Overall I have been very impressed by the way the Citizens'
Assembly has been run and by the dedicated effort that the members
have put in. I've made one previous submission to the web site and
also made a presentation at the public meeting in Burnaby, so I
have certainly taken advantage of the opportunity to make my voice
heard. I've also watched several of the Assembly discussions on TV
and read many of the submissions to the Assembly with interest.
As far as I can tell there has been little or no political
interference in the process and the ruling BC Liberals should be
commended not only for initiating the process but also for letting
it run its course.
The only thing that I've thought was a negative is the lobbying by
the Free your vote group that has gone on. I hope all the assembly
members have visited their web site and read their encouragement to
make submissions to the assembly (see below). I don't know what to
make of this exactly, but it certainly complicates the process and
is something to keep in mind while making the final decisions about
what the next step should be.
Thanks again to all the Assembly members for the dedicated and hard
work you have done over the past year. All the citizens of BC owe
you a debt of gratitude.
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Excerpt from freeyourvote web page at:
http://www.freeyourvote.bc.ca/freeyourvote1/index.html
VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE APRIL 12, 2004
The BC Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform (CA) has entered a
very critical phase -- the public input phase. They are holding 49
public input sessions across the Province in May and June of this
year, starting in Vancouver on May 3.
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED NOW.
I am asking you to do three things.
1) Please make a brief submission ON LINE to the CITIZENS ASSEMBLY
right now. It doesn't have to be long and complicated. A short
statement that you prefer a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system
like the one they have adopted in New Zealand over other options
(especially STV - Single Transferable Vote - which has some strong
advocates but is complicated, far less proportional and highly
adversarial) will make a big difference.
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