An Email from Tavis Dodds - Victoria Council Candidate

I got this through Janine Bandcroft's email list thought people might find it interesting.

From: Tavis Dodds

Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2008 12:46:13 -0800

The Battle of the Cowshed

The sinister fact about electoral censorship in Victoria is that it is largely voluntary.

By Tavis Dodds

Work Less Party Candidate for Councillor

I left a phone message for the people producing a play based on Orwell's Animal Farm performed in a prison. I asked for a ticket so I could write a review. As it turns out, however, I was arrested on the morning of opening night on Hallowe'en for demonstrating at City Hall. I went to the holding cells for Hallowe'en night in the dungeon of the police station and from my cell I could watch everyone being brought in. I saw a group of police verbally abusing a 17 year old, like sadists, saying "there's a big boy" and other nastinesses like high school bullies. I saw a young lady dressed as a honey bee, weeping quietly the whole time and then, when she was locked up, she lost in and truly freaked. Two really nasty cops decided to play games with David Johnston and said really nasty things to him about his family, making the claim that he wasn't homeless and that he has a martyr complex. The only way to tell the difference between these officers and the worst of the inmates was their uniforms. There was a homeless guy whose dog was taken. In the end, it felt like I was a character in Animal Farm, perhaps the horse, watching the pigs claiming to be more equal than others.

They confiscated all my campaign materials (I was trying to run a serious campaign for a seat on council that I've recently given up on) for the second time in this election. I went to Wilkinson Prison on my birthday, Nov 1st, which was also the birthday of the female officer that handcuffed me. When I mentioned my birthday she adjusted the cuffs to be extremely tight. All the guards at Wilkie think highly of Ron Taylor, the mayoral candidate. A lot of the inmates I had chances to speak with had a lot to say on the subjects of recidivism and drug abuse and such. There are some really inspiring projects to do with prison advocacy. It was not fun to be in there, but when I was released on Monday afternoon I felt good about the experience. I had just enough time to get to the all-candidates forum to hear the candidates talk about restorative justice. Hugh Kruzel mentioned the idea of putting kids in jail so they get a taste of prison as a deterrent. I agree that it is enlightening and I advocate for all candidates to spend some time in jail. Perhaps I caught a sadism disease because I can't help smiling when I think of Dean Fortin and Al Lowe sitting on a bench in a cell blubbering to themselves and tears rolling down their fat cheeks. They deserve twenty years for all the blood on their hands.

God has more patience than I do. Perhaps he can forgive these swine. I'm more disillusioned with the population and with some or even most of the other candidates. There are little old ladies that believe this crap they're feeding us, like Orwell's sheep. The poor even believe in the plan put forward to help them, which is a complete lie. I am at a lowest point. Good thing for council that I am a pacifist.

Are we going to let them get away with this? Are we going to sit by while they wipe their butts with the constitution? Are we the sort that leave our own brothers and sisters behind? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. This city will sink deeper into totalitarianism, the despots will be more deeply entrenched, our civil liberties will be tossed to the wayside and the people will not object. Was it Jefferson that said that He/She who sacrifices liberty for security loses both? Was it Eisenhower that warned against this military industrial complex, saying that we don't just receive slavery, but that complicity deserves it?

Those prison walls at Wilkie don't just end at the property line. When I got out I heard that I was on the news and everyone was saying "you're free!", but I am not free. This election has proven the law to be two-tiered. The wealthy can call for the law to protect them, but to the poor the law is a shackle, a chain, a yoke. It was beautiful to watch the poor enfranchised by the charter, becoming constitutionalists defending the Rule of Law from the anarchists in city hall, the nihilists to whom nothing but money is sacred. At this point, I have given up all hope in the process. I have given up on the electorate who is going to let these swine get away with their crimes. I feel more alone than ever before, nobody seems to see what's going on. But Orwell saw it. Orwell saw it. Those pigs in City Hall are in bed with the Farmers of big business, and the working men and women are perishing under their weight.

If you want to help, consider spray painting DODDS on all their signs. Filipovic's are the only signs that aren't simply buying access to the process. Check out electionsvictoria.ca. Boycott the chamber of commerce.