Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

ICBA Calls On Premier Eby to Scrap Anti-Democratic Bill 7


          ICBA President and CEO Chris Gardner

 


The B.C. NDP Government’s proposed Bill 7 is an unprecedented attempt to concentrate power in the hands of the Premier and must be stopped, says Canada’s largest construction association, the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA).

 

If passed, the NDP Government’s Bill 7 would give Premier David Eby and his cabinet sweeping, unfettered authority to amend or override nearly any existing law without any oversight or debate in the Legislature and without any opportunity for the public to express their views.  

 

“The most basic principle of our democracy is government accountability – Premier Eby is using the pre-text of needing to respond quickly to U.S. tariffs to consolidate power in his office and short-circuit any real debate, review, or opposition,” said ICBA President and CEO Chris Gardner.

 

While there is heightened concern about the impact of a looming trade war between Canada and the United States, Premier Eby already has all the tools he needs to respond. “Using tariffs as a justification to concentrate the enormous power of government in the Premier’s office displays a shocking disregard for our democracy,” added Gardner.  

 

History is rife with examples of politicians taking advantage of crises to assume greater power and control at the expense of both democratic institutions and citizens.  

 

Gardner noted that while some media outlets have suggested the business community generally supports Bill 7, nothing could be farther from the truth. “Large corporate interests and their related associations often find themselves on the opposite side of citizens and business owners as they try to advance their commercial and political interests. While the corporate elites have become a willing partner to David Eby, the vast majority of business owners, entrepreneurs, construction leaders and their teams recognize the dangers presented by concentrating power in the office of one person.”

 

“We want to stop Trump’s tariff war and ensure that Canada is standing strong against the threats coming from the Unites States as much as anyone, but giving David Eby unfettered, unchecked and sweeping power isn’t the way to do it,” said Gardner. “Becoming more authoritarian to somehow ‘defend’ democracy is dangerous. Bill 7 must be stopped, and David Eby needs a reminder that he serves the people of British Columbia – not the other way around.”

 

The NDP has not been shy about using its power against majorities when it has suited them.  When it comes to the NDP’s strong arm tactics, construction has been the canary in the coal mine.  

 

“Under the pretense of ‘training and hiring more people,’ the NDP are preventing 85% of the men and women in construction from working on major government projects to give a monopoly on the work to friends and insiders in the form of so-called ‘Community Benefit Agreements’,” said Gardner. “The NDP also stripped workers of their fundamental, democratic right to a secret ballot in union certification votes. It appears there isn’t anything democratic left in the New Democratic Party.”

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

'Very good news' that Supreme Court will hear B.C. mineral claims case, Eby says

The BC government needs clarity from the Supreme Court of Canada on a landmark mineral rights claim, Premier David Eby says. But the lawyer representing the challenger says that they would have preferred the province respect the lower court's decision. Eby said Thursday it is very good news that the court will hear its appeal of a ruling that found the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the provincial mineral claims regime are "inconsistent." The BC Court of Appeal ruled in December that the provincial Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, or DRIPA, should be "properly interpreted" to incorporate the UN declaration into the laws of B.C. with immediate legal effect. That ruling set off the appeal from the province amid concerns that it could cause economic uncertainty ... CLICK HERE for the full story 
Post a Comment
Read more

EBY OFFSIDE WITH NATIONAL INTEREST AS CARNEY AND SMITH BUILD BC'S ECONOMIC FUTURE WITHOUT HIM ~~ BC Conservatives

IMAGE CREDIT :  CBC News   Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced a landmark agreement today committing Ottawa to designate a new pipeline to BC's west coast as a project of national interest by October 1, 2026, with construction approval targeted for September 1, 2027. The deal pairs the pipeline with a new industrial carbon pricing framework and a fall 2027 construction start. British Columbia, the province where the pipeline ends, where the jobs would land, and where the export terminal would be built, was nowhere at the table. "This is a nation-building deal, and the BC NDP have been locked out of the room," said Trevor Halford, Interim Leader of the Official Opposition.  "While the Prime Minister and the Premier of Alberta were doing the hard work of growing the Canadian economy, the NDP is on the sidelines calling this pipeline a 'fiction' and an 'energy vampire.'  He chose petulance over partnership, and now BC ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kamloops - North Thompson BC Conservative MLA Ward Stamer speaks to Bill 20 — K’ómoks Treaty Act

The following is a condensed version of Kamloops – North Thompson MLA Ward Stamer’s remarks, to the BC Legislature, on the afternoon of Tuesday May 19th : I rise today to continue remarks on Bill 20, the K’ómoks treaty, and to address what I believe are some of the most important constitutional, democratic and governance concerns facing this Legislature today. At the centre of this debate are two major issues. First, unresolved overlapping territorial boundaries tied to this treaty process. And second, the growing legal and political consequences arising from the provincial government’s implementation of the Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, more commonly known as DRIPA. Much of the government’s defence on DRIPA rests upon references to the United Nations declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, commonly known as UNDRIP. And this is where we must begin having a more honest and mature conversation in this province. UNDRIP was never originally designed to function ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Labels

Show more