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Proposed new act reflects societal decay
e-KNOW Editorial
By Ian Cobb
Canada is among the most regulated nations in the world – with laws for a myriad of wrongs and thou shalt not do actions.
Many laws are in place to keep people safe. Things such as seat belt use, motorcycle and bike helmets, no trespassing into danger zones, don’t drive by highway workers at 160 km/h etc. must be governed by laws because some people must be helped to survive youth and younger years and not become a cost burden on society.
It’s cheaper to force people to be smart than deal with the aftermath of stupid choices, simply put.
Laws and adherence to them is a main reason Canada is still a great nation.
Laws keep people safe and they provide a level of comfort as we conduct our daily affairs in ever-changing and greasier times.
However, some laws or proposed laws, bleed and blur over the lines, trending Draconian. The excessive nature of said laws stems from perceived necessity produced by behaviour worthy of legal punishment. In other words, it’s shitty or lousy or stupid behaviour by some people who force us all behind another legal line. The good old one bad apple ruins the batch thing.
Here’s an example so fresh it still smells to the chicken coop and back.
The B.C. NDP government yesterday introduced new legislation that provides a form of carte blanche for law enforcement to be rather supreme in environs immediately around schools in the province.
At its root is good intention but interpretation, being what it is in law, is left wide open and it smells quite strongly of a police state.
The government media release headlined “B.C. acts to protect kids, school staff from disruptive protests,” begins by describing the proposed new legislation will “help keep kids safe and focused on their education by preventing disruptive behaviour, including aggressive protests, on school grounds.
“The proposed legislation will help protect students and staff by giving the province the authority to prohibit behaviour that impedes access to school grounds, disrupts school programs and activities, or causes concern for physical or mental safety of students and staff.”
The new law will provide police the authority to arrest or issue tickets to anyone found impeding access, disrupting educational activities or attempting to intimidate an individual within 20 metres (66 feet) of school grounds.
Premier David Eby said, “While everyone has a right to freedom of expression, disrupting or scaring kids while they’re learning in schools should be, and soon will be, illegal. During the pandemic, when hospitals and health-care workers became the target of anti-vaccine protests, we took action so doctors and nurses could get to work and patients could access care. As schools increasingly become the target, we’re taking similar action to ensure classrooms are safe for kids.”
And there it is. This current trend of pop-up protests, whatever the cause may be, is out-of-control.
When you see people protesting in useless locations, it kind of takes the desire out of wanting to know more about their beef and makes you want to tell them to vaffanculo.
Protests in front of MLA offices about the Israel-Hamas war is an example of useless. Not the protest, the location. What the bloody hell do you think a B.C. MLA can do to end the war?
Or protesting in front of a hospital because vaccines frighten you. That’s about as dense as it gets. That’s when you go to Victoria or Ottawa. But not in a big truck, honking your horn endlessly, bothering the residents there because that’s an asshole move.
Or protesting in front of a school like a banshee because something in your brain makes your backside itch is not a way to educate our children about how to behave in society. School board offices are a better start, or the Victoria legislature.
There are excellent means and ways to be heard by senior government level politicians. Pop-up protests with spittle flying is a waste of your time and of those who you are inconveniencing and scaring.
Yet here we are. Thanks to the decay of societal togetherness, fed daily by the social medium-that-spares-one-from-being-punched-in-the-nose, creating insulated blobs of intellectually mediocre con man pulp, more and more people cannot behave when gathering to protest.
The result? More laws. Less freedom. More chances for police to stretch authority… which leads to police state stuff yada.
“Protests are an important way for people to express their views and advocate for change, but not at the expense of the safety of our schools,” said Niki Sharma, B.C.’s Attorney General. “This legislation provides an important tool to help safeguard our schools and protect kids from intimidation and harassment so they can feel safe to learn.”
“We want to ensure that kids can continue to access the education they need to succeed,” said Rachna Singh, Minister of Education and Child Care. “This must be a priority, and we will take any action that is needed to keep kids safe at school.”
“As advocates for safe learning environments, the BC School Trustees Association fully supports protecting students from learning disruptions,” said Carolyn Broady, president, BC School Trustees Association. “This is a significant step towards safeguarding the well-being of our students and staff, fostering an atmosphere where learning can thrive without disruption or intimidation. We extend our gratitude to Premier Eby who met with us on this issue last fall and are grateful for his commitment to addressing our concerns with meaningful action.”
This proposed law will help keep kids and educators a bit safer and it might serve as an education tool for those who don’t really understand how to or where to protest. That’s important because protest is vital to democracy.
And yet, this law seems to be a step toward limiting protest and public property access and not correcting root issues causing such vehement, poorly located and often ugly protests.
I hope I am wrong.
– Ian Cobb is editor/owner of e-KNOW
