by Pieter Vorster | Oct 17, 2020 | Member Submitted Articles, Social Justice
Want to know what Bonnie Henry, our Provincial Health Officer, suggests be done about BC’s opioid crisis? Want to know what Horgan and the NDP have done to follow her advice? Read on … by Pat Carl On July 21, 2020, John Horgan sent a letter to Justin Trudeau requesting that the federal government decriminalize illicit drug possession. Horgan crafted his letter more than a year after Bonnie Henry’s Special Report – Stopping the Harm – dated April 24, 2019. In fact, despite an NDP member driven resolution at their annual convention on November 24, 2019, BC Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Mike Farnworth, stated that the Horgan government would neither decriminalize drug possession in BC nor send a letter to Premier Trudeau because changing drug laws is “not our responsibility … it’s up to the federal government.” In contradicting Farnworth, Bonnie Henry said, “In the context of the continuing overdose crisis that is affecting families and communities across B.C., the province cannot wait for action at the federal level … immediate provincial action is warranted.” Since the 2017 provincial election, critics of the NDP’s response to B.C.’s overdose crisis have argued the province could be doing much more to help people addicted to street opioids (synthetic opioids) [by providing them with access to a regulated (and safe) supply of opioids]. While the Horgan NDP Party has received kudos for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic (based on Bonnie Henry’s data-driven advice), they have been slow on the up-take regarding the opioid crisis. According to Guy Felicella, a peer clinical advisor at the BC Centre on Substance Use,...
by Pieter Vorster | Sep 7, 2020 | Member Submitted Articles, News and Events, Social Justice
Greens and unions go hand-in-hand by Tim Larsen Labour Day has been a statutory holiday in Canada since 1894. Originally the holiday was used by organized labour to celebrate the hard-fought rights achieved and to mark the future goals they were pursuing. Working class solidarity was celebrated with parades, games and speeches. Over the years the holiday has evolved into a day for family time and leisure activity. Opinion pieces appear this time of the year that recognize the importance of organized labour. The many rights enjoyed by today’s workforce were won over years of struggle, and often civil disobedience by organized labour. Despite hard-won gains, starting in the late 1970s, workers’ rights have been steadily eroded. The neoliberal agenda has been steadily advanced by the likes of the Koch brothers-funded Canadian Fraser Institute. Union power has been eroded over these years and many governments have introduced legislation to limit the rights of workers. In many cases, back-to-work legislation has been used as a bludgeon to further this erosion. Unions themselves, such as the Christian Labour Association of Canada, have eroded labour rights with their cozy relationship with employers. The Green Party of Canada stands with workers, despite the attempts of others to label us as a one issue - environmental - party. In fact, we have comprehensive policy covering all issues of concern including ones that support workers. In 2013, the Green Party was pressuring the then Stephen Harper government to respect bargaining rights. In 2018, Elizabeth May issued a statement regarding Labour Day:, “Unions and labour groups remain a vital force for the advancement of human and...
by Pieter Vorster | Jan 23, 2020 | News and Events, Newsletters, Political Activity, Social Justice
Media Release January 23, 2020 For Immediate Release NIPR GREENS STAND WITH WET’SUWET’EN Hereditary Chiefs Continue to Protect Territory in Defiance of Court Decision by Tim Larsen, Powell River Members of the North Island-Powell River (NIPR) Greens are united with all Green Party of Canada (GPC) and BC Green members in support of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs in the assertion of their hereditary rights. The chiefs oppose the building of the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline, designed to move fracked gas to Kitimat in northern BC, through Wet’suwet’en territory. Paul Manly, the Green MP for Nanaimo-Ladysmith who visited the camp last weekend, says this dispute is a fight for Indigenous rights and climate justice. “We know that this pipeline and the LNG project in Kitimat that it serves are a climate disaster in the making,” he said. “The hereditary chiefs not only need to be consulted, they need to be heard. I stand with these chiefs who have peacefully protested to protect their land and call on the provincial and federal governments to respect the stand they have taken.” Paul Manly on his visit in support of Wet’suwet’en land protectors Although he was in the area and visited the LNG site in Kitimat, Premier Horgan did not meet as requested by the Wet’suwet’en. Horgan is quoted in this CBC article that, “I’m not going to drop everything I’m doing to come running when someone is saying they need to speak with me…I’m not being disrespectful, I’m just saying be realistic here.” “If you’re going to have decent communication with anybody, it’s best to be looking eye to eye,” said...
by Karina Thygesen | May 28, 2016 | Environment, News and Events, Newsletters, Political Activity, Social Justice
Susan Holvenstot, Green Party supporter As part of a series of “Living Green” interviews with local Green Party supporters, I had the pleasure of interviewing Comox Valley resident Susan Holvenstot. Susan spent a month this past winter visiting indigenous occupation camps in Northwestern B.C., to prevent the use of these unceded lands for LNG and tarsand oil exports. In her answers below, you will find out how she demonstrated her Green Party values to become an ally of indigenous efforts to stop pipelines and tankers on our coast. Q. Susan, thanks for taking the time to participate in this interview. I heard you had a pretty interesting winter. What were you up to? A. I went to two different places in Northwest B.C., Unist’ot’en, near Houston and Lelu Island, next to Prince Rupert, where First Nations people are reclaiming their land. They are building and living in permanent camps in the line of proposed pipelines. I went to visit these two locations and help run the camps for a month during the winter. Q. What are the communities hoping to accomplish with these camps? A. Northern B.C. is awash with industrial development, much of which we aren’t even aware of in other parts of B.C. and Canada. There are dozens of proposals for pipelines and natural gas infrastructure all across Northwestern B.C.. Some of the pipelines are for tar sands oil, but others are for new infrastructure for Liquid Fracked Gas. The First Nations people are at the front lines of stopping this from happening. They have unceded ownership of the land, and are constructing and living in...
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