About 75 protesters answered the call of Moms Stop The Harm this morning, clamouring for BC Health Minister Adrian Dix to stop the mass murder of the addict in the province, in response to the release of the coroner’s report unveiling a casualty figure of 2224 for last year.
Their core demand, as ever, was for a safe drug supply, and to that end they sang, shouted, and rang cow bells. One could tell they were really into it, and their speeches were moving, to be sure.
That being said, I hate to say what follows, because they’re good people with the best of intentions, and also because I share their goal, but here it comes: they’re going to be ignored by the government, like every time they protested since the beginning of the crisis. They keep coming and clamouring every year, hoping this time their elected representatives will listen and finally comply with their demands. But the government doesn’t give a shit; any number of us suckups and screwups can drop like flies and they will only see it as less credit on their balance sheet.
Seriously, we need to take inspiration from Fairy Creek protesters, Freedom Convoys, Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street, and so forth. I don’t agree with all of the above’s ideas or methods, to be honest, and how much they achieved is debatable. But that’s beside the point: at the very least they all managed not to get ignored, which is the most basic threshold to meet for a protest to be effective. If governments aren’t pleading with protesters to go home, if they don’t threaten the use of force and scramble for a response, it’s not achieving anything.
And that’s basically why we the homeless keep dropping like flies: because we’re meek. And that’s what needs to change, otherwise we’re just as guilty as the government.
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