If you’re confused about the NDP’s 2018 Referendum on Electoral Reform request, don’t feel so bad, you’re not the only one. Even the NDP’s Minister of Advanced Education Melanie Mark, who was out on the streets asking people to vote for Proportional Representation, could not explain how it would work. She even has a degree in Political Science.
On the surface, a “Fair Vote” makes a lot of sense. What doesn’t make sense is why we are voting on 3 new options that are lacking details and leave unanswered questions. Now to me, that doesn’t seem very “Fair”. For starters, voters going into the referendum won’t know what the proposed new riding boundaries would be and if they will be represented by one, two or seven MLAs in a new Proportional Representation system. Those things will be decided on later by a committee. But what committee and by who?
I agree that there are issues with our current First Past the Post voting system. But what happened to the extensive debates and discussions? NDP BC Premier John Horgan has only today, finally (since September 24) accepted BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson’s challenge to a public debate regarding this electoral reform. However, the date is scheduled well after the October 22 start date and slated for November 8. Shouldn’t the debates and discussions happen BEFORE we get our mail in packages and not after?
The current NDP government wants us to vote for Proportional Representation and then they will decide what that means later on. If they don’t know the exact details now, then what’s the rush to vote on this? In all fairness, no party should be given the power to make up the rules after we vote – not the Liberals, not the Greens, not the NDP. But that seems to be the case if we vote for Proportional Representation.
I’m certainly up for a fair vote, but the NDP’s 2018 Referendum on Electoral Reform with it’s rushed lack of discussions and debates just doesn’t give my vote a fair chance.
In this current state, I think we should put the brakes on this. Let’s get the details straight and do it right the first time.
From October 22 to November 30, British Columbians will recieve voting packages in the mail asking what voting system B.C. should use for provincial elections. The first question asks if we should keep the current First Past the Post voting system or move to a Proportional Representation. The second question asks voters to rank 3 types of proportional systems: Dual Member Proportional (DMP), Mixed Member Proportional (MMP), and Rural-Urban Proportional (RUP).
