When they don't care about the answer

Jack Knox column: Students show the way to a fair hearing, Times Colonist, May 13, 2012

"...This is what all of Canada could use right now: a listening competition.

"Had B.C.'s Liberals listened to British Columbians instead of ambushing them with the HST, Gordon Campbell would still be running the Belleville Street Rockpile, not living in exile in London.

"Chastened, the Liberals made a big to-do last week about consulting us on when to hold the new Family Day holiday - nice, though you get the feeling they only asked because they didn't care about the answer.

"They should ask how we feel about the Northern Gateway pipeline. Lord knows the Liberals haven't mustered the gumption to come up with an opinion of their own...

"There's no uncertainty about where the federal Conservatives stand: Stephen Harper has made it clear he wants the project. He has also made it clear he doesn't like the taste of dissent...

"It's one thing to disagree with an opponent's opinion, another to prevent that opinion from being heard. The Conservatives have launched a pretty aggressive smear campaign against the environmental groups that oppose the pipelines.

"Instead of debating the issue on its merits, Conservatives have tried to bully the enviros into silence, threatening their charity status and accusing them - without presenting evidence - of "laundering" money from foreign eco-groups hell-bent on influencing the Canadian agenda (apparently, the Asian corporations pumping tens of billions into the oil patch aren't foreign)..."

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