Ms. Reimer Weighs In

PowerToThePeople
GreenVille

Our favorite former Vancouver School Board Trustee, Green Activist, and GoreTrain Rider, Andrea Reimer, has posted- up her feelings on British Columbia's speech vert from the throne last week:

On the plus side, of the two thousand some odd generations that have walked the Earth in 50,000 years of civilization, how many have gotten to live through the broad scale paradigm shift we are standing in the eye of right now? A case in point was the BC government's throne speech -- incidentally possibly also the longest throne speech in 50,000 years of history -- last Tuesday. If someone had told me a year ago even one sentence of the section on climate change would be spoken in our legislature, I would have told them it was impossible. It's a satisfying thing to see a government change its mind, but it's a beautiful thing to see a government change its heart.


Fine words indeed.

However, after being momentarily swept off my feet by the words delivered by Lieutenant Governor Iona Campagnolo myself, I have since had time to think this thing through.

And this has led me to temper my feelings a wee bit.

Thus, I felt compelled to leave this comment over at Ms. Reimer's place:

Me, I'm cautiously optimistic - but a really long throne speech is not enough to convince me that both the heart and mind has changed.

The proof will be in the action that follows all the talk.

And if the required action does not occur, that would be worth less than zero.

Way less.

OK?

So, there you are.

I sure hope that will be enough of a realistic mama-half-a-mea culpa to stop almost all my friends and uncles I have been doing my utmost to influence, both on and offline, of accusing me of being bamboozled by Gordon's little two-step with the Gropinator.

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And one more thing......After last year's throne speech I unfairly slagged the L.G. for words that were clearly not her own. And for that I suffered the rightful wrath of one of my other most favorite Green bloggers, her daughter Jennifer. I'd like to think that, while they were not her words this time around either, that Ms C. the elder enjoyed reading them a whole lot more because I'm pretty sure that Ms. C. the younger sure liked hearing them.

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A Retraction...

BadJudgement
MistakeVille

In the post on the throne speech earlier in the week I went too far, in the absence of supporting evidence, when I indicated that British Columbia's Lt. Governor, Iona Campagnolo, tacitly agreed with the government's words that she must, as part of her job, read.

As such I've editted the post to remove this indication.

Apologies.

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B.C. Throne Speech Frames Healthcare

SoftPrivatization
KillBillVille

Update: Sat Feb 18/06 - This post has been editted from it's original form in which I suggested that the sitting Lt. Governor tacitly agreed with the concepts, if not the words, she must, as part of her job, read from the throne speech. That was inappropriate, especially without supporting evidence, and for that I apologize and have made the appropriate changes. I'll write about the importance of the mea culpa in blogging in more depth, in an upcoming piece.
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The following is from yesterday's provincial throne speech:

"Does it really matter to patients where or how they obtain their surgical treatment if it is paid for with public funds?" asks the speech, which was read by Lt.-Gov. Iona Campagnolo on behalf of Premier Gordon Campbell's Liberal government.

"Why are we so afraid to look at mixed health care delivery models," when they work in Europe?

"Why are we so quick to condemn any consideration of other systems as a slippery slope to an American-style system that none of us wants?"

And now the herd press is falling all over themselves to tell us how GordCo is working hard to protect our healthcare system.

We, however, figure we're actually being set up for a coming bill that will begin the death of universal healthcare by the thousand cuts due to a mandated explosion of private everything (and that banging you hear is Donald Copeman's head repeatedly hitting the ceiling as he floats euphorically above the crowd a la Uncle Albert in Mary Poppins - just a spoonful of sugar and a fistful of dollars and all that, what?).

It's like deja-vu all over again, Edwardian England/Gilded Age style*.

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*Or, despite the throne speech's words to the contrary, maybe we should call it "Love, American Style!" After all, it is Valentine's Day, and we are looking rearward towards the bad old days.

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Fencing Out The Rabble

LetThemEatSoftwood
LedgeVille

The BC LINO's* will get their ya-ya's out with their third Throne Speech in a year later today.

And despite Ms. Campagnolo's apparent fetish for the finery, Mr. Campbell has seen the light and is now using BushCo vernacular to fire-up the Whirlitzer.

"We're gonna talk about our long term objectives for British Columbia."

Like how were all gonna learn to speak faux-Texan to prepare us for the coming of the KinderMorgan-led "Invasion of The Haida Gwaii Rapers", perhaps?

Anyway, an interesting sidenote is the fact that the Ledge itself is behind a fence today.

More of the BushCo-type paranoid coralling of the huddled masses?

Will we soon get 'Free Speech Zones' tucked away behind the Beacon Hill Park Zoo where only the chickens and goats need be pestered with the bleating voices of an angry citizenry?

Never say never with this bunch.


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*Liberal In Name Only
Update: This, from Public Eye poster Heaney, is likely the more innocent reason (or is that excuse?) for the fence: "the fence has been there for every throne speech since the Clayoquot decision (in about 1994?) when protesters' successful attempts to storm the main door (only ever unlocked and used when the L-G enters the building) put a 60+ year old sgt-at-arms in the hospital."
btw: The linked post from Mr. Holman at PE is great news about the resignation of LINO partisan Louise Burgart from the provincial Electoral Boundary (ie. not to be confused with 'The Gerrymanderer') Commission.
VideoLink To ThroneSpeechifyin' here.

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