To Send The Biggest Message of Change This BC Election, the Most Important Vote British Columbians Can Make is… "NOT BC Conservatives"

Look… I realize that the title of this post is likely to trigger certain people’s dualistic mindsets, BUT, I promise, I am not here to proselytize for who people should vote for instead of the BC Cons (so save all your reflexive “what about the other guy/gal” retorts until the end).

The reality is we live in disappointing political times.

People often vote for who they think will beat the party they most don’t want to win (rather than vote for the party whose policies they agree with the most) — which lets all of the parties get away with a lot of finger-pointing, grandstanding, and generally not getting much done for the public good.

The bar for showing political integrity or delivering on promises that genuinely benefit the majority of people is so low that the majority of people have stopped paying attention to what actually happens with all of our tax money (or who gets the biggest tax breaks and subsidies).

Instead, everybody just falls into their familiar political sports team fandom and blames the other side for EVERYTHING (while never addressing any of their own side’s hypocrisies). And, unfortunately, there’s no shortage of disappointing people that people can point their fingers at these days to blame for their disappointment.

Sadly, our democratic(ish) politics have knowingly been like this forever — at least as long as my born-in-the-1980s old ass can remember (although people have literally been pointing these things out for centuries).

It’s enough to make one want to check out altogether… which is probably why voting turnout seems to be getting lower and lower every election (FYI - I know it was just a local by-election for one city councillor spot last month, but the turnout for Kimberley’s recent municipal vote was only around 25%… and I’ve heard people expecting this upcoming BC election to likely be less than a 60% voter turnout, which is not great gang).

Which is why I decided to dust off my previous federal election campaign of “NOBODY SHOULD VOTE CONSERVATIVE OR LIBERAL” from 2021, make a slight adjustment for BC politics in 2024 (ahead of the October 19th provincial election), and say with my chest: “NOBODY SHOULD VOTE BC CONSERVATIVE”.

Now, I realize that this message is going to upset some people (ie. folks who attach some of their personality to being their definition of “conservative”), SO, let me clarify once again that I am not saying who people should vote for instead. Voting is a sacred right of democracy and people should vote for whoever they feel will best represent their values (blah blah etc).

I am just saying, IMHO, that the most important message that can be sent to our leaders at this point in history is that WE (or at least enough of US) are not interested in slipping even further toward the clown show circus of late-stage capitalism politics we see happening down in ‘Merica — where the people vying for positions in government are the same people who shout over everyone else about how all governments serve no purpose and can’t be trusted (despite them using our governments to further their big money capitalist interests while collecting a government salary).

And the best way to send that message, at least in the upcoming British Columbia election (where I live), is by actively NOT voting for the BC Conservatives (and everything the BC Conservatives try to include under their tent while campaigning for enough votes to get into power).

Again, this is not an endorsement of the BC NDP or the BC Green Party or whatever Independents are left after the right-of-centre BC United Party folded a few weeks before the election because they weren’t polling far enough right for all of the vocal fringe groups that right-wing politicians like to stoke for votes (for example, in the Cranbrook riding, Tom Shypitka, a former BC United candidate also pointing out shady activity from BC Cons, is now running as an Independent, while in the Kimberley riding, the current BC Conservative candidate, Scott Mccinnis, originally started off as a BC United candidate, showing that even his first vote wasn’t for the BC Cons ;).

I just wanted to put out a call for anybody who can vote in the upcoming British Columbia election—especially those people who are concerned about the alarming future we are heading towards due to overconsumption, greed, and waste pushing us closer to climate change tipping points THIS decade, as well as the unjust & inhumane ways this nation’s land & resources were acquired in the first place (ie. the truth behind why Canada has a national day for reconciliation) and how those land & resources are exploited to this day (ie. massive wealth inequality, always rising living costs, people/corporations making millions/billions in “profits” every year, etc)—there is no more important time than right now to cast a vote for saying “NO MORE!” to political parties that continue to refuse to address the reality of why things are the way they are (political parties that only exist to try and make our governments look like they can’t function so that they can continue to funnel more of our collective earnings towards the upper classes).

Because it should matter that the First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) sees the BC Conservatives' platform as divisive and regressive (and it should matter that the Moose Hide Campaign has sent Rustad a letter REVOKING permission for him to wear their pin).

