The heading on Brad Bennett’s letter on Oct. 10 read, “Prop Rep means end of majorities.”
That was misleading. It should have read, “Proportional Representation means an end to manufactured majorities.”
Here are three examples of recent manufactured “majority” governments that have been created by our current voting system: In Ontario, last June, Doug Ford won a “majority” government with only 41 per cent of voter support yet he got 61 per cent of the seats in the legislature which gave him 100 per cent of the power to create total chaos.
In Alberta, Rachael Notley won her “majority” government with 40.5 per cent of voter support but was given 62 per cent of the seats in government and 100 per cent of the power to do as she pleases. Recently the anti-immigration CAQ party in Quebec won a “majority” government with only 37 per cent of the votes yet they got 59 per cent of the seats and now wield 100 per cent of the power.
This is a fairly extreme case but it is the norm under First Past the Post. Fifteen of the last 17 B.C. governments have been false majorities. The people advocating for Proportional Representation totally support majority governments that actually win a majority of votes and represent the majority of voters. What they don’t support are manufactured “majority” governments that leave half of British Columbians without a representative in government.
Right now, approximately half of all British Columbians do not have their views represented. First Past the Post distorts voters’ wishes. The make up of our legislature should reflect the way people voted. It should also reflect B.C.’s political, ethnic and gender diversity.
Mr. Bennett also said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I would argue that it is terribly broken. The gap between the richest one per cent of Canadians and the rest is at its highest level since the 1920s. The richest 20 per cent is the only group to have increased its share of the national income — the shares of the middle and low-income earners in Canada have been stagnant or in decline. As proportionality in a system increases, income inequality decreases. While the status quo works very well for Brad Bennett, it is definitely not working as well for the majority.
Brad Bennett asks, “How many of this province’s great accomplishments would have been possible under a minority government?” Some of the best policies in Canadian history have come about under minority governments: the Canada Pension Plan, Universal Health Care, Canada Student Loans, Labour legislation like the 40 hour work week and two weeks vacation, and our maple leaf flag to name but a few.
These are federal examples but the same is true at the provincial level. The best policies come about when all parties are working cooperatively to come up with good policy built by consensus. This reduces the wild policy swings that are a direct result of our current system. The policy lurch or swing was very evident when Doug Ford took power. These swings waste a lot of time and taxpayer’s money.
Our current voting system results in political parties and politicians doing and saying whatever it takes to get re-elected for another term. Their idea of “long-term planning” is scheming, mudslinging and personally attacking the other candidates to split the vote and get re-elected. Buck a beer anyone?
Proportional representation democracies are kinder, gentler democracies. First Past the Post models are exclusive, competitive and adversarial while the consensus models are characterized by inclusiveness, negotiation and compromise. Don’t voters think it is time to roll up our sleeves and work together to solve the problems we are facing? In a time when we face a climate crisis, opioid crisis, the housing crisis, money laundering in casinos, etc. I find it alarming that the NO PR camp’s top priority is shutting down fair, representational voting.
Jane Weixl – Fair Vote Vernon