Want to ride the bus on Canada Day? Plan on leaving your car at home to attend a garden party across town? Hope to bring a couple of bottles of your favorite Pinot Noir or a six-pack of your beloved barley, hops and malt?
Well, be prepared to give it up on Canada Day to B.C. Transit thuggery.
That’s right folks.
The eyes of Canada have been on the Victoria Police department for the last few years as they have suspended civil liberties with bag checks (on buses) and check points on the street corners of the city leading into the downtown core. And now in a cynical move on the part of the folks in blue – B.C. Transit is being employed as a branch of the police in the illegal search of citizens. Your right to ride the bus will be denied if you do not submit to a search. And this is an outrage!
And I beg you. Say no.
In a moment of supreme and mind boggling irony, we are having our Canadian Charter rights suspended on Canada Day – a day we celebrate the founding of our nation – a nation that was built upon fundamental freedoms.
Our grandma’s and granddad’s that gave their limbs and often their life so we could have ours… must be rolling in their graves.
And oddly we know in advance.
When I was 11 years old, I had a neighborhood thug put me in a head lock as he rummaged through my pocket for spare change. He found 11 cents. I was outraged but unharmed – and I promised myself back then, if I ever had advance knowledge of an indignity like this, I would be prepared with countermeasures.
Now I do. Words and knowledge.
If I am crossing town on Wednesday (Canada Day) with my bottle of Pinot, bound for a garden party and some authority figure attempts to pilfer my legally obtained spirits – well, they are going to be in for a surprise.
I know my rights.
So know yours. Please do not shrink and avoid our bus system – if only to avoid confrontation. Step forward and be a Canadian that your ancestors could be proud of.