ENOUGH

---

May ’21: Corruption

On Thursday, May 27, the world learned that at least 215 Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc child victims of the Kamloops Residential School were discovered in a mass grave on the grounds. “Canada” has finally had its mass genocidal history exposed in a way that has drawn global attention. As usual, governments have been fumbling to look like they care without doing anything to address this historical nightmare.

But here in John Horgan’s “British Columbia”, life proceeds apace. Outcry and government “listening” to Indigenous voices, but no action. As usual, teachers took up the mantle, the same teachers who demanded action to protect from COVID and to save old-growth forests. Still, nothing fundamentally changes. Our libertarian extractionist fantasyland with orange branding persists.

If there’s one thing we can learn from Horgan’s $16B fossil fuel giveaway at Site C, it’s how our system of colonial violence persists. It starts with banal graft, lining the pockets of the right groups to get something built, even though it’s a terrible idea. In the process, a precious Indigenous environmental, agricultural, and spiritual treasure is burned and flooded to electrify dead-end fracking operations.

Let’s review the Seven Deadly Sins
of Horgan’s New Death Party:

1. Anti-Indigeneity
2. Systemic violence
3. Fossilgarch fealty
4. Coddling the rich
5. Endless colonialism
6. Collective slackerdom
7. Dictator enablement

Horgan’s NDP is the embodiment of this broken system. It demands to be replaced by something saner. But this is not just a provincial problem; at every level of “Canadian” institutions, corruption has destroyed the critical connection to all things human, with our egregious original sin beginning with smallpox blankets and more casual genocide. We all deserve better. And it’s time to talk about it.

Corrupt systems: We have had ENOUGH.
Here’s a five-point corruption action plan:

1. Bill the rich. Time to build a society that doesn’t put wealthy people first. That means wealth taxes, higher income taxes, house sales and value taxes, higher corporate taxes, financial transaction taxes, tech profit taxes, real carbon taxes, and tougher tax enforcement.
2. People’s oversight. Our most destructive institutions and their tentacles warrant civilian oversight. First, our carceral system, which needs oversight on the path to abolition. Second, our governmental system (which in BC lacks basic transparency), where we make bad ideas reality. Third, our corporate system, which has been an exploitative oligarchy for generations.
3. Fund people first. There are lots of places to move our money and build something better. We need to defund the police. We need to defund fossil fuels (starting with our $250/person/yr in subsidies). We need to defund white supremacy. We need to defund rich people. Instead, we need to fund a just, climate-stable economy, achieving Land Back and ending extractionism.
4. Guarantee a good job. We need to provide protection to workers and support mutual advocacy, with wage floors and better public benefits, including universal healthcare. This means unionization and collectivization of new sectors. We need a Just Transition for people displaced from the fossil economy we’re shedding post-COVID. And in BC, we can hire workers as we fix our disgusting government: health, education, social services, climate, consumer protection, and more.
5. Guarantee a good life. We waste our time, money, and energy fighting against white colonial notions of violent Others. Instead, we should offer everyone the best chance in life, and support them along the way. Top-quality, universal public education. New, carbon-free public housing that welcomes the currently unhoused and makes rent affordable. Meaningful social support like a universal basic income that doesn’t cut other benefits. Ending poverty and hunger with cash and food support.

Looking back on ENOUGH’s four months of existence, we have spat in the face of the beast on COVID, climate, and colonialism, and today the New Death Party is renowned internationally for destroying old-growth forests, being Canada’s Florida, and perpetuating genocide on its Indigenous rightful owners. We hope and wish for change, but nothing has come. In 2024, we look forward to tossing out the NDP.

To conclude ENOUGH, from our piece on colonialism: It is time for Land Back, as a start. It is time to end the ongoing genocide of Indigenous people in “Canada” and worldwide. It is time to stand together and force society to do its duty for Indigenous people.

#WeHaveHadEnough

---

Fixing the Four Cs

From February to May 2021, ENOUGH released four five-point
action plans and four vision for long-term systemic change.
We offer these to the people and our elected representatives,
pushing for change that will protect us all and secure our futures.

If you have had ENOUGH, reach out via social or email.
We’ll stay in touch and let you know when we release our plans.

Want to get involved? Here’s how we propose to organize and act for change.