Keeping it Real…

Wally Oppal is a good man; a very decent man; with an honourable record of public service as a County Court Judge, a BC Supreme Court Justice,  and as an MLA.

So what a sad auditory spectacle it was today (Wednesday) on CKNW’s Bill Good show to hear Oppal, as BC’s Attorney General, clumsily trying to explain, defend and prop up the Liberal Government’s latest attempt to muffle free speech.

Under Bill 42, the BC government is trying restrict third parties (unions, professional groups, business organizations) to spending no more than $150,000 on any advertising messages promoting or opposing any political candidate,  party or even “issue” in the 60 days preceding the vote.

Originally the Liberals had proposed an incredible 120-day restrictive period, but the province-wide denunciation of that, and threats of lawsuits brought about a new idea Tuesday from the government: democratic rights of self expression would only be restricted in BC for 60 days, not 120! Apparently, it never occurred to them to just let freedom of speech (and advertising) we have now, continue unabridged!

And there was Wally, on the radio, saying the new censorship actually would “promote democracy” by limiting the intrusion of third parties ….and U.S. style spending of millions and millions of dollars by third parties, threatening the very democractic process.

So that’s it … a government that has taken years and years to get around to aggressively dealing with our existing real problems, like homelessness, street crime, pollution, and health care waiting lists …  and has still not succeeded to substantially solve ANY of them … has the time, energy, resources and all kinds of monitoring services available (how many millions will that cost?)  to deal with a so-far non-existant problem in B.C. , that has not been the subject of a single public campaign in any part of our province.

And what makes it all more ridiculous .. is that, when the NDP was in power and had a similar …but shorter .. stupid law,  Gordon Campbell strongly condemned it and wisely got rid of it after taking office.  How ironic, now that the Premier and HIS government are heading closer to an election , they suddenly like the idea of restricting freedom of speech, for an even longer period than those Socialists did.

So there was Wally,   sounding, in my view,  quite uncomfortable during much of his ‘NW appearance, issuing forth such gems as:

* It’s “wise” for the government to act with this legislation before any abuses occur;

* Now, with fixed election dates and demographic changes, the law that was bad under the NDP is now justifiable under the Liberals;

* It’s good legislation as far as democracy is concerned;

* Do we want third parties to influence public opinion? ( If it’s wrong to influence public opinion, what about the millions of dollars of public money the government spends leading up to each election telling us about the wonderful things it has accomplished and the services it provides for us?);

* The Attorney General doesn’t think anyone’s right to free speech is constrained by this legislation; and,

* The Supreme Court of Canada has “condoned and confirmed”  a smiliar federal law. ( The Court only ruled the federal law legal … it did not propose it! And the federal law applies for only 38 days … during the actual federal election campaign … not for 60 or 120 days before voting day.) 

It was quite pathetic listening to Wally defend this attack on our liberty and the undermining of our intelligence as voters, able to see ANY advertising (third party of government) for what it really is.

I realize that as Attorney General, Oppal has little political choice but to be a “fart-catcher” for legislation under his ministry, forced upon him by the Premier and the government.

Or he can walk away. 

Oppal is reportedly not sure if he will seek re-election next May. If Bill 42 represents the current thinking and future direction of the Liberal government, he should walk away.

To stay would be to dignify this attack on freedom of speech by the government. And it would sully and stain his otherwise stellar record of highly principled public service. 

Go, Wally … go!

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