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Submission WYETH-0802 (Online)

Submission By Michael Wyeth
AddressVictoria, BC, Canada
Organization
Date20040708
Abstract
I support a degree of proportional representation [MMP]; two-thirds of the seats in the legislature to continue to represent constituencies. These could be elected by either first-past-the-post or a majority system. [2 pages]

Submission Content
I believe that the work that your Assembly is doing is very important.

I support a degree of proportional representation.  By this I mean that I would like two-thirds of the seats in the legislature to continue to represent constituencies [MMP].  These could be elected by either first-past-the-post or a majority system.  A transferable vote would be good.

The remaining one-third should be elected by proportion by the party.  I am quite happy to have a threshold, of say 5%, to ensure that parties represented have “significant” support.

My reasons for this preference are:

  • The overall public preference will be better represented in the legislature.  Minority views will not be completely eliminated from the house by the majority.  This will remove one of the key complaints about people feeling that viewpoints of a significant proportion of the population are ignored.
  • This method should lead to a dampening of the dramatic swings that we have seen in BC.  These swings are very disruptive to the population and are incredibly expensive.  Simply shuffling ministries is a huge expense with, usually, little or no value to the public.  Just eliminating the administrative costs of name changes alone would save a lot of money that could be used for programs.  Dampening the swings would make the program delivery more efficient.
  • Having the broader range of views expressed in the house at least provides the opportunity for better decision-making.  It does not guarantee it -– nothing can.  It will still depend on the party in power having enough common sense to listen and actually hear alternative ideas.  But at least the ideas can be on the table for consideration.
I would also like to make a comment about a statement I have heard concerning a so-called problem with proportional representation.  I have heard it said that this would reduce the opportunity for citizens to be heard by their constituency representative.  In the same breath it is suggested that the current method does a good job in this representation. 

I wish to strongly disagree with that view.  The representation for a citizen in a constituency only works well if they happen to be of the same persuasion as the elected MLA.  If you have a view different to the party of the MLA you are likely to get short shrift.  In our current party system, there is a great tendency for the party view to be thrust back down upon constituencies, rather than the party listening to the local concern.

With proportional representation, each party could easily assign some of its members to cover territory in which the party did not win constituency seats.  This would mean that there would be more than one way for a citizen with a concern to express a view to the government.

So I believe that proportional representation, mixed with constituency representation, can actually do a better job of serving citizens in the role of local representation.

Good luck with your deliberations.  We are looking forward to a major step forward in our democratic process in BC.

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