What do the Burrard Bridge, yoga and LNG have in common?
The answer that was so obvious to everyone but took a tsunami of backlash for the premier’s office to figure out, of course, is nothing.
Nevertheless, Christy Clark held a news conference this week promising to shut down the bridge on June 21 for a group session of downward dogs and lotus poses on International Day of Yoga.
The event, partially sponsored by some of the B.C. Liberals’ generous donors in the LNG and yoga wear industries, was still going to cost taxpayers $150,000 to do what could have been done at a park for free.
It was also scheduled for National Aboriginal Day, so the premier choosing to align her chakras rather than addressing the Truth and Reconciliation report seemed in poor taste.
All of these legitimate grievances notwithstanding, we wonder about the premier’s tone-deafness on the matter — particularly when she quipped that critics were simply “yoga haters.”
Despite the aid of some very high-priced advisers and media coaching, the whole plan wound up as a smoking crater of bad public relations that no number of deep cleansing breaths were going to fix. Clark announced Friday that the focus of event had drifted toward politics that was interfering with the zen vibe she had envisioned and that she would no longer attend.
Namaste to that.
But if it’s possible to go this wrong on what is essentially a photo op, what concerns should we have for bigger, more important decisions that are being made?