It should matter that, even when directly asked at a debate to address the fact that a BC Conservative candidate had tweeted conspiracies about vaccines causing aids, John Rustad does not even have the level of basic integrity to say something like, “well, obviously that’s an unhinged take for someone vying for a government position to make and I don’t personally vouch for that person’s views” — IN FACT — there’s a whole document of unhinged BC Conservative viewpoints that BC United put together before their party was officially pushed aside for not being “right wing” enough, AND, if you don’t want to peruse the 200-page document yourself, you can find a few notable items nicely presented in video form by Steve Boots (from Canadian politics podcast ‘Podcast Is Broken’):

The BC Conservatives (much like the federal cons) represent the ongoing top-down push to deny the reality of what life is like for the majority of us if we continue to mindlessly prop up an unsustainable and unjust colonial/imperial system (despite everything we now know) — a system that was literally built on the unstable foundation of exploiting people, land, and resources for the benefit of the few (ie. a rigged hierarchical system designed for a small percentage of people to profit off of everyone’s basic needs); a system that is pushing us to the brink of ecological collapse, if everyone doesn’t have a mental health breakdown first.

And just like with the Trump Republicans in America, the BC Conservatives only exist to keep pushing the same tired narrative that everything is broken with the current system because of interchangeable “others”… because they would never say out loud that the system they believe in—the system we currently live under—is meant to be “broken” for the majority of people. Poverty is a part of the design. Genocide, war, inflation, oppression… all part of the design.

We are living in the future that past colonial/imperial capitalists dreamed of (ie. they own most of the land and resources needed for survival).

Anybody reminiscing about how good things used to be (or how better things could be made again) is talking about continuing with that same ‘cult of superiority’ worldview of oppression and exploitation (ie. a worldview built on the backs of genocide and slavery, something that everyone today is already very aware of, because it’s an undeniable part of our shared history, even if most people keep that truth buried behind a thousand different distractions and scold anyone who brings the truth up as a buzzkill or communist).

But by actively getting out and campaigning for NOT voting BC Conservative in this upcoming BC election—whether you prefer the BC NDP platform & policies, or the BC Greens platform, or whether BC United disbanding has left you an Independent option in your riding, or whether you feel the need to make an intentional ‘not voting’ protest vote (FYI: the CBC compares party plans here, although… it should be noted that the BC Conservatives, a week away from the election being over, have yet to release a costed platform, once again making the case that they’re only interested in being in power, not governing for the people in earnest)—you would help spread the message that the (hopefully) majority of adults currently living in the area of land known as “British Columbia” right now are not going to continue to participate in the empty distraction politics from insincere political parties that only serve to further capitalist interests. We want to move forward. We want to evolve. And NOT voting BC Conservatives is a good starting point for that message to be delivered (as it doesn't blow smoke up anyone else’s backside for not doing more than they’re currently doing).

Our only chance of ever correcting course as a society is to realize that certain political parties only exist to keep pushing the Overton Window further and further to the far right (ie. towards FASCISM). Which is bad (even if everyone seems to have their own definition of “fascism” these days).

An example of how pushed to the right the Overton Window is with Canadian discourse, which is why folks can call Trudeau a “commie” and not get laughed out of the room for how far off they are (image source)

We need to recognize when a party only exists to keep their thumbs on the political spectrum scale (hello BC Cons!) and we need to say that we’re done giving those political parties enough attention to keep existing (and for them to keep preventing society from making the changes it needs to make in order to evolve).

Because the sooner that more of us start using more of our voices & votes to clearly show that we are done falling for the same old divisive political tricks and insincere promises that have kept us all stuck in a colonial/imperial downward spiral for as long as anyone living can remember, the better off all of our communities built upon unceded Indigenous territory will be going forward. And one of the best ways we can show this right now, especially if you live in British Columbia, is by getting out and NOT voting for divisive & insincere status quo parties like the BC Conservatives (and, if you’re up for it, attempting to have this conversation with some of your fellow British Columbians, whether that’s sharing your thoughts in person or writing… or by passing along articles like the one you’re currently reading ;).

