Editor:
Open letter to North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice and Skeena MP Nathan Cullen.
Stop making the world all about body parts, gender or race. Your job is not to shape our thoughts, it is to help provide jobs.
As someone who lives in and owns in Prince Rupert I feel compelled to ask you some questions regarding the recent events surrounding the American election.
The first question is, decidedly, did you watch what happened?
Did you see how the people of a nation, of all skin colours, sexuality, rich and poor voted for Donald Trump?
Did you stop and reflect back to the nasty and irresponsible comments you make regarding Donald Trump, as if anything you say or think about a national issue as big as the next President of the United States matters to anyone but you?
Do you even see the similarity between what happened in the United States and the way things are heading here at home in Ontario, Alberta and maybe even Prince Rupert?
Perhaps you heard the myriad excuses as to how it came to be that Trump won.
In reality it is quite simple.
You see, cities, provinces, countries, nations — they’re all comprised of people. People of all races, creed, age and sexuality. Hillary Clinton made it a point to demonize Trump and use the girl card in what amounted to a giant backhand to the face. Hillary forgot some crucial elements.
First, both of you and Hillary Clinton have scandals and you two have thousands of job losses in the north piling up almost every other week, yet neither of you have the good grace to own up to what a mess both of you have made of North West, or apologize for it. Actually, Hillary did apologize, but it was much too late. Like you, she carried on as if she was mightier, smarter and better than those all of the people she hurt.
Hillary forgot to include everyone in her plea to lead. She made it a point to favour her special interest groups, and those of minority groups over the good of all people. She labeled people who she deemed wrong as deplorable.
It reminds me of the various names you have called the people of Northwest B.C. and Canada when they want jobs. We’re bad actors, hate the environment, homophobes, xenophobes and don’t care about Aboriginals. That is what you have called people who didn’t agree with your rhetoric.
You lied in regards to your “vast” consultations. Only asking people who agree with you is not a broad and thorough consultation.
You said in your election platform that you are against LNG, that you approve a carbon tax — and claimed that those of us who disagreed were climate change deniers.
I cannot in my lifetime remember a so-called leader calling so many of their constituents names and labeling them with over-used, diluted terms like racists.
You see, Cullen and Rice, you are assuring the demise of Northern B.C.’s economy simply by your dismissive nature. You are the cause of divisiveness in Northwest B.C. because rather than give the people a voice in which to be heard, and listened to, you dismiss anyone who has a differing view to yours, as some kind of phobic reprobate.
All I can say, is that if you want to see a repeat of the American election right here at home in Northwest B.C., just keep doing what you have been. Keep calling all us names and ignoring the pain of the unemployed. Keep catering to your small groups of preferential people and interest groups. Keep ignoring the people of B.C. and Canada. Both of you block or ban anyone on social media that questions your motives or ideas so the openness and transparent facet of your fictitious governing is a lie.
Stop lying to the people, stop calling us names. Stop labeling us with new fancy inventive words while diluting the meaning of other words. Stop dividing the people of Northwest B.C. with your policies and legislation that favour you and your union friends.
Most of all, just stop playing the people of Northwest B.C. for fools, because when the day comes to vote we, the fools of Northwest B.C. will have no choice but to do exactly as our American counterparts have done.
We will vote for the sake of getting you out, and not for what we think is best for our families. Right now, what is best for our families is getting you out and finding someone to undo your damage.
You are single-handedly responsible for a failing economy and depopulation of Northwest B.C., and we are becoming more than angry. We are getting downright enraged.
Are you willing to bet against the anger, think about that for a while.
Meanwhile, I will be studying the other options in Northwest B.C. and work hard for the new representatives.
I will strategically vote for the person that I think stands the best chance of winning, and hopefully, knock the NDP party down from party status and firmly shoved aside as it should be.
I am deeply disgusted with what both of you are doing and have done to the Northwest.
Victoria Beattie
Prince Rupert