The two questions on the referendum ballot are grammatically correct but logically flawed, are so undefined voters cannot possibly adequately answer them and obscure a fundamental shift of power from voters to parties.
The Citizens' Assembly was 160 randomly chosen voters who studied proportional representation. They selected Single Transferable Vote(STV) as the best system for British Columbia as it enhanced voter power and gave more effective local representation.
STV is not on the ballot. In fact, the three systems that are on our ballot were specifically rejected by the Citizens' Assembly. They refused to endorse MMP and rejected any system that had not been tested in an electoral system somewhere in the world. Professor Peter Loewen, the government's own expert advisor called the decision to include the two untried systems "Reckless".
This referendum is not about different Electoral Systems but rather about different 'Families' of Electoral Systems. Almost 30 critical details will be decided after the vote by politicians. They are the ones who will decide on the specific system we will use. It is important to note that these details will have enormous impact on the power of parties on government and the ability of citizens to remove governments.
British Columbians are being asked to vote in a Referendum to determine if they will maintain the current First Past The Post electoral system or if they will move to a Proportional Representation(Prop Rep/Pro Rep or PR) system. These electoral reform systems are Dual Member Proportional, Mixed Member Proportional and Rural Urban Proportional. When is the referendum date? The date of the referendum is between October 22 and November 30. It will be a mail in ballot. What will the questions be on the referendum? The referendum questions will be first to answer if you prefer First Past The Post or Proportional Representation. If you prefer Proportional Representation you will be asked if you prefer Dual Member Proportional, Rural Urban Proportional or Mixed Member Proportional.
Organizations promoting these include Fair Vote Canada and Fair Voting BC. This Referendum Question requires a Referendum Debate. Many have asked if there is a 'Proportional Representation for Dummies' or 'BC Referendum for Dummies'. Please do not be hard on yourself as this is complicated and there has been very little public education.
What are the Pros and Cons of Proportional Representation? What are the best systems of Proportional Representation on the ballot? What system should I be voting for? These are all valid questions for the referendum.
Unfortunately, the politicians who have designed this Referendum Question have not provided any proportional system/prop rep option in which citizens can vote directly for all MLAs.
The only fully 'Voter Choice' system on the ballot is the current First Past The Post system. This video describes and explains the Referendum options and what this will mean for voters and British Columbia.
Many details will be determined after the vote by a multi party process consisting of politicians from the NDP(New Democratic Party), Green Party and BC Liberal parties. Government has decided there will not be enough time to allow these decisions to be deliberated by independent experts or citizens.
According to the Attorney General's recommendations to Cabinet, all three options will have 'Party Lists'. DMP lists will have lists of two, MMP will have 'party ordered' lists with details after you vote. RUP has MMP which has party lists.
Kumtuks is a Vancouver based vlog that shares knowledge, explores new narratives and reclaims old ones. Some quotes and descriptors have been adjusted for clarity and brevity. Please subscribe if you would like to be notified of new videos. If you would like to receive additional commentary and notices of events then please subscribe to the kumtuks website.
Sam Sullivan is a Member of the Order of Canada, a former Mayor of Vancouver and Cabinet Minister in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia representing Vancouver-False Creek.
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