As head of
the B.C. Federation of Labour in the 1980s, Art Kube was the leader of the
Operation Solidary movement that fought against the Bill Bennett/Social Credit
government’s labour-reform and austerity measures and very nearly sparked a
crippling general strike. That destructive meltdown was averted, however, by
the intervention of IWA leader Jack Munro.
I raise this
today because the nation has just learned that Mr. Kube, now a seniors
advocate, has been named to the order of Canada.
Which leads
to me ask: If firebrand Kube’s history-making radicalism didn’t disqualify him from Order of Canada membership, why has the legendary Ted Byfield’s history-making radicalism as conservative journalist and publisher* apparently disqualified him from membership
in the same august body?
*And, yes, I worked for and with Ted for a decade and a half.