It’s a fine day to storm watch. The breakers are huge, the tide high, the wind howling, and I am safe inside dry and warm, enjoying coffee with Judi. Each morning we make time to enjoy a cup together, to share our dreams, reflect upon all of our blessings, and prepare ourselves for the challenges that the day will bring.
Of course we are both keenly interested in the affairs of the body politic at all levels, and share similar views. Perhaps that comes with having the same birthday, I am not sure. While we share the same day, we don’t share the same year, which might account for the fact that Judi is a bit more conservative than I am. Judi, after all, didn’t have the benefit of university in America during the latter part of the 1960s.
Having both been elected Members of the Legislature in British Columbia, and actively engaged in the political debate at the federal level during the 1980s and 1990s, we are now content, for the time being anyway, to be “informed voyeurs”. We are still passionate on the issues, some issues more than others.
There are days, and this is one of them, when I wonder if I am alone in feeling outrage at the misguided economic policies of the current provincial government. Where is the protest from the public? What’s worse, where are the Official Opposition, Carole James and the NDP, who are elected to oppose government policies that harm the people?
Take the last two weeks as an example. We learned that kindergarten-aged children in Prince George are going to be forced to spend three hours a day on a bus to get to and from school because the local school board does not have a budget sufficient to provide for the needs of the kids in that community. We have heard nothing on this from the NDP.
In Vancouver, the premier pats himself on the back while announcing a new Vegas-style Casino in an area of Vancouver that, recently gentrified, is in desperate need of schools and parks for the many young families that have been encouraged to move into the neighbourhood. Reports in the media would suggest that the NDP don’t really have a problem with this proposal.
In the Legislature, we witnessed the introduction of the HST, a harmonized tax that is going to cause every single one of us to pay more for goods and services than we pay now, and at a time when many of us are still trying to recover from one of the worst recessions in history.
On this issue the Opposition is going to take a stand, taking the unusual step of requiring a standing vote on First Reading of the Bill in the House as a shot across the bow. But it is former Social Credit Premier Bill Vander Zalm who has taken leadership on the monumental ‘Initiative’ campaign, stumping around the province to try to get enough signatures to make a legal move to stop the bill from proceeding.
On top of that, April 1 made fools of us all as we peacefully sat back and watched the government approve rate increases in everything from the electricity in our homes to the campsites we love in the summer months. And let’s not forget the BC ferries.
April 1, also brought significant fare increases on the BC Ferries.
While this may not seem like a big deal to those who live in Greater Vancouver, the Fraser Valley or the interior of the province, these rate increases will have a critical impact on the lives of all those who live in ferry-dependent communities. There was a time when such a fare increase would cause people to rise up in protest until the government responded to their demand to be heard.
Here is a compilation of three articles taken from the Island Tides publication in 1997. Check it out:

http://www.islandtides.com/assets/reprint/Ferries_FareIncrease_97.pdf

That was a time when, with the NDP in power, people took action. There is no such appetite to do so now, even though the successive rate hikes in ferry fares have almost doubled what we have to pay since Campbell’s government was elected. Where are the community leaders, business people, and other protestors now?
As I sip my morning coffee and watch the white foam of the waves bubble like champagne over the rocky shore, I speculate on an answer.
Perhaps the people took action then because they believed that they would be heard by those in elected office, and through that process, the people could actually affect positive change. Certainly they achieved some success. When I became the Minister for BC Ferries, we paid off the corporate debt, went after and finally secured the federal government contribution that was owed to the province for the ‘highway’ portion of the ferry service, dedicated a portion of the gas tax to ferries, froze fares, and treated all of the ferries as an essential part of the highway system. Of course that has all changed now with the Campbell government offloading responsibility to a ‘private company’ with one shareholder: the provincial government.
So, perhaps the people sit silent now because they know that this government doesn’t listen, and no amount of protest will cause it to alter the policies that are set by elites in a very private and wealthy club. Still, no protest at all will ensure the concerns are never heard and the silence from the mayors, advocates, and opponents to these rates hikes gives everyone the impression that people support them.