As Shocking As It Is Shameful (April 9, 2023)

Good Sunday Morning

Good Sunday Morning!

Happy Easter!

Those simple words have such different meanings to those who observe Easter as a great four-day weekend with spring in the air as opposed to those of us who celebrate the Resurrection and the Life.

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This Thursday (the night of the Last Supper), through the crucifixion on Good Friday, and the long vigil until Jesus rose from the dead on Easter Sunday are the most significant days in the life of a practicing Christian.  Unlike Christmas, Easter is a “moveable” feast”. The date for Easter moves around, falling on the first Sunday after the full moon after the spring equinox.

A critical religious observance in the life of a practicing Jew is Passover. This year, but not always, Passover and Easter are observed over the same dates. Passover began on April 5th with special family gatherings for the seder and will end on the 13th.  Passover marks a huge event for the Jewish people – the liberation of the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery.  It marks the “passing over” by the angel of death of the homes marked over the lintel with the blood of a sacrificial lamb.

And this year the third theist great religion, Islam, also celebrates the moveable observance of Ramadan – this year from March 22-April 20.

Respecting all faiths and religious traditions, as well as those who believe there is something greater than ourselves but do not think there is a God, and those who think this is all there is – right now, this minute, while we draw the breath of life – that respect is how I try to live my life.

All that really matters is that we try very hard to love one another and protect Creation and our Mother Earth.

But religions also separate us. I watched in horror as the Israeli military defiled one of the most sacred mosques of Islam at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Violating the unique historical and legal protections to share Jerusalem among the three tribes of Abraham is an irresponsible and provocative action.

With Netanyahu’s government facing unprecedented public protests against his now-abandoned plans to erode the independence of the judiciary, I am inspired by Israelis taking to the streets.  The actions of Hezbollah (the most likely to be responsible) in firing rockets into Israel has now escalated the situation, as Israel bombs Lebanon. Urging peace is what all three great religions and their leaders should be doing. Condemning violence on all sides is the only place for any believer of any religion, but at the extremes, fundamentalists in all religions fuel hatred. On this theme, I recommend the amazing scholarship of Karen Armstrong in her book, The Battle for God.

Today, I find myself thinking of the tragic events of Good Friday, 2019.  The Green Party of Prince Edward Island was leading in the polls with a voting day the day after Easter Monday, Tuesday, April 23, 2019.  One of my younger PEI friends, Josh Underhay, 35, was leading in the polls to win his seat.  He had been busy door-knocking for weeks. But on Good Friday in rural PEI door knocking is just not done. So he decided to take his 6-year-old son Oliver out for a canoeing break on the Hillsborough River.  Unbearably, and inexplicably, both with life jackets on and with Josh being an experienced canoeist, they both drowned that day.

The PEI Greens, heartbroken and beyond grief, canceled all campaigning for the remaining few days of the campaign. When the votes were counted, Peter Bevan Baker ended up as leader of the Official Opposition. The incumbent Liberals were roundly defeated. A bare majority government was achieved by Progressive Conservative Dennis King.  I will always think it was the image of Dennis King consoling Peter over Josh and Oliver’s deaths that led enough voters to think King could be trusted to be decent.

Fast forward four years and the PEI voters just went to the polls. Tory premier King broke his fixed election date law and called a snap election.  Just like John Horgan in BC, the Tories knew they could get a big majority through First Past the Post. On Monday of this week, April 3, the Conservatives won their majority and the Liberals replaced the Greens as Official Opposition.

But that sort of brief report does a disservice to the amazing success of the PEI Greens.  The Greens actually got a lot more votes than the Liberals. 16,134 for Greens to 12,876 for Liberals – or 21.6 to 17.2% of the popular vote. Liberals won three seats, while Greens won two. Peter Bevan Baker and Karla Barnard held on. The governing Tories have 81% of the seats in the Legislature with 55% of the popular vote.  This in a province where proportional representation won in the first referendum.

Peter Bevan Baker was the focal point of attack from all parties. The NDP were hoping to win a seat by attacking the Greens. They were completely shut out. The Liberal leader chose to run against Peter in his own district. The Liberals did not have an elected leader and King and the Conservatives failed to get rid of the effective opposition of the Greens. Greens had second-place finishes in 18 ridings, with the Tories having five second places, the Liberals getting three, and the NDP one.  With over 20% of the vote, no one should think the Greens in Prince Edward Island have shrunk from major party status.

Still, it is so very hard to see so many excellent Green MLAs in PEI come in second.  I really hope that Lynne Lund, Michelle Beaton, Trich Atlass, and Steve Howard, all incumbent Green MLAs, will be back and soon!

But speaking of politicians who call snap elections, John Horgan was back in the news this week.

This story is as shocking as it is shameful. Within 24 hours of stepping down as MLA, Horgan announced he had joined the board of directors of a coal company. So much for any fig leaf of pretense that he ever cared about the climate crisis. But worse than that, he did not sign up for the board of just any coal company, but of the very one I have been writing about in GSM, responsible for polluting the lands and waters of Indigenous peoples on both sides of the border!

Horgan is now on the board of Elk Lake Resources – a company racking up tens of millions in fines and violating the Fisheries Act. The same company whose selenium pollution was supposed to be referred to the International Joint Commission on a complaint by U.S. Tribal nations, until the BC NDP government pressured the feds to drop the investigation.

The Ktunaxa nation released all the emails and letters between the US government, the Canadian government, Teck Resources (owners of Elk Valley), and their compliant buddies in the BC NDP. I am sharing the link here for those who want to dive deeply into the record.  The smoking gun letter from Environment Minister George Heyman and Resources Minister Bruce Ralston to federal Minister of Global Affairs Melanie Joly is found at p.51 of 86 pages. It was sent on April 14 when Horgan was still premier.

Draw your own conclusions, but Horgan should be asked some questions on the code of ethics.

I’m sorry this Easter message is so long.  I had planned to share the details of the Portapique Mass Casualty Commission Report, but they are too grim for an Easter morning.

Please take a moment to sign a very relevant petition below!

Hoping you have a joyous happy day!  Hallelujah!

Love and peace,

Elizabeth

P.S.