I would like to add my support to the many who have advocated a
MMP system. The New Zealand system was chosen after much research
and discussion and appears to be functioning well there. It might
however need some fine tuning for BC.
The major flaw in the system as advocated by Adriane Carr a
couple of years ago was the unreasonably large size of the northern
rural constituencies which would seriously diminish local
representation. This could be addressed in two ways. One would be
to diminish the percentage of list seats, but my preference would
be to increase the total number of seats in the legislature. Since
I have been in BC the population has more than doubled but the
number of seats has not, leading again to more diluted local
representation.
If the number of seats is increased, some physical remodeling or
even relocation of the present legislative chamber would be
necessary. This would have another benefit in that the whole layout
could be redesigned to facilitate a less adversarial atmosphere. It
seems obvious that there is a strong appetite to move beyond a
system of only two parties who need to be kept two swords' lengths
apart. A circular layout as used at the UN and many modern
democracies would, in my view, help the dynamics of legislative
operation.
A final comment on another aspect of the New Zealand system. It
may be worth considering the setting aside of some seats for First
Nations, as is done for the Maori in New Zealand. It may well
present more of a challenge to do so here given that our First
Nations population is far more diverse, however it is an issue
which should be given consideration.
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