News release - Abbotsford public hearing

No wasted votes

Members of the Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform heard strong support, at a public hearing in Abbotsford Saturday, for adding an element of proportionality to the electoral system.  Most speakers advocated some version of the mixed member proportional (MMP) system – which blends both local representation with proportionality – but they differed on the details.

Professor John Redekop began by countering the oft-heard claim that votes are wasted under the current system.  Just because a person’s candidate doesn’t get elected, he said, doesn’t mean that voter’s views aren’t represented.  He claimed that “votes for losing candidates do affect political behaviour and policy decisions.”

Redekop offered six criteria for electoral systems, saying the system the Assembly ultimately recommends must be understandable, incorporate proportionality, stress accountability, facilitate accessibility, be workable and promote stable government.  His proposal included semi-annual regional accountability forums where MLAs would be required to answer to the citizens.

While Redekop recommended a system in which half the legislature is elected by the current single member plurality system and half by proportional representation in five regional districts, Henry Teichrob advocated two-thirds of MLAs be elected under the current system and one-third by proportional representation. 

They also differed in how the proportional representatives would be elected. Redekop promoted regional lists drawn up by the parties prior to an election, while Teichrob recommended these MLAs be appointed from the unsuccessful candidates in constituency elections, earning the highest share of voter support. 

Under Teichrob’s system, the voting process would be as straightforward as it is today, with voters simply marking an “x” beside the name of their preferred constituency representative.  Redekop’s system allowed voters to vote twice, once for a constituency representative and once for a party list.

Teichrob, who escaped from the USSR as a child, told the Assembly, “Democracy is complex, slow, inefficient and messy.  Easily observed flaws often lead to destructive criticism, cynicism, disillusionment and even disdain.”   While reminding the Assembly that this criticism is possible only because we have freedom of speech, he conceded that our current system has shortcomings, saying “…reform is not an option; it is an imperative.”

Like the earlier speakers, Harold Daykin also proposed an MMP system – but with only one-quarter of MLAs elected through proportional representation.  Like Redekop, Daykin suggested two ballots, but like Teichrob, Daykin’s proportional MLAs would be awarded seats based first on their party’s percentage of the popular vote and then on the voter support they earned in the electoral districts where they ran but lost.

Tim Jones’ system, like Teichrob’s, had one-third proportional representatives, elected through open lists, where voters are able to rank their preferences.  Saying these were negative options, Jones specified that there should not be a “none of the above” option on the ballot, nor should voting be compulsory, as in Australia.

Ideas offered by other speakers included:
• The need for a new, more respectful political culture
• Democratizing the process of nominating candidates by taking this power out of the hands of the parties
• Reducing the number of MLAs to 50 to reduce the cost of government
• Redrawing ridings so each MLA is elected by the same number of voters
• Performance report cards for governments

Next week, hearings will be held in Smithers (Monday), Duncan and Terrace (Tuesday), Port Alberni and Prince Rupert (Wednesday), Victoria (Thursday) and Vancouver and the Queen Charlottes (Saturday).  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 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.