From The Hotline, Summer, 2008

Campbell government rams through seven bills on final day of legislature

This year’s spring legislative session in Victoria ended with the Campbell Liberal government ramming through seven new bills into law that have brought British Columbians, among other things, a new fuel tax with Bill 37, new threats to our public health care system with Bill 21, and the implementation of a “gag law” that denies British Columbians the ability to exercise their right to free speech by limiting third party advertising from mid-February until after the provincial election next year on May 12, 2009 – Bill 42, the Election Amendment Act.

Just SHUT UP BC |Bill 42 changes the definition of election advertising to mean “the transmission to the public by any means, during the period beginning 120 days before a campaign period and ending at the end of the campaign period, of an advertising message that promotes or opposes, directly or indirectly, a registered political party or the election of a candidate, including an advertising message that takes a position on an issue with which a registered political party or candidate is associated.”

Bill 42 also severely limits any spending on public interest communication for a full three months before the election. Public advocacy organizations, environmental groups, unions and others will have their ability to print materials or buy advertising limited to $3,000 in a single electoral district or $150,000 in total from February to the election in May, 2009.

$150,000 seems like a lot of money, isn’t that enough?

The reality is, advocacy organizations, whether they’re speaking in the interests of a resource industry or public education are part of a democracy and they spend money to inform the public about their issues.

For example one 30-second ad on prime time TV can cost $14,000. Under these rules, that’s just over one-and-a-half minutes per month to talk about the importance of education or public health care or climate change
to future generations.

Aren’t spending limits good for democracy?

Bill 42 actually places new limits on democratic participation.

Bill 42 DOES NOT restrict political party donations.

Bill 42 INCREASES political parties’ campaign spending limits to an amount that can only be reached by the BC Liberal Party, with the support of corporate donations.

And Bill 42 places new limits on ID requirements for voter registration that disadvantage low income and homeless people in our communities.

Take action NOW!

Visit www.justshutupbc.com to find out what you can do!

BC unions launch legal challenge against gag law

June 26, 2008 - Seven of British Columbia’s largest unions, along with the BC Federation of Labour, have decided to launch a legal challenge against Bill 42.

The unions have retained lawyers Joseph Arvay, Q.C., and Leo McGrady, Q.C., to handle the case.

Bill 42 was introduced late in the last legislative session. The government eventually invoked closure to pass the Bill.

“The Gordon Campbell government is afraid of legitimate criticism and it is fully prepared to violate constitutionally protected free speech rights to silence its critics,” says BC Federation of Labour Secretary-Treasurer, Angela Schira.

“This law is a poorly disguised attempt to stack the deck heading into the provincial election less than a year away,” added Schira. “Gordon Campbell loudly and vehemently opposed much weaker spending restrictions when he was in opposition, and now that he is in power has introduced a much more egregious gag law.”