I was very disappointed to find that the Assembly’s
public meeting in Port McNeill was scheduled on an evening when it
was a dangerous cargo run for the ferry from Alert Bay.
As a result I was unable to take the ferry to meet panel members,
hear other presenters, and make this presentation in
person.
Regrets aside, I have two concerns about our current electoral
system. They are as follows:
-
It breeds apathy and cynicism. Psychology teaches us
that we repeat behaviours that result in a positive
response. Under our current electoral system, anyone
who does not subscribe to the values of the two main political
parties is liable to opt out and not vote at all, because they know
that in their riding they will not elect someone who shares their
views on one or more key policy areas. This hurts
democracy.
-
It stifles diversity. Ecology teaches us that
diverse ecosystems are more resilient and robust than homogenous
systems. The Bible teaches us that “A cord
of many strands is not easily broken,” and capitalism
demonstrates that businesses that encourage and nurture new ideas
stay competitive and are more profitable than those resistant to
change. In other words, an electoral system with two
parties is not diverse; a cord of two strands is not strong, and
the current balance of power in our legislature hardly encourages a
diversity of views and ideas.
In order to reinvigorate our electoral process and to address
the above issues I propose that BC adopt a Mixed Member
Proportional (MMP) electoral system. Key elements would
be as follows:
-
Reduce the number of ridings by 30 – 50% by
increasing their geographical size.
-
Allocate the 30 – 50% of seats that disappeared due
to the increased riding size to political parties, whose members
would be elected based on published party lists of candidates.
-
A voter would therefore vote for two people: 1. The
candidate of choice for his/her riding and 2. The
political party of their choosing.
-
Parties would have to field candidates in at least 80% of the
ridings in order to get on “Part 2” of the
ballot. This is to filter out splinter groups.
-
Parties would have to garner a minimum percentage of the votes
to elect someone from their party list. Again, this is
to filter out splinter groups.
Why change?
In terms of combating voter apathy, let’s look at
aboriginals. An electoral system that holds out a
glimmer of hope that one day aboriginals may get elected on a
regular basis to our legislature would likely greatly increase
aboriginal voter turnout and increase the chance of new ideas, from
aboriginal MLAs, being introduced to, and debated in, the
legislature. Aboriginals live right across our province
but the current electoral system does not give them a voice in our
legislature. An MMP system could give them that voice,
if they organized effectively.
Issues like education, health care, social policies, and the
environment are often governed by policies that are province wide
in their scope. What we need are the best ideas and the
best people in our legislature to debate and advance those
ideas. I would like to be able to vote for the best
candidate in my local riding, and then also have the chance to vote
for the party that I feel has the best ideas, values, and
philosophy, which I could do if BC switched to an MMP electoral
system.
Our current system disempowers a large chunk of the electorate,
because when divided geographically they do not have enough clout
to elect members, whereas collectively, province wide, they
represent a significant group. Aboriginals are one
example, and other groups and parties come to mind.
This lack of explicit representation leads to frustration and at
times dysfunctional, costly actions that pull our province
down. Things like legal battles, demonstrations, and
civil disobedience are symptomatic of this frustration.
Those are my thoughts. I was feeling rather
frustrated after the last two provincial elections so I suspect
that many others are too. I greatly appreciate this
opportunity to share my views and I commend the current government
for its foresight and interest in improving the democratic
process. No matter the outcome, this process that you
are engaged in is historic and my best wishes are with you as you
ponder all of the input that you have received.