News release

Assembly plans electoral statement

British Columbia’s Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform plans to issue a "preliminary statement" on possible electoral options for B.C. after members wrap up a weekend of meetings in Vancouver March 20-21.

The statement would review the pros and cons of the current "first past the post" system of translating votes into seats in the B.C. Legislature. It would also discuss the pros and cons of some possible alternative options.

These would include various forms of "proportional representation", in which the number of seats won in the legislature would be related to the share of the public vote secured by candidates and/or political parties.

The aim of the statement is to generate public debate in advance of a series of 49 public hearings to be held all over B.C. in May and June.

The public hearings will be followed by a meeting in Prince George June 26-27 at which members will discuss what they heard from British Columbians during the hearings. Then in the fall, members will hold five or six full weekends of deliberation, culminating in a final recommendation.

Assembly members must decide by December 15 if they will propose a change to B.C.’s current system of translating votes into seats in the Legislature. If they recommend a change, it will be the subject of a referendum for all voters in the May 2005 provincial election. Any change approved by the voters would take effect with the 2009 B.C. election.

The weekend of March 20-21 will be the last of the members’ six "learning phase" weekends on electoral systems. They meet at the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue at 580 West Hastings Street in downtown Vancouver. Meetings are open to the public, but space is limited and seating is first come, first seated. Meeting times are: Saturday, 9 a.m. - noon and 1 – 5 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

The Assembly has attracted interest from several other provinces, and the Yukon, which are also looking at provincial electoral reform. And the federal minister in charge of electoral and democratic reform, government house leader Jacques Saada, plans to visit the Assembly Saturday morning March 20.

The Assembly's 160 members come from all over B.C. For background (and the schedule of public hearings) see the Assembly website at www.citizensassembly.bc.ca

[Issued 12 March 2004]