Proportional Representation Could Mean Vancouver's Ugly
At-large System for the Province
I am very concerned about what you as a Citizens' Assembly are
doing. And I am hoping that every one of you gets a chance to read
this letter. Proportional representation is very much like the City
of Vancouver's heinous at large system. This is a system that
supports democratic dictatorship where one party has basically
ruled municipal politics for at least 65 of the last 75 years. In
the at large system, it is impossible for a citizen to run as a
independent candidate. I was once an independent candidate and I
figured I would have to start campaigning the day after the
election and campaign for the entire three years (one term of
office) to even have a chance of success in the following election.
In the last municipal election I received not one bit of
information about whom I was to vote for at my house. My wife and I
went to the polls with only the longstanding vague ideologies of
each of the major parties. This was completely unacceptable.
We in Vancouver are fighting for a ward system, a system where I
hopefully can count on the candidate to actually bother to
campaign.
Your sponsor is a graduate of the at large system and he loves
it. If he could see one party permanently rule in provincial
politics, he will have accomplished his hidden addenda with
you.
I am no fan of the existing system provincially. But I do not
want to see the ten provincial ridings for Vancouver carved into
three ridings, or worse, that my local candidate is representing
the lower mainland so that we can have proportional representation.
I do not want to see my vote go to a party where they pick my
candidate after the election.
What I would like to see at a minimum is to PRESERVE the ridings
as they are, and add a few (six seats) for at-large / proportional
options.
In the last election we elected 77 Liberals and 2 NDP. In this
scenario, the five or six at large seats should go to the
opposition parties exclusively -- no point giving the Liberals more
seats they already have enough.
Let’s say we elected 40 Liberals and 37 NDP, reserve
one seat for a minor party like the Greens, and split the rest of
the 5 or six seats between the NDP and the Liberals. The candidates
could come from areas where, for example, the Liberals dominated
one region of BC. The one NDP from the region could be chosen to
represent those voters from that region. Hopefully, the person
would be local. (Perhaps the number of proportional seats would be
dependent upon the outcome of the vote.)
Ultimately I want to preserve the notion that an independent can
have a chance in any election. Make the riding too large like 1/3
of Vancouver and this becomes impossible. Too large ridings also
result in the candidate being very distant from the constituents.
This results in candidates not even bothering to campaign (This is
happening in Vancouver’s at large system, George Puil
used to take vacations during the election) This also results in
sitting MPs not bothering to meet with constituents.
I stand for very small ridings and some proportional
representation. I’m an idealist and I cannot expect
this outcome.
If you give me a system where I do not know whom I am voting for
I shall have to choose not to bother voting (which I have never
done).
In conclusion I caution you once more your sponsor wants an at
large system for the province and he wants a democratic
dictatorship. He wants a system that generates as much voter apathy
as possible. The more distant we are from our candidates the more
apathy there will be!
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