In obvious headlines: former BC Liberal insider unhappy with NDP govt policy

Maclean Kay is a former speech writer for former BC Liberal Premier Christy Clark
As it turns out, when a government that comes to office whose largest support base is from the centre-left including from organized labour, they may at times try to change the rules from the old regime whose support base comes from conservative and big corporate circles.

Also, as it turns out, making changes to governing policy that takes advantage away from said corporate circles and advantages the many groups elsewhere, it upsets conservatives.
Enter, the NDP's infrastructure policy.

Under the policy, there's a heavy emphasis in skills training and apprenticeships, hiring from under-represented groups, and local hiring, and union labour. Completely objectionable in the eyes of the former government supporters who landed in a lot of hot water in their public spending policy over infrastructure.

The notion of a 'project labour agreement' is reprehensible to BC Liberals. In eliminating the practice during their terms of office, the BC Liberals managed to find ways to blow out budgets on major infrastructure too.

What we get here is a plan to build things necessary, pay good wages to the tradesmen and women doing the work, and opening career paths to thousands of British Columbians.

Outrageous.

Opinions aside, Maclean Kay makes a point that breaks apart his own argument.
"For the moment, the NDP is having its way, and the unions are no doubt popping champagne. But forcing people to join against their will isn’t a good look — and they might be surprised who won’t react well."
This comes from a party insider who made themselves notorious for their decade+ fight against teachers where they shredded contracts and forbade the union from negotiating their own working conditions in *future* contracts. It took millions of dollars and finally in a 20 minute deliberation period was struck down once and for all by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Worse, historically, the BC Liberals took aim at public sector healthcare unions when their contracts were shredded as well. The law changed to the extent that it became easy for an employer to forcibly remove a union from the workforce by selling the operation and reopening the next day under 'new ownership'. Between teachers and healthcare workers, the BC Liberals targeted organizations that were overwhelmingly female in their demographic composition and set back the cause by a generation.

No BC Liberal will lecture anyone on labour relations again. They have zero moral authority to speak on the matter.

My 2 bits

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