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BC Premier @jjhorgan compares June's record 175 OD death stats to COVID: "These are 2 separate things. We have an insidious virus that affects anyone at anytime & we have an opioid crisis that involves ppl using drugs; those are choices initially & then they become dependencies."
But the government is really the one who is making choices. They are choosing not to act. Under all their nice rhetoric, beats the dark heart of an old argument: we are moral failures, less deserving of life than others.
I voted NDP. And I want to salute Premier @jjhorgan for his honesty. While so many other officials gaslighted us, he has the guts to be honest, to just put his middle finger up to our faces. As Joe Keithley told me when I was 14, "ya gotta know who your enemy is." And we do.
Minister @DarcyJudy defends Premier @jjhorgan's Harper-like "drugs are a choice" statement. She does not back-peddle. But nor does she agree with Horgan. She insists that the premier means the opposite of what he said. This is called gaslighting. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-91-the-early-edition/clip/15787682-b-cs-minister-mental-health-addictions-says-covid-19-causing
The minister calls record OD deaths "a perfect storm." Our deaths are not a force of nature but a force of policy. COVID is no excuse. BC took no ownership over it's broken, privatized addiction treatment system. It allowed that system to dictate if/when Dr.s will prescribe.
I used to have a newspaper column @24hoursvan. In 2017, I wrote that we needed to boot out Christy Clark & Horgan would be preferable. Dean Wilson came up to me with the paper in his hand & said: "Garth, the NDP never did fuck all for drug users." http://garthmullins.com/2017/05/emergency-situation-demands-end-to.html
Apology not accepted. Premier @jjhorgan says he "misspoke" when he characterized drug use as a choice yesterday. But you can't un-ring that bell, Premier. You've already revealed to us why this government is unwilling to act: it's you. Resign. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/john-horgan-apologizes-for-comments-about-b-c-s-overdose-crisis-1.5653803
Now that Premier @jjhorgan has apologized, that rather leaves minister @DarcyJudy in the uncomfortable situation of having fully supported his comments just a few hours before - tho she did try to remix their meaning.
The problem with @jjhorgan's comments is not that he said drug use is a choice - it can be sometimes. The problem is that the Premier separated the overdose crisis & COVID via moral calculus. COVID merits bold action. We don't. Our deaths don't rate.
It is difficult to get a premier or a minister to understand something when their votes depend upon them not understanding it. (Upton Sinclair remixed)
I will not accept Premier @jjhorgan's apology for saying this
. It sounds like someone speaking truthfully about what they really think. It doesn't sound like someone tripping over words or misspeaking. Don't say sorry. Change the policy. Or resign.
. It sounds like someone speaking truthfully about what they really think. It doesn't sound like someone tripping over words or misspeaking. Don't say sorry. Change the policy. Or resign.
Horgan was a disappointment. On Thursday, he identified himself as an enemy of drug users. It's that he doesn't understand. It's not "stigma." He made a clear statement of how his government sees us; instructions to the civil service; a broadcast to the addictions system.
