BC’s Green Party says they will work something out with either the Liberals or NDP by next Wednesday. Someone will form government and that’s too bad because a hung parliament is the best parliament.
Government services haven’t ceased without Christy Clark or John Horgan at the helm. The taxman is still collecting.
There are just no busy-body policy-makers ready to infringe on your liberties while serving special interests.
Spain went without a federal government for 10 months. People were happier.
Even Somalia, already a decrepit third-world environment, has improved marginally without a central state authority. Albeit, there are plenty of war lords ready to assume that power and they are killing each other over it.
In British Columbia, with no majority government now official, the Liberals and NDP rely on the Greens, and the Greens claim to stand up for craft BC bud.
Since the NDP are in the pockets of labour unions, they’ve always been a write-off, favouring a model where Ottawa’s federally-licensed producers can sell in state-owned liquor stores.
But unlike in Ontario, where the government and a corporate beer cartel control booze, BC has private establishments, a robust craft beer and wine industry, and so despite what Horgan may or may not have the chance to do, he can’t stop BC Bud from doing what it wants.
The NDP, like the Liberals, will adhere to any federal regime. The BC Liberals are small-c conservatives and wish to pass the marijuana buck, as it were. No cannabis connoisseur wins when governments are in power. Doesn’t matter what brand they are.
But what about the Greens and their support for craft cannabis? What about their core identity as environmentalists? Industrial hemp can do a lot of things on a sustainable basis, provided government restrictions don’t impede entrepreneurs and consumers with hefty regulations and taxes.
Since the Greens hold the balance of power, do cannabis connoisseurs have an advantage? Is this our “in” to promoting a free BC Bud market?
If the Greens support our agenda, we win political capital against the federal Liberals who wish to usurp BC Bud by federally licensing producers and restricting advertising and promotion.
Green Party leader Andrew Weaver is on record saying, “The feds should simply remove cannabis from their Controlled Drug and Substances Act and stay out of the business of saying who can or can’t produce it.
“We favour policies that support a craft cannabis industry that is provincially regulated, tested, taxed and is local.”
Now is the time to hold his feet to the fire. There are only three Green MLAs.