(This
column was published in the North
Shore News on
April 8, 1998)
No racism
involved in airport action
By Leo Knight
FOLLOWING
a day which saw thousands of would-be air travellers toting
their bags and stumbling along Grant McConachie Way to vainly
try to catch flights, MLA and disgraced former NDP cabinet
minister Moe Sihota trotted out the race card to explain the
reason for the dispute between the airport authority and the cab
drivers servicing the terminal.
All
the while, the Richmond Mounties were unable to do little more
than stand and watch the debacle.
The
brass gave the order to wait until such time as a court granted
an injunction to clear the road for the travelling public.
Were
the police wrong in what they did, or didn't do, as is more
accurately the case? I suppose it depends on who you ask.
The
RCMP in the guise of its own leaders were quite happy to let the
cabbies tie up traffic and force an incredible inconvenience on
air travellers.
You
see, any move against the hacks would allow the inevitable call
of racism to be the rallying cry of the drivers and their
supporters.
The
vast majority of Vancouver-area cabbies aren't locally born.
Most are of East Indian extraction and are quite visible as
such. Many others are from Nigeria, Iran, Uganda, Fiji and a
host of other nations of the world.
They
were protesting against the airport authority's decree that all
taxis servicing the airport should be able to speak English and
actually know their way around the city.
Unspeakable
demands apparently.
To
be fair, the authority was also demanding higher fees including
a dollar-per-trip tariff.
There's
no question this was a major stumbling block in the good
relations between the airport and the hackney drivers who
service the airport's users.
Any
clear-thinking person would believe this dispute should be
solved by negotiation.
The
drivers certainly have the right to disagree and even protest
against the authority's demands.
They
do not have the right to seal up the airport and bring it to a
virtual standstill.
They
do not have the right to block highways with impunity.
The
RCMP have a clear duty to ensure the roads are free for the use
of all citizens. Nothing else should have an effect on that
duty.
The
brass, on the other hand, feel their duty is to cover their
backsides and perhaps more importantly, the backsides of their
political masters.
Perish
the thought they might be accused of racism by simply ordering
their charges to do their duty and keep the roadway clear.
If
any person or group blocks traffic, preventing law-abiding
citizens from using that road, it is the duty of the police to
clear the obstruction.
End
of discussion.
Any
suggestion of racism is simply ridiculous.
But
then there's Moe Sihota. Remember him. He is the former NDP
cabinet minister, who had to twice resign from cabinet for
various integrity issues.
According
to him, it's racist for the police to enforce the law against
the cab drivers.
I
suppose it was inevitable given his shameful involvement in the
Kimber cab scandal, a case so disgusting in itself, it should
have forced the resignation of at least two cabinet members
involved in the matter.
It's
much like the BC Teachers' Federation and their
"homophobia/heterosexism" debate.
If
I speak out against a particular issue central to the so-called
"gay agenda," I'm not homophobic. This would imply I
am afraid of gays. "Homo-disdainia" might be a more
appropriate phrase. But certainly not homophobic.
While
I'm on this particular tangent. There is no such thing as
"heterosexism." If I remember correctly discussions
held at my father's knee, basic survival of the human race
requires an element of cross-gender pollination, so to speak.
Boy
meets girl, etc. etc. is the inherent instinct of 97% of the
population
How,
therefore, can the misguided aims of a mere 3% drive so much of
the political agenda of the BCTF and the province as a whole?
Perhaps
I digress, but the issue is the same.
When
the cabdrivers blocked the access roads to the airport, they
were breaking the law.
The
Mounties were duty-bound to clear the road.
The
only reason they did not is because senior officers calling the
shots were afraid of someone like Sihota screaming racism,
which, as it happens, he did anyway.
Ergo,
they chose to wait until the airport authority had a court
injunction in hand.
Thus
providing them with the ability to say they were enforcing the
court order and their hands were tied.
Part
of the official argument they try to hide behind, is that the
airport is federal land and therefore not subject to provincial
statutes like the Motor Vehicle Act or the Highway Act.
Partly
correct.
But
the RCMP are federal police and have jurisdiction in any part of
Canada. Equally, if that argument held any water, they wouldn't
have the the authority to write speeding tickets on that same
road, something, I might add, they do with regularity on the
days the cabbies aren't blocking it.
The
police should not be subject to whatever politically correct
whim the brass perceives.
Their
sworn duty is to uphold and enforce the laws of this land
equally, fairly, and without consideration of race, creed or
position in society. It's quite simple really.
It
only becomes complicated because people like Sihota cry racism
or homophobia every time someone does something they don't like
adversely affecting the minority of the moment.
Still, the tail wags the dog and the dog seems to think that's the way it should be.
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