
Katrine Conroy, former Minister of Forestry, happy to pay big bucks to aerially shoot wolves thus pretending caribou conservation when the actual cause of their decreasing numbers is habitat destruction by logging.
Murray Rankin, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation described online by the BC government as “leads the B.C. Government in pursuing reconciliation with the First Nations and Indigenous peoples of British Columbia.” Ha ha! Didn’t read about him working with the Wet’suwet’en over the LNG pipeline forced on them. Didn’t see him working to civilize the RCMP Community-Industry Response Group cowboys (now renamed Critical Response Unit) and investigated by APTN: “The investigation obtained evidence of vast spying — including casual surveillance of law-abiding groups engaged in the democratic process — collusion with private security, collaboration with industry lawyers and wilful violations of RCMP policy.” CIRG reportedly used the U.S. army publication FM-3-24 MCWP 3-33.5 Insurgencies and Countering Insurgencies by General David Petraeus written for US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Is that your version of reconciliation, Rankin?
Selina Robinson who used her former position as Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills to force the dismissal of a college instructor with differing religious/political views. Her resignation was requested by the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC (FPSE) and the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT).
DO POLITICIANS LEARN? PROBABLY ONLY THE HARD WAY.
There are of course, other reasons for “uncivil discourse”. But if politicians experiencing same, climb down from their ivory towers, view and listen to the frustrations of those who elected them, then actively do something (ie WORK) about those frustrations, there is a chance for constructive dialogue. That is the politicians’ job. They should do it or get out of the way.