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B.C. Politics Thread


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14 minutes ago, Boudrias said:

I don’t understand why foreign money being laundered thru BC casinos is not a bigger issue? We know the BC Liberals knew it was going on and can be accused of abetting the trade. Washed money was then invested in BC real estate which led to inflated housing costs. The Chinese money brought into BC was helped by organized crime gangs from China. Once established they use some of the profits to expand the manufacture of and distribution of drugs.

 

If my summary is correct then the obvious question becomes what has been done to shut this activity down? I don’t see stories of drug busts or organized crime members being extradited. If memory serves the NDP said they would pursue charges to the highest level, including Liberal MLA’s, when elected. I saw none of that happen? 

 

haven't done much, don't seem to have any other ideas on it either: https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/highlights/bc-premier-ditches-chief-anti-money-laundering-recommendation-8359675

 

 

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19 hours ago, Bob Long said:

 

haven't done much, don't seem to have any other ideas on it either: https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/highlights/bc-premier-ditches-chief-anti-money-laundering-recommendation-8359675

 

 

It appears that law enforcement in BC is underfunded in their investigations of organized crime. From a political perspective I don’t understand why. If the profits are being invested in real estate and thereby inflating home cost it would be a no brainer to actually do enforcement. My limited reading to date suggests Chinese, Iranian, Mexican and Mafia gangs are all well established in BC. Supposedly the price of narcotics in North America is controlled from BC. 

 

Our biggest fear should be that the huge amounts of money involved will corrupt our democracy. 

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12 minutes ago, Boudrias said:

It appears that law enforcement in BC is underfunded in their investigations of organized crime. From a political perspective I don’t understand why. If the profits are being invested in real estate and thereby inflating home cost it would be a no brainer to actually do enforcement. My limited reading to date suggests Chinese, Iranian, Mexican and Mafia gangs are all well established in BC. Supposedly the price of narcotics in North America is controlled from BC. 

 

Our biggest fear should be that the huge amounts of money involved will corrupt our democracy. 

 

I think the why is the criminal groups are much better funded. Our approach reminds me of Japan, they seem to tolerate it like we do. 

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2 minutes ago, Gurn said:

Meh- I've no problem with pulling those old books- as long as they are replace with newer, more relatable stories.

It is possible to teach the same lessons in a newer way.

The linked article explains the reasoning behind the move.    Reading it tempered my outrage a bit.  

 

Ritinder Matthew, the communications officer for the Surrey School District, told Global News on Thursday that the review of these four books began more than a year ago after feedback from parents and others in the community.

“We received a lot of feedback from families of students not feeling safe in the classroom when these resources were used,” she said.

Using To Kill a Mockingbird as an example, Matthew said the review found the “portrayal of Black characters as one-dimensional, the use of the white saviour trope, the use of ableist language, the use of the N-word, noting it’s normalized in the text and not necessarily used as a slur, but often as another word for Black people. And that’s completely offensive and inappropriate.”

Matthew added that the district is recommending other books to use instead, such as Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, Brother by David Chariandy, The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead and Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10326701/bc-school-district-pulls-books-curriculum-content/

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28 minutes ago, Gurn said:

Meh- I've no problem with pulling those old books- as long as they are replace with newer, more relatable stories.

It is possible to teach the same lessons in a newer way.

 

Come on, thats really partisan.

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I wonder how much less 'outrage/angst' there would be, out in the world, if articles could only have titles like " a story about Premier Eby"  rather that titles like " That scum sucking Premier did this "  and so on.

So much hype and inflammatory jargon, imo this is really, really starting to hurt our society.

People walking around all ticked off, because so much of what we see and hear is so angry and hyped.

 

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24 minutes ago, Gurn said:

I wonder how much less 'outrage/angst' there would be, out in the world, if articles could only have titles like " a story about Premier Eby"  rather that titles like " That scum sucking Premier did this "  and so on.

So much hype and inflammatory jargon, imo this is really, really starting to hurt our society.

People walking around all ticked off, because so much of what we see and hear is so angry and hyped.

 

Even in the hockey world, one such word pairing I've come to hate is "speaks out". It sounds like there's drama going on or something causing someone to speak out... yet it's usually just some random talk that really could have been "such and such said this".

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53 minutes ago, Gurn said:

I wonder how much less 'outrage/angst' there would be, out in the world, if articles could only have titles like " a story about Premier Eby"  rather that titles like " That scum sucking Premier did this "  and so on.

