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Spot the Justice in These Cases
By
Bob Orrick
Two recent events in British Columbia provide food for thought. First, as is probably well known across the Dominion and elsewhere, BC's premier got a bit swacked while vacationing on Maui and was stopped by police. He was hauled off to jail where he spent a few hours cooling his heals and thinking about his indiscretion. Police reports state that Premier Gordon Campbell's blood-alcohol level was .149, nearly twice the legal limit. Campbell has confirmed that figure. Second, a British Columbia Court of Appeal justice refused to abide by a Workers' Compensation Board legal order to stop smoking in the workplace. The justice, 71-year-old Mary Southin, refused to give up smoking the weed while in her chambers. Penalties for refusing to follow the 1998 workplace smoking regulations range from $1,000 to $75,000 for an employer and first-time offender.
Premier Campbell has been raked over the BC coals; polls suggest his apology has barely won the day although not the hearts of thousands of former supporters. Letters-to-the-editor columns have been fairly evenly split along 'for' and 'against' lines. Some letters have taken the premier's drunk driving charge and twisted it into a political vendetta. British Columbia is in the throes of rather severe government cutbacks that have affected schools, hospitals, seniors, courthouses, ferries, and prescriptions to name a few of the more obvious ones. The citizens of the province are not at all pleased and battle lines have been drawn. Campbell's recent holiday on Maui has turned out to be a turning point and the jackals have thirsted for blood.
While the polarised politics of BC are always front and centre in the province, Premier Campbell's drunk driving issue seems to have hardened the lines separating the loony left from the righteous right. In BC, there simply is no middle ground, at least none that is capable of holding up under scrutiny. The political game as played in BC is very much an 'us' versus 'them' situation.
Justice Mary Southin's refusal to abide by the WCB ruling has cost the taxpayers of British Columbia almost $19,000. The justice stated publicly that she is an "unrepented smoker." When push came to shove, the provincial attorney-general caved in and approved an $18,919 expenditure to install three new fans and make other building modifications to vent Southin's cigarette smoke outdoors.
When called on by the people to explain this 'waste' of taxpayers' money to satisfy a unrepented smoker's refusal to obey the law, Attorney-General Geoff Plant said that it "was a prudent expenditure that made the workplace save, and the other choices available to government were far more expensive." [Vancouver Sun]
The 'other choices' include the possibility of having to pay Southin between "$300,000 and $500,000" if she had been unable to do her job but would still have to be paid.
Plant conceded that the installation of the fans and the alterations to the building was "the least expensive of the options to resolve the impasse."
The two cases show that contrary to the protestations of some, it appears that there are two laws in this land: one for the rich and another for the poor.
Premier Campbell's case has to be weighed against a BC government worker who lost a week's pay when he was suspended after a drunk driving offence. Campbell has said he is sorry but has not lost a week's pay, or even a minute's pay, nor has he done the parliamentary correct thing and resigned. Campbell excused his idiotic behaviour by stating that it happened while he was on holiday and not while he was on official business. The government worker stated he, too, was not on public business when stopped by the police while driving home in January 2001. His blood-alcohol level was .150; Campbell's was .149. Two positions, two rules.
Justice Southin flaunts the WCB rules and costs BC taxpayers $19,000. Although A-G Plant said installing fans and renovating the building was "the least expensive option," it might have been a better option had Southin simply stopped smoking in her chambers. She could have stepped outside to smoke just as thousands of others do daily to satisfy their addiction. Where does it say that an Appeal Court Justice is above the rule of the common folk? Answer: in BC.
Bob is hoping that readers will take the time to think about his column to the extent that they may decide to send an email to syears@senioryears.com and comment, either positively or negatively about what they have read. We will display letters at Talking Back to Bob.
Bob Orrick is a private tutor of English grammar, literature, poetry and Canadian history to off-shore youngsters. His pupils hail from such places as Taiwan, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Venezuela. He was previously in international marketing, was a ministerial assistant to a provincial cabinet minister, spent a few years as a reporter then editor of a community newspaper and enjoyed a career in the Royal Canadian Navy.
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