News release - Chilliwack public hearing

Election by random selection

A proposal for B.C.'s MLAs to be elected through a random process was outlined Tuesday to members of the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, at a public hearing in Chilliwack.

Olaf Frost of Chilliwack suggested random selection as the key step in an electoral system of pure Proportional Representation, with B.C. having 50 seats in the Legislature instead of the current 79, and no constituencies as such.

"A party would get a seat for each of the nearest 2% of the votes it won.  At the time of voting, each person who was willing to serve as an MLA would be required to show the usual qualifications, plus that he or she was a member in that party, and had voted for that party. . . .

"He would not be guaranteed a seat, because his name would go into a province-wide pool for his party. The day after the voting, the election supervisor would pull all of each party's seat winners from the pools. . . MLAs could pick the premier and the cabinet among themselves, and voting would be mandatory, by telephone if they weren't in the House."

MLAs would no longer represent local constituencies, but government information-and-access offices would be placed in all areas.

Several presenters and members of the audience called for more proportionality in the electoral system. Audience members also called for changes (few within the mandate of the Assembly) such as less party control over MLAs, tighter regulation of election financing, implementation of a maximum two-year term for premiers, and democratic mechanisms through which voters would set the agendas for politicians.

Ted Westlin of Agassiz, a municipal councillor for Kent district, won audience applause when he called for more free votes in the legislature. "Pity the poor MLA. They (the government) close down a local hospital and they close down a local school, and he's supposed to vote the party line?"

Doug Carson of Rosedale got a hand from the audience when he said: "Our parties strongly resemble nothing so much as two junkyard dogs snarling over a torn seat cover, and I have the horrible feeling I'm the seat cover. Proportional Representation should provide a little bit of disparate thinking. We're trapped now. We've got two choices, and that means no choices."

Raymond Smith of Chilliwack proposed that B.C. continue with its current First Past the Post electoral system - but add a new twist: an Oath of Obligations that would have to be sworn and adhered to by MLAs. Smith's oath would include a requirement that MLAs be bound by an official "standing mandate" filed with the chief electoral officer by each party. The mandate would spell out the party's agenda and plans, and include costs in some cases.  The mandate could be altered only by an 80% vote in the House.

Gil Caffyn of Chilliwack proposed that ballots allow voters to check off "None of these candidates are acceptable to me."  If a majority so voted, "you go back for a re-vote. It would be a message to the parties to smarten up in their selection of candidates."

Other meetings this week are in Maple Ridge on Wednesday (6:30-9:30pm at Thomas Haney School, 23000 116th Avenue) and in Langley on Thursday (6:30-9:30pm at the Hampton Inn, 19500 Langley Bypass.)

A full schedule of hearings, as well as information on how to sign up to make a presentation, is on the Assembly's website at www.citizensassembly.bc.ca.

The Assembly is an independent, representative, non-partisan group of 160 randomly selected British Columbians. They must decide by December 15 whether to propose a change to BC's electoral system. If they recommend a change, it will be the subject of a referendum for all voters in the May 2005 provincial election.