Once-in-a-lifetime offer is too good to pass
up
By Jody Paterson
The Victoria Times Colonist, 29 October 2004
I love hearing hard-liners on the political scene harumphing
over whether we should change the method of voting in B.C. God
forbid that we should do anything so radical as to change a
century-old system, as if everything else in the world hasn't
changed a hundred times over in that same period.
For those who love the party system, I suppose it's deeply
unsettling to ponder a change in voting that tampers with party
power. Nothing wrong with the party system that an engaged
electorate couldn't fix, proponents argue, and they've got a point.
Unfortunately, like communism and Utopia, a governance system based
on political parties looks good on paper but falls short in the
real world.
I'd prefer a system modelled on reality, which is why I'm
rooting for B.C.'s Citizens' Assembly for Electoral Reform. After
10 hard months of listening to our concerns, its members recognize
that a province as diverse and vast as ours has to have a system of
voting that takes that into account.
B.C.'s current system produces governments that represent single
interests. Gordon Campbell's Liberals, for instance, came from
B.C.'s business community. Glen Clark's New Democrats had their
roots in trade unions. Mike Harcourt's government clicked with the
environmentalists. The Socreds were small-town business owners.
But who represents the many people who don't fit into any of
those groups? Who stands for the middle-aged, not-really-political,
worried mothers in this province? Or for urban aboriginals -- or
reserve ones, for that matter? How about the minimum-wage earners?
The grizzly-bear lovers? The people who don't lean so left as to
want to pour all the money into parks, but not so right that
they're happy about being charged exorbitant amounts to camp in a
park they already paid for?
That's how it goes in a system like ours, where the winner
ultimately takes all. When you're that winner, happy days: You get
to do whatever the hell you want for four or more years, and the
worst that's going to happen is that your side might lose during
the next election. But pity the folk who never did find their niche
when it came time to vote, because nobody's going to be
representing their interests for several years.
Spare a thought in particular for the ones whose interests are
too inconsequential in the grand scheme of things to ever influence
the outcome of an election, let alone form the basis of a political
party capable of going up against the big guys. Our system
concentrates power in the hands of whoever gets the vote out, and
that sidelines many segments of the population.
Not that I would advocate a voting system that instead gave all
the power to the powerless, because I bet that could be one nutty,
hard ride toward economic disaster. No, I value a careful balance
of fiscal and social concerns, and have not forgotten that for a
few years in the '90s, B.C. was very nearly driven into the ground
by governments of too much heart and not enough brain.
But there is something between here and there, and ample
evidence from many countries of voting reform invigorating a
disenchanted electorate. A change in the way we vote will finally
bring some of B.C.'s many unheard voices to the table.
Can we solve all of B.C.'s problems with a new way of voting? Of
course not. And we'll inevitably face some problems with a
different electoral system as well, and maybe need to change it
again down the line to keep it attuned with whatever forces are in
play at that point. But isn't that the essence of truly wise
governance: to recognize that things change?
Whatever else I've had to say about B.C.'s Liberals, I'm deeply
thankful that they brought the citizens' assembly concept to life.
(And deeply appalled by Green party Leader Adriane Carr's petulant
protest of the assembly's recommendation because it wasn't the
particular system she wanted.) It's a fine thing that the Liberals
are doing. They're giving us the opportunity to rework a voting
system that benefited them immensely in the last election. Good on
you, Gordon.
But this next part is up to us. We're going to have to rise from
the slumber of political apathy or give up the chance of a
lifetime, because we aren't going to find another government
willing to open the door to electoral reform anytime soon. This is
one of those moments when we really need to pay attention, as hard
as that is in an era when barely half of us even bothers to
vote.
I'm bracing for all kinds of passionate arguments in coming
months around the need to hold onto our current system, and looking
forward to the debate. But I know where my heart's leaning.
Tradition be damned -- let's build ourselves a government that
speaks for all British Columbians.
Jody Paterson is a Victoria-based writer and columnist, and a
former staff member of the Victoria Times Colonist.
[© Copyright 2004 Jody Paterson. Reproduced here with
her permission.]
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