This guy was a judge?

Last week at the Legislature, Solicitor General Wally Oppal introduced Bill 42 to prohibit third-party advertising before and during B.C. election campaigns. Once again, the B.C. Lieberals flaunt their anti-union credentials by trying to bludgeon labour's right to political action. While Oppal cries about the rise of 'American-style' campaigning, it was the Lieberals themselves who put B.C. voters on this path by establishing fixed election dates and spending taxpayers' money on their perpetual 'Best Place on Earth' campaign. This isn't just about trying to shut up the Unions, it's also about ducking the real issue of just how much corporate money flows into Lieberal coffers to buy influence with Gordon Campbell and his gang. Last year $4 million of the $6 million raised by the Lieberals came from corporations, whereas only $220, 000 of the $3.1 raised by New Democrats came from Unions.

Note to Mr. Oppal: Bill 42 is American-style campaigning - it's a voter suppression tactic which matches Karl Rove's best work in turning the United States into a Rethuglican crony police state. Bill 42 turns single-issue voters away from the electoral process for being denied information, turns elections into the sole property of political parties, allows the corporate (read: rabidly pro-BC Lieberal) media far too great an influence in the outcome, and infringes on any organization's right to communicate with its members and act in the best interests of those members.

If Oppal doesn't withdraw Bill 42 for those reasons, here's a couple of other reasons he should consider: One, it's not like the Lieberals have such a great record with the Supreme Court of Canada, and two: if they find the NDP nipping at their collective heels in the dying weeks of the 2009 campaign like they did four years ago, Jimmy Pattison and the Vancouver Board of Trade won't be able to come to their rescue with their 'The Sky is Falling', fear-mongering shenanigans again - because Bill 42 will have foreclosed on the roller coaster.