By Megan Ardyche
September 2017
One of our supporters forwarded me a very interesting article in The Georgia Straight by Martyn Brown, a former Chief of Staff to Gordon Campbell. In this article, Brown is praising the NDP 
and the BC Greens for working out an agreement that, so far, at least, seems to be resulting in a government for the benefit of British Columbians. You will want to read the whole article, but most especially, read the lovely ending.
This NDP government (note it is NOT a coalition - read the agreement) has big guns arrayed against it. I have no doubt that many of the donors/beneficiaries of corporate welfare from Christy Clark’s Liberals are taking on this battle. For example, the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA) has a Get2Yes campaign underway, encouraging people to write to Premier Horgan urging him to “Get2Yes” on 8 different megaprojects, of which Site C is only one. Their website states, “Responsible development creates thriving communities.” That sounds to me like it is right out of Christy Clark’s songbook.
Brown lauds the NDP government for “undoing bad decisions that never should have been made in the first place,” such as Adult Basic Education tuition.
However, Brown goes on to say that, “what really hurts [the NDP government’s] newly impotent political foes is meting out rough justice with dignity, class, and sugary indifference, not the opposite,” which is straight out of the BC Greens’ songbook. There’s a house down the street from me that has a sign on their fence which reads: “Take the high ground and hold it.” Brown is talking about how this new government is doing exactly that.
When the Legislature resumes sitting, it will be interesting to see how all this plays out. Brown is suggesting that there are Liberals who are being petty now (my words, not his) and he congratulates Premier John Horgan for (mostly) not succumbing to the temptation to respond in kind. But I fear the Liberals may go beyond petty to openly obstructionist once the work of government begins.
Take Action Now:
A few of us have already sent emails to Liberal MLAs, encouraging them to act in accordance with the Throne Speech they put forward after the election. I’m looking for people who will ‘adopt’ one or two Liberal portfolio critics to follow/monitor once the Legislature is in session. This wouldn’t need to take a lot of time - follow them on Facebook or Twitter and see what they’re saying. I have a list of all the MLAs’ names and links to their Legislative websites. Let me know if you would like it.
