News release - Lillooet public hearing

Assembly hears call for education

A call for educating B.C. voters about their political and electoral system came from the audience at a public hearing Wednesday night of the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform.

"I'm ignorant of politics more or less in general," confessed one speaker at the hearing in Lillooet. "I've never taken the time to search out how the political system works . . . and I guess I'm concerned about the general knowledge of most British Columbians. How much do they really understand their political system and their voting system?

"I am example of a large part of B.C. . . . When I go to vote I'll pick a person that I like but I don't understand how the voting system works. If we look at the example of construction, if we had all the materials to build a house, how many of us have the skills to actually build it? There needs to be a way to improve the knowledge of the B.C. political system."

In formal presentations, two speakers told of being canvassers in the non-governmental Proportional Representation Initiative campaign in 2002, which collected 98,000 signatures in B.C. in 90 days.

Rod Webb argued that 4,000 canvassers and nearly 100,000 signatures shows the support across the province for a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system.

But he expressed concern that MMP could mean enlarging rural ridings. He proposed that B.C. should retain its 79 constituency seats in the legislature, and introduce additional compensatory seats to be distributed according to the parties' shares of the popular vote.

Kim Chute also supported the introduction of a Mixed Member Proportional system, with amendments suggested by the Free Your Vote campaign. She said the current First Past the Post system produces "corporatocracy" where the government bows to pressure from major corporations.

She questioned whether the selection process for Assembly members was free from political bias, and asked whether members were socio-economically representative of the province. She also asked how limited the Assembly was by the requirement that its recommendation be consistent with the Constitution of Canada and the Westminster parliamentary system.

Dorothy-Jean O'Donnell introduced herself as a federal candidate for the People's Front. She proposed that members of the legislature should elect the premier and that the legislature should organize itself into different ministries and then elect a spokesperson for each, who becomes the minister.

O'Donnell supported proportional representation but did not advocate any particular PR system. She also encouraged the Assembly to look for a mechanism by which aboriginal people can be assured of election.

Hearings continue this week in Kamloops tonight (Thursday) and Williams Lake (Saturday).  Ganges, on Salt Spring Island, will also host a hearing on Saturday beginning at a new time – 12 noon. 

A full schedule of hearings is on the Assembly’s website at www.citizensassembly.bc.ca. So is information on how to make a presentation at a hearing, or to send in a written submission.

The Citizens’ 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.