Of course, we will need to follow this “NOBODY SHOULD VOTE BC CONSERVATIVES” campaign up by becoming more actively engaged in holding our future governments responsible for the interests of the people who live here (at the federal, provincial, AND municipal levels), on an ongoing basis (and not just on an election cycle basis) — so maybe we chould start using all this amazing internet and technology to better keep ourselves more informed and engaged with all this stuff, start holding our leaders and ourselves more accountable, eh?

Because then we just might be able to start shifting the Overton Window of public conversation and expectations over to what happens when our society no longer actively encourages rigged private profiteering and instead lets the wealth created by workers go towards the people doing the actual work (hello living wages!) and towards the communities where those workers live with their friends, families, and fellow neighbours (living sustainable lives where everybody is content with having enough, instead of a world where some people have more than they can ever use while others do not even have enough to meet their basic needs).

Because there’s more to life than infinite consuming, which anyone living in a mountain town should already be well aware of.

Or… we could just keep waiting to see if the money will ever start trickling down like they promised.

And that’s more/less why nobody should vote BC Conservatives in this upcoming election (even if some of their candidates seem to be knowingly saying things like “vote for the person, not the party” as they attach their name/values to a certain party that comes with a knowing need to say something like that).

Because it matters what you say you stand for AND it matters what you won’t say you stand up against.

And the BC Conservatives stand for & don’t stand up against everything that prolongs further late-stage colonial/imperial capitalism consequences for everyone alive today (and those hoping to be alive in the not-too-distant future). And those consequences will be felt by everyone, whether you voted for them or not, which is why everyone should actively get out there and NOT vote for them.

After all, the government is meant to provide for its people and it should not be run by parties who do not believe that the government is meant to provide for its people — those parties just use the government as a front to benefit their own capitalist/ego interests, all while never actually getting rid of any of the “big government” they complain about because the government is their main tool for controlling their “free market” and protecting their private property rights (ie. if you want to stick it to Big Pharma, you don’t vote for the party trying to privatize health care for more Big Pharma profits).

Or at least that’s how my brain sees things (but I’ve written a blog post called “Buddhism vs Capitalism” before, so… feel free to infiltrate the comments section if you want to share how your different brain sees things, whether that be differently or the same).

I did try sending questions to all of the candidates in the Kimberley and Cranbrook ridings (that’s the Columbia River-Revelstoke and Kootenay Rockies ridings, respectively) for doing a ‘MEET A LOCAL AREA CANDIDATE’ Q&A on the MOUN.TOWN blog, but, so far, nobody has replied to my questions yet. Although, to be fair, I suppose I didn’t ask the most ‘softball’ of questions (especially coming from some guy with just a diy blahg, a bi-weekly-ish newsletter, and some low-engagement social media accounts):

These are the questions I sent local area candidates for a Q&A that no one has replied to yet.

And, on that note, I’m going to close off this latest edition of “THE BI-WEEKLY-ISH EH?!” to say that the provincial election of British Columbia takes place on the 19th of October, 2024 (and there will be advanced voting from October 10th-13th and October 15th-16th, as well as mail-in voting, and… well, just CLICK HERE to find all the voting info you could want).

Obviously, despite everything I’ve said above, vote for whoever you feel best represents the “British Columbia” that YOU would feel most proud to call your home going forward (but just remember EVERYTHING that you are actually voting for when you give a political party your personal seal of approval).

And I don’t mean to make anyone feel weird about still wanting to vote for BC Conservatives, I merely just wanted to point out with a wider lens view what a vote for a party like that encompasses. What it normalizes. What it signals. What it prolongs. It’s your call whether you still want to hitch your integrity to that wagon.

Of course, if you don’t have any problems with any of the above stuff I’ve shared (or any other far-right political stuff you’ve seen for yourself over the years and have found concerning/embarrassing), then this post wasn’t meant for your pre-made-up mind (and I apologize for wasting your time, long live the empire!).

Personally, I’m going to wait until the last day to cast my vote (October 19th), as I want to try and get in as much information/context as I can before making my final choice as to who I will be voting for (and I’m hoping a video of the Columbia River-Revelstoke candidates debate in Golden last night will be shared online, as I missed the debate to tackle overgrown tomato plants in the garden).

However, as you have probably ascertained from the above writing, I know who I will NOT be voting for… so that should help make the decision a little bit easier :)

Cheers 🍻

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Jeremy // HI54LOFI

(95EH’s Temp Intern)