As you saw in last Wednesday's Optimist, Sylvia Bishop is running for council again this November thus forcing editor Ted Murphy to reach far into the back of the bench to obtain a substitute Community Commenter.
I readily accepted since I consider the run-up to the triennial municipal election (although Lois would seem to prefer a quinquennial cycle) to be the best time to have a regular Optimist column since one can raise issues that can remain in front of mind at voting time. I want to remind readers of the records and policies of the current mayor and council where these have differed from the best interests of South Deltans. The Tsawwassen Area Plan springs to mind.
However, for this week, I just can't pass up commenting on the front-page story in the August 24 Optimist headlined as "Premier in town for round-table." In it Premier Christy Clark is quoted as saying: "I committed to opening up government when I got elected in March. So, I've been doing town halls all across the province and this is part of it."
One hardly knows where to start. Apparently Christy met with selected (by her) members of the Delta community at the meeting, "which was closed to the media and general public." Her idea of "opening up the government" is to have "town hall" meetings which are closed to the media and the general public!
Further, Christy "got elected in March." True, she was elected by a slim majority in Point Grey, but should I infer from her self-serving comment that she has been elected as premier by the aforementioned excluded "general public?" No, no. You don't have to be elected by the general public to be Premier of B.C. You just get appointed by the Lieutenant Governor who, in turn, is appointed by the Governor General who, in turn, is appointed by the Queen who, in turn, inherits her job.
You can't just walk into the palace and see the Queen; likewise you can't just walk into a town hall meeting in Delta and see Christy.
If she ever calls a real election to get a real mandate, you also don't have to vote for her. In fact you can't. Fortunately you will be able to vote for Vicki Huntington, who was elected by South Deltans and who I have always found to be truthful and sincere.
So what did the pre-selected participants at the exclusive town hall meeting tell Christy that South Deltans want?
Did Christy leave the meeting under the impression that we want the hospital shut down or, failing that, its surgery capability to remain unrestored; that we want the landscape destroyed by a half-built freeway, and the existing roads overloaded by container trucks which ignore the traffic laws that her police don't enforce; that we don't want direct bus service to Vancouver; that we wanted a neighbourhood depopulated to accommodate a power line; and that we really enjoy the almost complete absence of provincial services in one of B.C.'s larger communities? I hope so. That's democracy.
