News Release: Sechelt public hearing June 5

Do not fear coalitions, Assembly told

Do not be afraid of coalition government – that was one of the key messages delivered by presenters during a lively public hearing Saturday of the Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform in Sechelt.

During the meeting, the Assembly itself was also held up as an ideal example of how a more consensual – rather than an adversarial – style of decision-making could work well for BC’s Legislature.

"A quick acting government that does not act in the best interest of the majority is not an effective government," said Alun Woolliams. "Coalitions and governments with strong oppositions are more likely to make more moderate and stable policy decisions with a broader base of support."

More than 80 people attended the hearing on the Sunshine Coast – with the overwhelming majority of people favouring greater proportionality over how votes won at the ballot box translate into seats in the Legislature.

Teacher Denise Lagasse, of L’Ecole du Pacifique School, Sechelt, also saw consensual politics as the future. She drew on the results of a case study undertaken by her grade 5, 6 and 7 classes, in which students role-played at being an elected government.

"It was very clear that to make successful decisions, everyone needs to have a voice," she said. "When one person or group is in control they are handicapped. They are cutting off access to different perspectives, fresh alternatives, new ideas, expansion of their knowledge base and the opportunity for everyone to listen and grow.

"In simple terms, you create more energy when you work together." Lagasse said that if BC adopted a form of proportional representation, the "vision for the province would be the collective wisdom of all people".

Jim Elliott called the Citizens’ Assembly "a fantastic gift". "I am watching you and think this a model of what might be in the Legislature … It is a lot more humane," he said. He advocated a form of mixed member proportionality (MMP) where local representation is retained.

Arnett Tuffs also spoke in favour of greater proportionality. Of the 79 seats available, he recommended setting aside 40 seats to be decided under proportional representation (PR) and the remaining 39 under the current first-past-the-post system. Each voter would receive two votes – one for a party and one for a local representative. He said this system would be best for BC given the geographic size of the province.

Lynn Chapman, formerly a trustee of the Sunshine Coast school board, said the BC Legislature could take a leaf out of the board’s book. The board’s seats are assigned closely to reflect the principle of representation by population, she said. "Representatives make their decisions based upon their thinking about the information at hand, community consultation and not out of predetermined party policy. She called for "more built-in mechanisms for consensus building" and urged the Assembly to adopt a system of MMP too.

Husband and wife Doug and Helen Roy also called for MMP. "Electoral reform is urgent – I want it tomorrow," said Mrs. Roy. Anna Banana felt MMP would be best for BC too, although she does not favour increasing the size of rural ridings. She said that if larger rural ridings were deemed necessary, she would like the boundaries to be drawn up by an independent commission akin to the Citizens’ Assembly.