I Told You So

I am sure I am not the only person who, at least secretly, likes being able to say "I told you so". It may not be particularly to tell someone how wrong they were and how right you were (or at least to brag about it), but it does, on occasion feel good. Today I can say to all of those folks on Vancouver Island who so naively believed that the political world had changed when earlier this year the NDP, with the support of the three Green Party members elected from the island became the provincial government - nothing has changed and I told you so! I wish it wasn’t so but it is.

Part of the Green Party’s campaign platform was the absolute cancellation of the Site C dam. While the NDP’s platform on the same issue was less clear, certainly on Vancouver Island (so far removed from the proposed dam site that Islanders’ opinion should have been almost irrelevant) it was understood that Site C was nothing but a Liberal boondoggled to be done away with a soon as possible. Yesterday, John Horgan as the Premier of the province, with the support of the Green Party leader Andrew Weaver announced that the Site C dam would go ahead as planned. In a world where politicians could be counted on to do what they said- the Green Party would have withdrawn their support for the government. In a world where politicians were held to their promises, this decision would be grounds for an immediate election.

While both leaders expressed their discomfort over their decision, they neither apologized to those who had elected them nor explained how they could go back on their words. John Horgan’s words which he perhaps meant as an apology to the First Nations ( “I am not the first person to stand before you and disappoint Indigenous People” (CBC)), strike me as blatant political self-justification and do nothing to encourage any sort of dialogue. If nothing else, both party leaders should apologize to the Liberals for suggesting that they (the Liberals) were rapists of the land who did not care about the future.

I do not know if the Site C dam is needed or if so, if it is in the right location. I cannot imagine the complexity of trying to determine the electrical needs of a growing province ten years from now. I suspect that that type of decision is well beyond the capacity of most British Columbians. It needed to be made without emotion - based purely on economic needs of all British Columbians. However, I think it is fair to assume that in the past six months, there has not been any significant new data added to equation. Therefore, both the NDP and the Green Party could have said what they said yesterday, six months ago. They perhaps would not have got elected, but at least they would have been honest. Right now it appear as if they said some things just to elected - just like all other political parties.

I take no pleasure in being marginally less politically naive than some of my peers. There is no joy in watching people becoming disengaged from politics because it feels as if everyone always lies. It is profoundly discouraging to watch one’s last hope of an environmentally aware political party become as self serving as all of the rest. It will be tempting for those who feel betrayed by the Green Party’s decision to support the building of the Site C dam to vote some other way the next election, or even worse to ignore their failure to keep their promises. The public need to develop comprehensive critical thinking skills so that during the lead-up to the next election we ask questions and demand answers that are not based on emotion but based on facts. Answers based what is good for the province as opposed to what fits a particular personal or political ideology.

Parties that attempt to give me the answer they think I want - will always betray me if for no other reason than they have no real opinions of their own.