So much hype and inflammatory jargon, imo this is really, really starting to hurt our society.

People walking around all ticked off, because so much of what we see and hear is so angry and hyped.

 

 

I don't know about that, I just have a problem with banning books no matter who does it.

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14 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

I don't know about that, I just have a problem with banning books no matter who does it.

They aren't banned though, just taken off the reading list.

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15 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

They aren't banned though, just taken off the reading list.

 

Because someone "didn't feel safe"? I mean is this how we will measure every book in the curriculum?

 

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2 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

Because someone "didn't feel safe"? I mean is this how we will measure every book in the curriculum?

 

I can't understand the 'not feeling safe' comment at all.   The other comments made some sense to me.  

 

As mentioned, To Kill A Mockingbird has not been banned.  Readers will still be able to find it.   

 

And who can argue over kids reading Toni Morrison?

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18 minutes ago, Satchmo said:

I can't understand the 'not feeling safe' comment at all.   The other comments made some sense to me.  

 

As mentioned, To Kill A Mockingbird has not been banned.  Readers will still be able to find it.   

 

Sure but teachers have to apply to teach it

 

18 minutes ago, Satchmo said:

And who can argue over kids reading Toni Morrison?

 

I'm sure someone will 

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@Bob Long In my opinion, the replacement books are far superior to ones being replaced.  Black characters written by black authors highlighting institutional racism and discrimination, while using more modern language relatable to readers today.  

 

Having said that, the results don't match up with the reasoning.  These books have some seriously heavy content.  A slave mother murdering her baby daughter out of love.  Slaves getting raped by other slaves.  Innocent black people getting shot and murdered by cops.  Murders to cover up other crimes.  Better books with better depth and better content.  They should've just explained it like that.

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7 hours ago, Miss Korea said:

@Bob Long In my opinion, the replacement books are far superior to ones being replaced.  Black characters written by black authors highlighting institutional racism and discrimination, while using more modern language relatable to readers today.  

 

Having said that, the results don't match up with the reasoning.  These books have some seriously heavy content.  A slave mother murdering her baby daughter out of love.  Slaves getting raped by other slaves.  Innocent black people getting shot and murdered by cops.  Murders to cover up other crimes.  Better books with better depth and better content.  They should've just explained it like that.

 

You nailed it. 

 

I would have preferred they simply add more to the curriculum, contrasting the books would be where some very interesting learning happened.

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1 hour ago, Bob Long said:

 

You nailed it. 

 

I would have preferred they simply add more to the curriculum, contrasting the books would be where some very interesting learning happened.

 

You can't have them read all of them.  If you had choose between.... Beloved or Mockingbird, one book has far more value.  And you really only have time for one book. 

 

It's not a ban.  It's just a curriculum change.  If a school switches textbooks, it's probably not a ban.

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2 hours ago, Bob Long said:

 

You nailed it. 

 

I would have preferred they simply add more to the curriculum, contrasting the books would be where some very interesting learning happened.

Sure read these new books. But, like your suggestion, have the kids read classics too. TKAMB is an excellent book. Do the kids still read Lord of the Flies? 

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13 minutes ago, Miss Korea said:

 

You can't have them read all of them.  If you had choose between.... Beloved or Mockingbird, one book has far more value.  And you really only have time for one book. 

 

It's not a ban.  It's just a curriculum change.  If a school switches textbooks, it's probably not a ban.

 

Id argue its effectively a ban if a teacher has to apply to add it in and then have to defend the decision. No teacher will do that.

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Just now, Alflives said:

Sure read these new books. But, like your suggestion, have the kids read classics too. TKAMB is an excellent book. Do the kids still read Lord of the Flies? 

 

I think there's huge value in discussions around both. 

 

Dunno, my daughter has been out of school for a while now.

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5 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

Id argue its effectively a ban if a teacher has to apply to add it in and then have to defend the decision. No teacher will do that.

 

You can't treat every book replacement like it's a ban.  If I replace a history textbook you read as a child with a new one, is that a ban?  Would you try to apply to have kids read the old one instead?

 

Don't have time for both books either.

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Just now, Miss Korea said:

 

You can't treat every book replacement like it's a ban.  If I replace a history textbook you read as a child with a new one, is that a ban?  Would you try to apply to have kids read the old one instead?

 

But that's not what's behind this.

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