I am writing in response to Greg Kyllo’s letter in last week’s paper.
Why are the Liberals so desperate to kill the Pro/Rep referendum? There have been letters to the editor by their MLAs & a past MLA and a provincial tour by their leader Andrew Wilkinson all denigrating ProRep in extravagant terms — some half-truths, some outright misinformation. Even though Elections B.C. (totally independent of the government) approved the voting process and are overseeing it, it is painted as totally inadequate. Now I understand they have put out a video that suggests that ProRep could result in the election of dictators like Hitler.
If this is so then why do the governments of all but three of the “developed nations” use some form of Proportional Rep? Of the three that don’t — Canada, the U.S. and Britain two are dealing with very unpopular governments. Of the countries using Proportional Rep, we find some of the world’s most successful countries judging by their place in the top five of the World Happiness Report as reported by their citizens. A report by a UN Committee which you can look up it up on the internet.
I have lived in B.C. for more than 60 years and for most of that time, thanks to the First Past the Post system of voting, the politics have been dominated by the provincial Liberals or their predecessors, the Social Credit. As long as they elected a majority of the MLAs it didn’t matter if less than 50 per cent of the voting citizens voted for them. They had 100 per cent of the power and could rule with minimal real input from any other party. This is the reason the Liberals are fighting Pro Rep tooth and nail. They don’t want to have to cooperate with any other party. It is much easier to do things your own way even if is contrary to the popular vote ie. the more than 50 per cent of people who didn’t vote for them.
If the citizens of B.C. vote No to Proportional Rep the Liberals may continue to dominate B.C. politics — unless their coalition of Liberals and Conservatives falls apart.
If we vote Yes to Pro Rep, the government has promised there will be another referendum after two elections. That means if we don’t like it we can vote it out. Or if the Liberals get 51 per cent of the popular vote across the province in the next election they can throw it out. So let’s give Proportional Rep a try.
P.S. — If you can’t understand the differences between the three options you can just answer the first question.
Linda Kennedy