Opening post.
Issues Pages:
Regions:
Time to Talk About Proportional Representation Again, B.C.
Sat, 2013-05-25 21:53
#1
Time to Talk About Proportional Representation Again, B.C.
Sat, 2013-05-25 21:56
#2
. . . the problems of unfair representation remain. Which brings us back to the 48 per cent of B.C. voters who cast orphan ballots. Who are they and why should they (or anyone else) support proportional representation?
They are, for example, Liberals on the North Coast and most of Vancouver Island. They are New Democrats in most of the southern Interior. They are Greens in all ridings except Oak Bay-Gordon Head, and Conservatives everywhere.
What kind of change does proportional representation offer? All voting systems divide candidates into winners and losers. First-past-the-post, however, also leaves a significantly large number of voters on the outside looking in. Proportional representation, on the other hand, ensures election results are inclusive.
The 48 per cent of orphan votes in B.C. compares to only 18 per cent in the 2011 election in Ireland, which uses an STV system. In New Zealand's 2011 election, their proportional voting system resulted in only three per cent of votes being orphaned.
Instead of a Legislature that represents about half the voters, B.C. could have had one that represents almost everyone.
Imagine that! A Legislature that looks a lot more like the people you see on the streets of every city, town and village across the province with diverse political opinion, occupations, ethnic backgrounds, age groups and gender balance to go with it.
But why should we only imagine it? We can make it happen.
B.C. NDP policy supports adopting a proportional system similar to that used in New Zealand, while Christy Clark personally supported the "Yes" side in the 2009 referendum on STV.
British Columbians, both voters and politicians, who care about democracy need to start talking about electoral reform again. The province could one day have a Legislature that actually provides fair representation for everyone.
And that, for once, would be a nice surprise.
Doug Bailie, President of Fair Vote Canada.
Sat, 2013-05-25 22:00
#3
On the votes as cast in 2013, an overall proportional result is 39 Liberals, 34 New Democrats, 7 Greens, 4 Conservatives, and independent Vicky Huntington.
But that misses the real point: the 52% turnout. When every vote counts, the turnout will not only be higher, but young voters and other marginally-involved voters will change BC’s political universe. Instead of an empty campaign of two parties attacking (or failing to attack) each other, voters will have more choices, more reasons to vote. . . .
NDP voters would have elected more MLAs:
Many NDP voters are under-represented.
Surrey-Delta-Langley-Fraser Valley voters would elect 17 MLAs (10 local, 7 regional), including three more NDP MLAs: maybe Delta municipal councilor Sylvia Bishop, Surrey incumbent Jagrup Brar, and Chilliwack incumbent Gwen O'Mahony or Surrey restaurant owner Avtar Bains.
Voters in the Interior would elect 16 MLAs (10 local, 6 regional), including three more NDP MLAs: maybe Kamloops lawyer Kathy Kendall, Penticton biologist and author Dick Cannings, and incumbent MLA Harry Lali or Vernon’s CUPE 5523 President Mark Olsen.
Burnaby-Tri-Cities-North Shore-Maple Ridge voters would elect 15 MLAs (9 local, 5 regional). They would have elected another NDP MLA: maybe Coquitlam City Councillor Selina Robinson, or Port Moody incumbent (former Mayor) Joe Trasolini?
Green Party voters would have elected seven MLAs, not just one.
Vancouver Island voters would elect 15 MLAs (9 local, 6 regional). Green Party voters in Vancouver Island would have elected two regional MLAs as well as Deputy Leader Andrew Weaver: maybe party leader Jane Sterk, and former Central Saanich Councillor Adam Olsen, the first First Nations Councillor elected in the District.
Vancouver-Richmond voters would elect 14 MLAs (8 local, 6 regional). Green Party voters would have elected a regional MLA: maybe Professional Engineer Matthew Pedley or drug policy reformer Jodie Emery?
In Burnaby-Tri-Cities-North Shore-Maple Ridge they would have elected a Green regional MLA: maybe Burnaby accountant and four-time candidate Carrie McLaren, or Horseshoe Bay teacher Richard Warrington (a school board member in Denmark), or Maple Ridge Professional Engineer Michael Patterson?
In Surrey-Fraser Valley-Delta-Langley they would have elected a Green regional MLA: maybe Fort Langley lawyer and legal studies teacher Lisa David, or Langley Bed and Breakfast owner Wally Martin, or Abbotsford businessman Aird Flavelle, or Surrey naturist Don Pitcairn?
