My parents had a Thanksgiving dinner after the B.C. provincial election advance voting had started. My mom is a teacher and there were three B.C. teachers present at the dinner.
One teacher asked my mom: “What do we do? The union convinced us that the only reason the education system was falling apart was ‘cause of the B.C. Liberals but the B.C. NDP has done nothing to fix it.”
My mom responded with, “Yeah, the B.C. NDP has done nothing over the last seven years to fix the education system. The crazy part is, the other option is even worse for us!”
Tied in the polls with the B.C. NDP are the B.C. Conservatives who have not released a platform even though advanced voting is open, but they have drummed up fears of SOGI (Sexual orientation and gender identity) education in schools to hide their agenda of further gutting the education system. My mom and other teachers have to constantly deal with working parents who are more concerned about SOGI rather than the fact that their kids go to school in overcrowded portables. One of the teachers was terrified and said, “I think there is no hope for the education system. I just hope we don’t destroy our healthcare system too.”
Even working teachers who are likely the most patient among us have lost their patience in the system! Workers understand that the choice in the B.C. elections is offensive—an austerity party or culture war party with no actual plan. The RCP says: Canadian workers produce enough to provide every worker with education, health care, and more! However, our society is organized such that workers are left with fewer crumbs every election and forced to choose which party will screw the working class till the next election.
