Premier Accused of Pink Shirt Hypocrisy on Anti-Bullying Day

Premier Gordon Campbell and CKNW talk show host Christie Clark, may wish they had left their pink shirts in the closet as their own bullying baggage is dragged out along with the shirts. Campbell has declared Feb. 25 "anti-bullying day" and announced he will support Clark's "Pink Shirt" campaign to oppose bullying campaign by wearing a pink shirt.  

"The pink shirts are a gimmick", according to a press release by Canadians Opposing Political Psychiatry [COPP], while the actual record of Campbelll and Clark indicates that bullying tactics are well within their comfort zone.  

Both Campbell and Clark, former BC Education Minister, are accused by COPP of having looked the other way when made aware in writing that provincial dollars were being used to finance illegal criminal harassment, fraud, and "political psychiatry" tactics to ensure that "Bullying Complaints Go Nowhere."  The political psychiatry tactics, in particular, have resulted in an international boycott of diplomas issued by the Vancouver School Board, a fact that Campbell has been keeping under his hat.

The boycott was triggered by the case of a Vancouver woman who, according to COPP, became the target of political psychiatry by VSB bureaucrats using Coastal Health Authority resources. She became a target almost immediately after informing the VSB in writing that she intended to campaign in an upcoming election about their mishandling of bullying complaints.  The VSB-School Liaison would later admit in a taped telephone call that he had emphasized to the VSB that there was "nothing untoward" about this woman's letter, but they nonetheless used it as the sole basis for arranging to have her assessed for "apprehension" to a mental hospital.  The nurse, Don Getz, who arrived unannounced at her home to perform the assessment was wearing a pink t-shirt.  (For a more extensive account of the political psychiatry tactics employed, click on boycott.)  

The bullying worked.  The woman was sufficiently terrorized that she did not campaign on the bullying issue in the election.

The provincially-funded political psychiatry that ultimately led to the boycott was brought to the attention of Premier Campbell in a letter addressed to him and hand-delivered to his office.  A letter was also faxed to Coastal Health Authority Director Ida Goodreau.  Less than half an hour after the victim faxed her letter to Goodreau’s office, she received the first of a series of disturbing voice mail from VPD detective Keith Dormond that could be construed as extortion.

Dormond informed the targeted woman, via voice mail which she has kept in a safety deposit box, that if she continued to pursue her complaints, he would use her confidential written communication with the Health Authority to have her charged with "criminal harassment".  Yet a review of that communication -- she has letters establishing that this communication was solicited by Health Authority staff Lori Ross and Jan Fisher -- confirms that it contains no evidence of harassment. “They knew I wanted a criminal investigation....”, says the woman. “They wanted me to drop this whole thing.” 

Dormond also offered to make an agreement with her to destroy documents in the case. She points out that when a criminal investigation is being requested — Dormond mentioned on the voice mail that he knew she was pressing for a criminal investigation — the last thing a detective should be doing is offering to destroy “evidence” in the case. 

The full range of evidence of a criminal level of bullying by provincial government staff to aid the VSB in deterring bullying complainants must be investigated, if Campbell is committed to the slogan, "Bullying Stops Here."  And it must be investigated if the international boycott of diplomas issued by the Vancouver School Board is to be lifted.  But as COPP points out, "It's going to take more than putting on a pink shirt."