BCpoli – Planet Laurel

Defenders of the Status Quo writers like The Province’s Mike…

Defenders of the Status Quo writers like The Province’s Mike Smyth tell us:

Keep in mind British Columbians have already voted in two earlier referendums on proportional representation. The idea was voted down both times.

57.7% of BC Voters voted to adopt the BC-STV voting system recommended by the BC Citizen’s Assembly [download PDF of the Final Report]

Not what I would consider “voted down” ~ especially in a winner-take-all system that routinely delivers majority governments with minority support.

BC governments don’t need 60% of the vote to form government.

In 2017, Ms Christy Clark’s Liberal MLA’s secured only 43 seats; they needed 44 seats to claim a majority government. Ms. Clark tried very hard to woo Green Party support; had she had succeeded, she could have formed a minority government based on only 40.36% of the votes cast for Liberal MLAs.

The NDP won only 41 seats… but they did it with 40.28%

That’s a difference of only .08% of the votes the parties earned ~ 1,566 votes ~
but it meant a difference of 2 seats.

Meanwhile the BC Green Party won the “balance of responsibility” … they worked out a supply and confidence agreement that allowed the BC NDP to form a minority government.

Here’s hoping they deliver the good people of BC electoral reform. to Proportional Representation!

BC NDP to form government with BC Green supportVery often during…

BC NDP to form government with BC Green support

Very often during elections Canadians have been convinced not to vote Green or NDP because “they can’t win.”

So instead of voting for (and maybe electing) who we want, we vote “strategically” for someone we don’t want because we’re afraid someone we hate will win. Frankly, I think the phrase “strategic voting” is a misnomer, because it isn’t very strategic to vote against the one you want. {Although it is very strategic for the one who gets your vote!) I think the American term “Lesser Evilism” is far more apt.

Thankfully we are waking up. Since Elizabeth May’s election to the House of Commons, the New Brunswick and P.E.I.Greens are the 3rd parties in their respective provinces, and now the BC Greens are doing very well indeed. And since the federal Liberals have dropped the ball, with both parties favouring Proportional Representation, it looks very much like BC will be the one to lead Canada into a real representative Representative Democracy.

The Orange and the GreenNDP MP Nathan Cullen and Ontario Green…

The Orange and the Green

NDP MP Nathan Cullen and Ontario Green Bob Jonkman are in 100% agreement on Proportional Representation.

Despite acrimony and negative campaigning in the BC Election, the BC NDP and the BC Greens are on the same page on a lot of issues. Last night’s election result suggests minority government is what BC voters asked for. Just like Nathan and Bob, the BC Orange and Green have a lot of policy in common. Can these parties put the past behind them for the good of BC?