Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, June 28, 2013

Short B.C. throne speech neglects climate crisis, poverty

Everyone expected today's throne speech to be a brief recap of Christy Clark's election platform. And on this front, it certainly delivered: only eight pages, compared to the usual 20+, pinning our province's hopes on liquified natural gas (LNG) exports, and using much of the same language, word for word, that we've heard repeatedly throughout the election campaign.

A recycled throne speech warrants recycled analysis, so here's an excerpt from what I wrote on this blog in February:

    "the throne speech disappoints with its failure to honestly communicate the true challenges our province faces, let alone offer credible solutions. Too many children live in poverty in our rich province, our hospitals are overcrowded, our schools cannot afford to provide kids with learning disabilities and special needs with the support they need to learn well, there’s a crisis in seniors care, and climate change and income inequality threaten not just our sensibilities, but our economy, quality of life and survival. But while natural gas is mentioned 15 times in the throne speech, and mining and forestry also feature prominently, there is no mention of climate change, green jobs or income inequality."

Natural gas is only mentioned five times this time around instead of 15 (proportional to the shorter length of the speech), but the climate crisis is still MIA.

This omission sticks out as a sore thumb coming just a day after President Obamais inspiring climate action speech, in which he unveiled a comprehensive climate action plan for the U.S.

Moreover, the throne speech's neglect of social and environmental issues facing B.C. is in direct contradiction with a promise Clark made in her victory speech just over a month ago. Then, a beaming Christy Clark told us she heard two concerns from British Columbians during the campaign, and committed (rather emphatically) to heeding these as she leads the next BC government:

1. "people want to know that we will be sharing the economic benefits of this province with everyone"; and

2. "they wanted us to balance economic and environmental issues."

There's nothing in today's throne speech to suggest that her new government intends to follow through on this commitment.

Original Article
Source: rabble.ca
Author: Iglika Ivanova

No comments:

Post a Comment