Your Voice: I wear a stab vest to work. Let me tell you about fear and anxiety

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Full transparency, I am a Conservative. Let's get that on the table, right now.

I read the letter in "Your Voice" from former NDP Candidate Cade Desjarlais, where he stated that he had "true fear and anxiety" about the potential of the BC Conservatives coming to power. First, let me say that it is great to see youth engaged in the political process and wanting to participate in it. It's important to exercise your franchise, and I admire anyone willing to throw their hat into the political ring.

That being said, Mr.Desjarlais needs to get some mileage under his belt and out of the echo chamber where he sits and views the world.

I grew up in the Okanagan and politics being a "strange sport" is nothing new from mud-slinging in municipal elections to a Prime Minister giving the finger to a community from a train, to a Member of Parliament crossing the floor of the House to fight a member on the opposite side of the floor. And that is my point. I have seen it.

I have watched our Province ebb and flow under a variety of governments. The heady days of Bill Bennett, the chaos of Bill VanderZalm, the corruption of Mike Harcourt, Glen Clark, and Ujjal Dosanjh. The rise and fall of Gordon Campbell, the stream of nonsense from Christy Clark, and the slow grinding down of the province under Horgan and Eby. And that's my point. I have seen it.

I was in the Army during the Cold War and walked patrol with the UN in the 1980s, I was stationed in Germany during the Gulf War and survived the Decade of Darkness in the 1990s, watched friends go to another war in the 2000s, and fought with the VAC and my mental health in the 2010s. Let me tell you about fear and anxiety.

I have been in the private security industry since 2008. By far, the past four years have been the worst. I wear a stab vest to work. I have dealt with more dead bodies than I ever saw in my military service and the first decade of my time in security, combined. I see a healthcare system collapsing, violent crime on the rise, and the price of my home jump $400k in less than five years. Let me tell you about fear and anxiety.

My suggestion, Mr.Desjarlais, is to get out and experience the world before sharing your overly biased concerns about a political party. Live and work a life that is outside the confines of a university. Get your hands dirty. Live in a place that makes you feel uncomfortable and unsafe, in a city far away from the city and people you know. Step out of the bubble that is politics, and into the chaos that is reality. Let us know if it changes your definition of fear and anxiety.

Sean Smith
BC