Liz Takes Up The Hat

'Morning David...and good on you for asking the question about the ICBC chops shops. It'll be interesting to see if there's any, believable, response.

On the matter of hards hats, though, I'm afraid I disagree. While there's no doubt Sikhs have been working without them for decades, I don't think that's a good reason for continuing to allow that to happen. To bolster my argument...

- We used to drive without seat bellts
- We were used to people smoking us out of the restaurants
- We used to ride bikes and ski slopes without helmets
- We used to allow one person to enter a closed space
- We used not to conduct lightning-strike truck inspections
- We used to have plenty of money, beds and staff in our hospital emergency rooms
- And we used to expect people to take [financial] responsibility for their own actions...
... well you get my drift.

Fact is, times have changed. We've learned a heck of a lot over the years and, personally, I support those who believe we should require a hard hat be worn by all workers in risky industries...

Cheers,
Liz

Hard Hats & Hard Heads

Turbaned Sikhs and hard hats.

Seems like a natural headline.

Gets the blood boiling right away.

Are they going to pay the insurance and health costs when one of "them" gets bonked on the head? And so on.

The only problem is that's not the story.

The story is that these guys have been working in that mill and in the industry for years. All of a sudden, the company changes the policy and demands hard hats where they never demanded them before.

As we say in bad sit-coms, "What's up with that?"

Sikhs have been working in the forestry industry here in BC in large and significant numbers for over a hundred years.

Interfor needs to more fully explain the rationale for this change in policy.

The ICBC Iceberg

Two managers and one board member - and this includes a Vice-President - of ICBC have resigned in the wake of the news that the corp was running its own little chop shop.

Selling rebuilt wrecks as perfectly sound cars seems to be OK.

Some have resigned, but where ae the criminal charges? And where is the thorough investigation of this untouchable crown corruptation?

Have these three fallen on their swords to spare others? Who?