A group of local people committed to a fairer way of electing MLAs hasn’t wasted time after the BC government declared another referendum on proportional representation.
The government has committed to holding a referendum by mail-in ballot no later than the end of November 2018 and the newest local team of Fair Vote Canada BC wants to see it pass.
The group includes a teacher, a minister, grandparents, and retirees with seemingly little in common except a commitment to seeing the legislature made up of MLAs in proportion to the way British Columbians vote.
The group’s interim chair, Kathy Hartman, sees immense opportunity.
“Our legislature could reflect the way British Columbians vote, and the voters themselves. Nearly every region of the world that uses proportional representation has greater diversity in terms of gender and race than the regions still using the archaic first-past-the-post system,” Hartman said.
Group member Dave Carter expresses a mixture of frustration and hope: “We’ve had back-to-back federal governments holding 100 per cent of the power with only 39% of the popular vote. This means the majority of Canadians’ perspectives are basically ignored. If B.C. can show the rest of Canada how to make proportional representation work, we are sure to see better voter turnout, and we’ll see policies that work for British Columbians and maybe for all Canadians.”
The government is still in the consultation stage and has yet to determine what the referendum question will be. Unlike previous referenda on this issue, the government has promised to campaign for proportional representation and will keep the threshold at a simple majority of 50 per cent+1.
The group welcomes news volunteers and plans to meet again on Wednesday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. at the Lion’s Head Pub.