Labour Day in British Columbia and the rogue government of Christy Clark

It's Labour Day. A day to celebrate workers and recognise the contributions made to our society by the labour movement. Things like the minimum wage, limits to child labour, weekends, the right to organise, workplace safety and health care. In fact, recognising the need to assist people in our communities, and in the absence of good government, the first United Way in Canada was started by unionists. All of us in Canada, regardless of class or employment status, have been well served by a strong labour movement.

However.

Our provincial premier is at it again, distorting facts and misrepresenting issues as it relates to the teachers of this province and their lengthy battle with a government determined to break the union. Through tweets yesterday, then reprinted on Christy Clark's facebook page, she said:

Unfortunately, the BCTF rejected our offer to reopen schools while the two sides enter mediation to reach an agreement. Instead the BCTF is sticking to its strike and demanding twice as much money as everyone else in the public service has received.

Her tweets are misleading because it was never the teachers' decision to enter mediation. The Education Minister Peter Fassbender, another low wattage bulb if ever there was one, said the decision was left to the mediator Vince Ready and the talks were entirely exploratory. Ready was to determine if the two sides were close enough to proceed with mediation, and they weren't. The teachers did not reject anything. In fact the head of the union is still asking to meet with the Premier in an effort to bridge discussion. Teachers are not asking for twice as much money as everyone else and the Premier knows that too.

Minister Fassbender wants the BCTF to set aside its grievances about class size and composition, which is largely what the dispute is all about in the first place.

Christy Clark needs to turn down the emotional rhetoric and offer real leadership instead of ice bucket celebrity. Political points gained at the expense of teachers and children won't work. Class size and composition do belong in a collective agreement. The Premier needs to restore the funding she illegally cut twelve years ago. That legal fact was determined by the Supreme Court of Canada, though apparently it means nothing to her government.



It's Labour Day in BC. We should celebrate the strides we have made as a society and be wary of the people who want to dismantle public institutions in the name of a market economy. We need to raise our children to be active, thinking citizens, and not just members of a consumer society, whatever the hell that is. Public education is important in creating a just society for all of us and not just the ten percent. We need to be very wary indeed.

Copyright 2014 by Jim Murray.

Sandhill Wines, Peller Estates and Calona Vineyards

The photograph over a doorway in the impressive sales and tasting centre in downtown Kelowna is one of the few reminders of an amazing past for this group of wineries. That the three notables in the picture might look a wee bit suspicious is not a concern.




Calona is the oldest continuously operating winery in British Columbia with roots going back to the 1930s. Financially it was backed by the Capozzi brothers and became famous for its imitation of the successful Gallo Brothers in California, right down to the gallon jugs. Thankfully that image changed over time, though memories, and some labels, persist, including Schloss Laderheim, once Canada's best selling white wine.




The Capozzi family, including the shades, sold the winery in 1971 and several owners came and went until Andrew Peller Limited bought the operation in 2005.

Since 1997 the diamond in the operation has been the Sandhill brand under the direction of winemaker Howard Soon. Sandhill wines are all single vineyard wines and while blends are made, they are only made from grapes of the same vineyard. All the wines are good with the Small Lots program being excellent.








The labels on the bottles, and the picture wall of notables hanging in the tasting room, prominently show the winemakers and the growers; the owners being somewhat less important.











Soon's influence and expertise has probably influenced the other brands too and the Peller Estates range provides some excellent values.

The tasting room is large and breezy and showcases Sandhill wines of course, but other "rooms" offer tastings of the two other brands, and they are worth the visit if only to discover a surprise, like the 2010 Syrah from Peller Estates at an exceptional price. We should have bought a case.

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2014.