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Freedom of the Press for Sale (03.25.05)
Unfortunately I wasn’t lucky enough to have recently been called by the Provincial Liberals expensive push-polling campaign. This Bush-style campaigning involves people being asked questions like, "were you aware that the BC Liberals are the most successful government in BC history?" I did however have an eye-opening conversation with a BC Liberal Pollster whom I informed that my vote doesn’t matter since I’m in Squamish.
“So you’re un-decided then.”
“No, my vote doesn’t count. We’re the working class bump between the two richest communities in Canada, you own us.”
“So you’re hostile.”
“What? No. Hang on, do you really have a box you can tick that say’s hostile?”
I was then asked to pick from a loooooong list, one issue that concerns me. Peculiar choices included the Sea to Sky Highway, and further down the list was honesty.
“So two categories I have to choose between are the highway improvement and honesty?”
His reply, and I quote “Yes sir, you can’t have them both.”
Well if that doesn’t just sum up why I don’t want to talk about the upcoming provincial election.
Just look at the legacy of our last MLA, Ted Nebbling. He was the guy who only smiled as our hospital lay in tatters, our courthouse closed, BC Rail sold, and our women’s shelter funding was cut. The only mark he left in Squamish was a stain in the Starbucks washroom. Thanks for nothing Ted. At least with the bar set so low it will be tough for our new puppet to disappoint.
It's sad that Gordon Campbell’s Liberals will be re-elected for the same reason Bush was: “Fair and Balanced” news coverage. Bush has FOX News, Gordo has CanWest. Specifically, according to Election’s BC CanWest Global (Vancouver Sun, Province, Global TV) is a major campaign contributor and that’s not counting all the free press. Tough to get fair coverage when the overwhelmingly dominant news source is a top donor to the governing party. A prime example from a source in the trenches; there was a newsroom revolt when it was decided that the mug shot of Gordon Campbell wasn’t front page news and articals criticizing his behavior were axed.
Like it or not, working voters don’t have time to read sources other than Can-west’s lunch room headlines. It seems like few in this province can still afford to even pay attention. When they do they get scared. This fear seems to work as even Mothers Against Drunk Driving buckled like a cheap belt. Like all his promises, the one about decreasing Drinking and Driving was broken and now DUI’s have actually increased.
So here we are on the brink of an election with the Liberals proudly announcing they want to sell our water and hydro to morally bankrupt American companies who will sell it back to us for a profit. Nice. Until May 17th I grasp onto hope like an un-checked lottery ticket in my front pocket. It’s a million to one shot, fingers crossed, here we go.
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