By Two & Out

PETERS: Has a public institution ever been as out of touch as the B.C. Legislature?

Mar 29, 2019 | 10:47 AM

WHEN LEGISLATIVE SPEAKER Darryl Plecas outlined in his eponymous report instances of flagrant spending by entitled legislative officers earlier this year, the widespread conclusion was that it was clear the culture of the BC Legislature is out of touch with the expectations of the real world. 

Even if there weren’t rules against the opulent spending on the taxpayers’ dime, how could those officers possibly think their behaviour was reasonable or responsible? 

As it turns out, Plecas himself may be just as out of touch. 

This week, Plecas’s office suddenly began arbitrarily enforcing a decades-old dress code for the legislature that mandates women must wear essentially full business suits while working in and around the Chamber. 

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At least seven female journalists were told that their bare-armed attire was inappropriate. 

Another female political staffer was told she had to wear a slip beneath her skirt as it was clinging to her legs. 

Goodness me, who could imagine women have legs? 

It brings to mind the instance in 2011 when a former NDP MLA scolded Premier Christy Clark for wearing a blouse he deemed just too low-cut for the legislature. 

The eye-rolling was audible all the way over here in the Interior. 

It is, of course, almost always women who are nitpicked and judged by dress codes and those who take pride in enforcing them. 

But this brand of scrutiny should be banished to the dustiest shelf in the oldest library in Victoria. 

Any institution that prides itself in being connected with society at large, as the BC Legislature should, can deal with this issue quite easily in a way that maintains professionalism and doesn’t target women for ridiculously petty infractions. 

Rather than doing away with the dress code, it can simply mandate that everyone who works at the BC Legislature, regardless of gender, dress in business attire. 

That’s it. 

It’s 2019, after all, and styles have changed significantly in the nearly 40 years since this dress code was written. 

Anyone who works at the Legislature will know what business attire means by looking at the business world around them. 

If we want to stop our public officials from treating the people’s house as a country club, then it’s time we do away with the country club rules.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.