There was exciting news in the world of B.C. politics recently, when Abbotsford South MLA Bruce Banman crossed the floor to join Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad in the Conservative Party of BC.
Prior to the floor-crossing, Rustad had been the sole party representative in the legislature, but when Banman doubled their presence it automatically gave the BC Conservatives official party status. In addition to more funding and other privileges, it means that the party gets to ask a question during question period, and all eyes were on Rustad on Oct. 3 when he had his first opportunity to ask an official question. Would he address one of the many burning issues on the minds of British Columbians, such as inflation, housing, homelessness, crime, or climate emergencies?
No. Rustad used his time in question period to accuse the provincial government of “dividing” British Columbians through the introduction of sexual orientation and gender identity education in the province’s public schools. Carrying on with this theme, on Oct. 4 Banman used his first question period appearance to express concern about why books with “sexually graphic and explicit content” are available in public school libraries.
As evidence, Banman read aloud a passage from an award-winning young adult novel called Eleanor & Park (2012), which addresses issues of bullying, child and domestic abuse, and body image. Kirkus Reviews said of it “Funny, hopeful, foulmouthed, sexy and tear-jerking, this winning romance will captivate teen and adult readers alike.”
The passage Banman read contained language that is not allowed in the BC Legislature, causing Banman to apologize and withdraw the comment after being reprimanded by the Speaker. Call me cynical, but I suspect that’s precisely why Banman chose that passage: Look! Our kids are getting hold of books in their school libraries that contain stuff you can’t say in the legislature! The Conservative Party of BC later tweeted “Conservative House Leader @BruceBanman asks the BC NDP why explicit sexual reading material is being offered to small children in schools.”
Oh, my sweet summer child! No one in school libraries is “offering” young adult books to small children. And if Banman thinks that school libraries are where kids are getting hold of sexual reading material (or sexual anything), he’s clearly never heard of the internet, where in less than 20 seconds any child old enough to spell can find “sexual reading material” (and images, and videos) that will make anything in Eleanor & Park look like The Cat in the Hat by comparison.
“But,” I hear someone cry, “schools have safeguards on their computer systems to prevent kids from looking up sexually explicit material, and parents can do the same at home!”
Please. Kids circumvent these safeguards all the time; yes, even in schools. Short of locking them in a room with no computer devices whatsoever, 24/7, it is impossible to prevent kids from finding these things online if they’re so inclined. But Banman and his ilk seem to think it’s still 1956, when kids were getting their thrills by passing around copies of Peyton Place with the “naughty” bits easy to find (they were on the most dog-eared pages), or getting fleeting glimpses of boobies by finding their fathers’ stash of Playboy magazines.
If patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel (as Samuel Johnson said in 1775), then culture war bluster is the last refuge of a politician who has nothing to offer by way of meaningful policies or ideas that will address the pressing issues that are top of mind for most voters. It remains to be seen if the Conservative Party of BC has anything tangible to offer about how they will make people’s lives better, or if they’ve simply started as they mean to go on and we can expect more of the politics of inflammatory outrage. If I were a betting person, my money would be on the latter.
