I know politics, particularly at election time, is as much about strategy and calculation as it is about policies and principles. Still, I have to admit, I did a double take when I read MLA John Yap’s comments about the homeless, disabled and “outright socialists.”
In an email submitted as evidence in the trial of Brian Bonney, the former director of communications in Yap’s Ministry of Multiculturalism, Yap told Bonney to instruct staff to “focus on the 60% and essentially not bother with some demographic that will not likely or absolutely never support us, eg. ‘Homeless people’ or ‘people depending on social support,’ who tend to be left leaning or outright socialist.”
Wow — although, it actually explains a few things.
Bonney was on trial and pled guilty to breach of trust, because, as a communications director for a ministry, he’s a bureaucrat and should not be conducting party business on the taxpayers’ dime, which this email proves he was doing.
While Yap will not face a judicial court, he does have to face the court of public opinion, and these comments don’t exactly jive with the affable, selfie-taking guy we’ve seen at Pathways dinners or ribbon-cuttings in front of Storeys, a project aimed at housing those very “people depending on social support.”
Yap says his comments are “regrettable” but were made as a candidate as opposed to a minister or MLA.
At the time, just prior to the 2013 election, the Liberals were down in the polls and looking for a strategy to help turn the tide. They devised what they called the BC Liberal Multicultural Strategic Outreach Plan, dubbed “Quick Wins.”
Essentially, it was a scheme to target ethnic groups — at least (as the email reveals) some ethnic groups: struggling folks from Tanzania, not so much. (See story page 8)
Granted, every party devises plans to target those with the greatest “potential” to deliver a win. (They just may have the good sense to not put it in an email to a bureaucrat who shouldn’t be conducting party business anyway.)
Regardless, this kind of calculation is how the electoral race is run, and that’s fine because once it’s all over, the winning candidate represents all of their constituents. Right? Hence Yap’s comment that while the email may reflect a campaign strategy, it does not reflect his record.
Only trouble here is those comments line up remarkably well with a government that, for example, refused to raise disability pensions for more than a decade. Even after a tiny increase in 2016, people with severe challenges of mobility and mental health are expected to live on about $980/month when rent alone for a one-bedroom apartment in Richmond is on average $1,900/month.
I realize one can argue that Yap and his team oversaw a strong economy and remarkable job growth, which goes a lot further to countering poverty than any government pension. Fair enough. But it’s also the fact homelessness is at a crisis level and disabled folks are living in poverty.
Regardless, no one likes to feel dismissed and the sting in both Yap’s email and his party’s record is the blatant dismissals of what is already society’s most dismissed people.
