“I try never to go over there. Because it’s sick. It’s a sick culture. All they can think about is government and there are no real people in Victoria, and you get captured by this inside-the-beltway debate, and it’s really unhealthy.” — the Honourable Christy Clark, 35th Premier of B.C.
The above statement should offend you—and by you, I mean anyone living in B.C. Those words were uttered by our Honourable Premier, Christy Clark. Is there honour in calling a culture sick? Seems like a question that doesn’t really need to be asked, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, it appears that it does.
When Clark took power—on Mar. 4, 2011—after Gordon Campbell stepped down, she was assailed with several tough issues—the teachers’ strike being the main issue. It’s understandable that dealing with such a difficult, touchy subject could be tiring and lead to a certain jaded view of politics. At the same time, though, dealing with such problems and issues is part of her job description as Premier. Now that strike has ended, and she can move on to the other aspects of the job, such as legislature and question period.
Oh, sorry about that; I’m wrong, it seems. There will be no legislature this fall, just as there was no legislature last fall. Granted, Clark and her Liberal government have other things on their mind. There is an election looming—and the liberals do not look strong going in.
The first item not playing in the liberals favour is the HST. British Columbians jumped on Campbell after instituting the HST, and after several months and a petition, it will be repealed. We, the people of B.C., have shown our disdain for being lied to, and have acted. In my opinion, we acted in haste as the HST cost a lot of money to institute and just as much to repeal, and is in no way a “winning” scenario for the people of B.C. or our economy.
The other items not in favour of Clark have been more recent. The quote above, for instance, was said in mid-Sept. If you’re looking for votes, insulting the province’s capital will not help. There is also a new ad campaign targeted at encouraging youth to enroll in the trades in order to make money. This ad claims that “Hipster is not a Real Job.” This insults a large percentage of youth in today’s society. As far as I’m aware, being a hipster has never been a job; it is more of a fashion and cultural movement, similar to the grunge movement of the mid ’90s. Perhaps, these hipsters are part of this “sick culture” British Columbians apparently fall prey to.
But I think Clark was being more specific about that “sick culture.” I believe she was speaking about Victoria, and more specifically the populace in Victoria concerned with political matters. These are the people who are asking her questions, and challenging her authority. Essentially, these are the people she deals with as part of her job as Premier, like a King answering petitions from lowly peasants and lords alike. The King probably thought many of these petitioners were sick, and he might have even said so, and he probably refused to help some of those petitioners. But these are different times; we have a form of government called democracy, where citizens are allowed to question their elected leaders. Leaders are elected by the very people Clark is commenting upon.
Christy, Christy, Christy, how can you be so blind? If you keep telling people their culture is sick, you won’t have a job come June. Doesn’t that worry you? Maybe it is time to change the rules, Christy. Maybe you should ban men from voting, as you apparently don’t care about our opinions, or so your woman-only tour would suggest. And while you’re at it, why not stop the youth, too? Hell, why fucking bother doing anything; you’re apparently too busy to do your job this fall.
Keep in mind, folks, that not all that long ago—back in 2005—Clark said: “I have such a profound respect for the work that this legislature does. I have a deep, deep love of politics. I love question period. I love debate. I love the people I’ve met. I even love the protesters.”