In the Interior, they would have elected a regional MLA: maybe Kimberley musician and Arts Council President Laurel Ralston, or tour guide and founder of the Nelson Area Trails Society Sjeng Derkx?
What would the British Columbia legislature look like under a fair voting system?
Mon, 2013-05-27 10:04
#4
Fair Vote Canada Annual Conference
Granville Island Hotel, Vancouver, British Columbia, June 7-8
Friday Evening 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
7:00pm Welcome and Lifetime Contribution Awards
7:30pm Keynote Speaker: Joyce Murray, MP
The 2013 Liberal leadership race runner-up and former BC environment minister will speak about her campaign for adopting proportional representation and the need for cross-partisan cooperation to achieve reform.
... Saturday Conference
8:30 Registration (continental breakfast)
9:00 Annual General Meeting
10:00 Break
10:15 Workshops
Workshops will include an Idle No More-sponsored discussion of proportional representation and its potential for aboriginal representation, civic voting reform in BC and other exciting discussions facilitated by fair vote members, supporters, and guests.
12:30 Lunch
2:15 Panel discussion: Kennedy Stewart, MP and John Carpay
Kennedy Stewart, NDP MP and former chair of the SFU Institute for Governance Studies will speak on his initiative to get the House of Commons to accept online petitions, and the cross-partisan support it has garnered.
John Carpay, Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation, founder of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, will speak on conservative efforts to achieve proportional representation and democratic reform
3:45 Final Business and Closing
Mon, 2013-05-27 16:23
#5
Thanks Wilf! Just say no to phoney-majority dictatorships and their electoral fraud machine known infamously as first past the post. It was barely adequate in the 19th century when there were just two political parties vying for power but wholly inadequate to satisfy requirements of 21st century democracy. Hopefuly one fine glorious day in the near future we will witness Canada's obsolete electoral system and senate flushed down the memory hole for all time.
Thu, 2013-05-30 20:29
#6
The time to talk about fair voting / proportional representation is before and during an election, not right afterward when a brand new phony majority government has been given every reason in the world and the power to ignore and oppose electoral reform. After every election in Canada, Fair Vote Canada shows us what the results of the election should have been had we used a fair and democratic electoral system. Instead of issuing this after the fact reminder, before and during the BC election, Fair Vote Canada and Fair Vote BC should have criticized all the major BC parties for ignoring electoral reform. Unfortunately, it seems like the big wigs in the BC NDP like Bill Tielman thought they were well on their way to a phony majority and maybe a few of them, so they decided to sweep fair voting under the rug. The big wigs in the BC NDP seem to have no problem with continuous right-wing phony majorities as long as they can hold on to the hope of winning a rare phony majority of their own every 20 years. They seem to be happy with this setup as it allows them to avoid having to share power with other political parties like the BC Green Party.
Sun, 2013-06-30 09:01
#7
The time to talk about fair voting / proportional representation is before and during an election, not right afterward when a brand new phony majority government has been given every reason in the world and the power to ignore and oppose electoral reform. After every election in Canada, Fair Vote Canada shows us what the results of the election should have been had we used a fair and democratic electoral system. Instead of issuing this after the fact reminder, before and during the BC election, Fair Vote Canada and Fair Vote BC should have criticized all the major BC parties for ignoring electoral reform. Unfortunately, it seems like the big wigs in the BC NDP like Bill Tielman thought they were well on their way to a phony majority and maybe a few of them, so they decided to sweep fair voting under the rug. The big wigs in the BC NDP seem to have no problem with continuous right-wing phony majorities as long as they can hold on to the hope of winning a rare phony majority of their own every 20 years. They seem to be happy with this setup as it allows them to avoid having to share power with other political parties like the BC Green Party.
Exactly.
BC New Democrats tell me that BC NDP Policy supporting proportional representation remains on the books, ignored by some. Time for some grass-roots initiative?
BC has an advantage over some other provinces: they have some active and leading conservatives who support proportional representation. It's a multi-partisan issue. A good focus when the NDP needs a wider net.
Wed, 2013-07-10 11:15
#8
Socialicious
Check out my new movie: DISPROPORTIONAL MISREPRESENTATION
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSd4p1jq9HE
Best,
Leif Harmsen