Labour Day 2017 was unusual on the Sunshine Coast for a couple of reasons: the people gathered at Dougall Park in Gibsons welcomed local MLA Nicholas Simons of the NDP as a member of the government caucus for the first time, and a local RCMP officer addressed the crowd as a union activist.
Sgt. Chris Backus led the movement among rank-and-file members to protest working conditions and wages at the RCMP by removing or covering the yellow stripes on their uniform trousers. The protest, which spread across the country and continues at many detachments, gave a critical boost to efforts to sign up enough members to apply to have a new union certified – the National Police Federation.
In introducing Backus, Sunshine Coast Labour Council member and Sechelt councillor Alice Lutes said it’s not very often that a new union is created. “It’s really exciting,” she said. “It’s a hell of a job he’s taken on, excuse my language, but it’s an important one.”
Backus said inadequate support from successive federal governments has made it harder to do the job he signed up for. “It’s getting harder to give the same quality of service with less support from the government,” he said. “We have police officers in your community who are walking around the streets in expired bulletproof vests. We didn’t have the funds to replace those vests. I’ve got police cars in my parking lot that, by safety regulations, are ‘miled out’ – they’re not supposed to be driven. But we don’t have the funding to replace those vehicles. As a supervisor, I’m often battling with whether or not I should let police go out in those vehicles and risk their safety.”
Backus said RCMP members realized the situation had reached the point where someone had to speak out. “It’s important to have a voice, and it’s important to have the courage to use that voice,” he said.
He also said he hopes B.C.’s new government takes a serious look at establishing a provincial police force.
That NDP-led government will deliver its first Throne Speech on Sept. 8 and Simons said he’s looking forward to a good session at the Legislature under Premier John Horgan with support from Green MLAs.
“We’ve come to an agreement on how we can get things done in British Columbia that have been neglected for 16 years,” Simons said. “Sometimes we forget what governments can be like for a province. Sometimes we forget that governments can actually be looking out for the best interests of those people who are vulnerable in our communities. I’m pleased to say that already we’ve done a lot of good things.”
In his first Labour Day statement as premier, Horgan touched on some key NDP promises.
“People who work hard deserve a government that works hard for them. Our government will increase the minimum wage, open the doors to apprenticeships and skills training, strengthen employment standards and create safer workplaces for all,” Horgan said.
