Proponents of proportional representation brought their message to a town hall meeting in Ladner last Tuesday night.
Hosted by the Council of Canadians, the forum featured guest speakers Ryan Campbell, vice president of Fair Vote Canada’s Vancouver chapter, and Mike Soran, a provincial organizer with Dogwood.
Both speakers argued why proportional representation makes sense and why voters should support it in the upcoming electoral reform provincial referendum. Following their presentations, there was a question-and-answer session with the close to 100 residents at the Ladner Community Centre.
Campbell said more than 80 democracies use proportional representation in some form, adding the only major ones that use first-past-the-post system are the United States, Canada and Great Britain.
“One of the effects of proportional representation is that is requires more consensus to get things done,” said Campbell. “Because more parties have to agree to get stuff done, it might sound like things might be a bit slower to get things done, but it also makes them more durable so you get less flip flop.”
Campbell said concerns that proportional representation would have an adverse economic effect on the province are off base.
“The reality is proportional representation countries have higher economic growth than countries that don’t use proportional representation by about one per cent per year. They have lower debt, lower tariffs and lower taxes on investment.”
Soran said there are lots of places around the world where democracy is not working for people.
“I’m very proud to be a British Columbian and in a moment where we are talking about how to strengthen our democracy when so much of the world is actually falling backwards,” he said. “We can all get a stronger voice in our democracy and it’s much more likely that government will reflect our interests.”
Soran said those who don’t want the system to change are trying to tell voters that proportional representation is too confusing, but he maintained it’s actually simpler than what’s in place now.
The referendum is being held by mail from Oct. 22 to Nov. 30. Registered voters will get a voting package from Elections BC between Oct. 22 and Nov. 2.
Voters will be asked two questions. The first asks if B.C. should keep the current first-past-the-post voting system or move to a system of proportional representation. The second question asks voters to rank three proportional systems.
If more than half the votes support first-past-the-post on the first question, the voting system will stay the same. If more than half the votes support proportional representation on the first question, the proportional system with the most support on the second question will be adopted.
Delta South MLA Ian Paton hosted a town hall meeting last month at which three Liberal MLAs advocated for maintaining the first-past-the-post system.
Residents can learn more about the voting systems proposed and other details of the vote at: www.elections.bc.ca.
