Vote for Jane Sterk
Although I am a fan of the BC Green Party policy on independent power producers, I am not a “Green”, nor will I be endorsing “The Green Party” this election.
In fact, after a great deal of consideration, I have decided not to endorse any party. Instead, I will be endorsing individual candidates from different parties.
My first endorsement: Although I have never met her, I feel very strongly that the good people of Esquimalt-Royal Roads should vote for Jane Sterk.
Why?
Because she is competent, intelligent, and leader of a terribly under-represented, though incredibly serious (and increasingly reasonable, mainstream), provincial party.
Think about it.
In 2005, the Green Party received 9% of the vote – 9 out of every 100 voters voted this way. They voted this way despite the fact that they almost certainly knew that their chosen candidate would lose. In 2001, it was 12%.
Who knows how many votes the Green Party “would have” received if they had a chance of winning – I’m sure many people who wanted to vote Green voted BC Liberal or NDP because they didn’t want their votes to be “wasted”.
STV could certainly change the game in future elections, but that may or may not pass.
Chances are many people are voting like me this election – voting AGAINST somebody, not FOR anybody. If everyone in Esquimalt-Royal Roads took the initiative to vote “AGAINST” the other parties, and “FOR” a provincial party leader, the Green Party will win one seat, and will get their voice (whether you agree with them or not) to the table.
This is good for democracy, and good for the Province.
Legalize Marijuana?
The unknown origin of 4/20 aside, it has become a tradition for hippies across the planet to celebrate the smoking of this plant on April 20th. Since I hate the smell, I’ll try to stay in.
This said, I shake my head at our outdated prohibition laws on a plant that grows in the ground when there are so many more harmful drugs around that are killing our kids.
Lumping together marijuana and other drugs is a serious disservice to parents and children.
But wait, isn’t marijuana a gateway drug?
Sure it is.
Little Billy tried smoking marijuana and decides it’s not so bad. Since he has already broken the law, the law treats them as equally bad, and his dealer has access to a myriad of other drugs, why not go off and get hooked on crystal meth?
But is this the fault of the plant, or the fault of the law?
I would strongly argue the latter. It’s precisely because of the total lack of education, the misinformation, and the illegality of the plant. The plant itself is not nearly as harmful as other drugs, nor as harmful as the propaganda makes it out to be. Kids are smart; they know bullshit when they hear it. So they presume all the information about all the other drugs is also false. Unfortunately, much of the information about the other drugs is true, but it’s too late for little Billy.
Furthermore, the social consequences of marijuana tend to be far less than alcohol abuse, or that of most other drugs (for those who don’t pass through the gateway).
However, because it is illegal, marijuana is sold by criminals. And criminals trade in all sorts of illegal things – like guns, harder drugs, and prostitution – precisely the sorts of things we should be cracking down on.
The Liberal Party of Canada’s answer a few years back was decriminalization. This is the stupidest policy ever – telling children it’s OK to go and consort with criminals. Whoever thought that up certainly wasn’t a parent!
Full legalization is the only solution, and, frankly, the inevitable one. Anyone who thinks otherwise in 2009 has their head a mile deep in the sand.
I don’t smoke this plant, nor do intend to. But should anybody be thrown in jail for smoking it? Come on.
Unfortunately Canada cannot legalize marijuana. First, the United States must. We have too much at stake to do this unilaterally and not destroy our economy in the process. I wonder if it’ll take a serious incident along the Mexican border before America finally gets it?
In the meantime, we continue to spend billions in our fight against a plant that was around long before we were. This strikes me as incredibly stupid.
Support Competitive Electricity Market: Vote Green?!?
According to their large collection of YouTube videos, the BC NDP doesn’t have much to say about the economy.
Even the one called Carole James on the Economy says something vague about putting working people first. I don’t know what this means (I presume this is code for some socialist ideal, but I’m not sure). What I am sure about is that nothing in this video (or any of the others) have anything to do with the economy. I think Gary Mason says it best in the Globe and Mail. When it comes to the economy, James is simply out of her depth. Is she hoping that this election will end up being about something else?
The NDP is on about Gordon Campbell wanting to privatize everything and the kitchen sink (the NDP believes the kitchen sink is an important public asset). This NDP anti-privatization rant wants to ensure you that hospitals are not built by private companies, and making sure that BC Hydro doesn’t get privatized by those evil BC Liberals.
If only this last point was remotely true, man would that motivate me – I’d be far more excited about the BC Liberals!
- The latest example of BC Liberal support for the BC Hydro monopoly states that they will “[develop] the proposed Site C Hydroelectric dam in Northern B.C. as a public asset, owned by BC Hydro.”
- As mentioned, the NDP is pretty clear about their love for BC Hydro – the bigger and publicker BC Hydro, the better.
- Even the tiny BC Conservative Party has a policy that states “BC Hydro will not be disposed of without the permission of the voting public via referendum.” (PDF)
- Want free market economics? Look to the long-haired hippies in the Green Party:
BC Greens will foster the building of green and clean, renewable energy facilities with an emphasis on co-operative and municipally-owned utilities, while providing the opportunity for private producers and transmission operators to participate in a mixed public / private energy system.
Private transmission operators? What the hell is this, Europe!?
Independent power producers are nimble, innovative, and generally “greener”. BC Hydro and its powerful union has done everything possible to put the brakes on these energy alternatives and innovations at every turn. Gordon Campbell has taken some baby steps to reign in the 800-pound gorilla (or, in NDP-speak, MASSIVE PRIVATIZATION), by freeing up private energy producers to operate in BC, but to a very limited degree.
More should be done! Perhaps Gordon Campbell could take a page out of the Green Party’s radical free market approach.
Dear Auto Worker … Your Union is Screwing You
You people make $76 an hour! Holy crap, do you all eat caviar and smoke big fat cigars in top hats, too? I mean good for you for pulling this off for so long! Really, good job!
Clearly I’ve been an idiot for NOT moving to Ontario 15 years ago and milking this dying cow a little myself.
Unfortunately for you, the cow is now dead. Lucky for you the Industry Minister is willing to drag its sorry ass out to Stephen King’s Pet Semetary.
All this means you’re going to have to accept a lowly above average wage instead of the ludicrous wage you have grown used to. But hey, it’s been a good run! Applause all around!
But your stupid union refuses to accept that it’s no longer 1972. They think there are some cards in the deck they can still play. Nobody told them the poker game ended and everybody went home.
That the Government should bail out an industry as backwards as the auto industry AT ALL is beyond me – and I oppose it anyway.
But what about the average Canadian? Do you honestly think somebody who makes 1/3rd as much money as you is going to be sympathetic, and want to share your pain? How screwed up is it to take money from the working poor to pay for your hot tubs and country cottages?
Hey, Canadian Auto Workers Union – grow up, wake up and smarten up. I mean, that is, if you want an auto industry in Canada next year. If not, your workers are going to be eating a lot of discount caviar and smoking those 7-11 pom-pom cigars while looking for a job in a 21st century industry.
B.C. Provincial Election – Your Options
Dammit, I hate BC politics (and I grew up here).
Here are the choices:
- BC Liberals – Reasonably competent people you don’t really like.
- NDP – Completely incompetent people you don’t really like.
- Greens – Presumably incompetent people who don’t like you.
- BC Conservative Party – What? There’s a BC Conservative Party? Yes, barely.
What about STV? I’m voting YES. But only because BC politics is so bloody boring the way it is.
And I’m voting for the BC Liberal candidate in my riding, primarily because the NDP scares the crap out of me.
The Video the G20 Should Watch
Lies, damned lies and statistics. Great video!
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