Editor, The News:
Re: System is broken (News Views, May 22).
The News editorial claims the electoral system is broken. Really, what was your first clue? The fact that only 50 per cent of voters bothered to vote?
Maybe you should take a little responsibility for that fact, the constant barrage of dirty tricks, multi-millions of dollars of attack ads, slander, character assassination, outrageous lies, deception, misinformation, propaganda, the bending and breaking many of our laws and expenditure of public funds to bribe votes using public employees to do Liberal election work on the public dime, the media’s total bias toward the B.C. Liberals for less than honest or honourable reasons.
Let’s call a spade a spade. The owner of the News, David Black, has about the most serious conflict of interest imaginable with his refinery – a pretty well done deal with the election of the B.C. Liberals.
Another point made in this editorial is that the present electoral system is an archaic joke. Well, as I remember, it was this same big media that fought against the STV, using the same tired, sick tactics we just witnessed for this election to defeat the STV. So once again the media has to take much of the blame for what, for all intents and purposes, is a dictatorship, which is more to the advantage of big money and the people who own and control big media.
The people of B.C. will continue to be brainwashed and deceived by the likes of Tom Fletcher in these right-wing rags, telling us we should not be interested in justice, that it is too expensive and the people of B.C. do not really need to know whether the people in power in this province are criminals or not.
And why do we really need to know if development projects will destroy our environment?
Really, Mr. Fletcher? You do not even have to write a column. All we have to do to know your position on any subject is just imagine the most extreme ultra-right-wing position on any subject and that is invariably your position.
Your insightful comment on the beginning of the end for the old left-right model for B.C. politics is so you. But it is nothing new. It is a very old evil, called dictatorship.
The truth is that you, Mr. Black and your big media, big money cohorts bought, thus own this election and, respectively, this government, so you are responsible for every mistake, corruption, insult and injury, not to mention damage that is done to the province of B.C., and it’s people, and ultimately the economy. Not that you care about that, as long as you get your pound of flesh.
The fact is that the wealthier and more powerful the corporate media giants have become, the poorer the prospects for participatory democracy and the chance that these big money, big media monopolies’ best interests would be in the people’s best interest is highly improbable.
Wayne Clark
Maple Ridge