News Release - Weekly review of hearings

Desire for change reaffirmed during final flurry of hearings

The final flurry of 50 public hearings held by the Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform wrapped up this week – with the majority of presenters urging members to recommend some form of change to BC’s electoral system.

Members are gathering in Prince George tomorrow and Sunday (June 26-27) to review what they have heard during two months of hearings, and to begin their deliberations. In the fall, they will meet over several weekends in order to assess whether or not to recommend change.

During an intense final week, seven public hearings were held: in Cranbrook, Vernon, Radium, Revelstoke, Penticton, Sparwood and Kelowna.

The final hearing, in Kelowna last night (June 24), featured several calls from presenters for greater proportionality in the way votes translate into seats in the legislature. And, akin to many earlier hearings, several spoke in favour of a Mixed Member Proportional system (MMP).

Under the MMP system endorsed by a string of speakers, a number of legislature seats would go to MLAs elected in constituencies. The remaining seats would go to MLAs from pre-published party lists. Those would result in each party's share of places in the house reflecting its share of the popular vote.

"Our government should not be based on win-or-lose. It's not a hockey game . . . With MMP, we'd get more diverse views, more discussion, and perhaps even compromise . . . I think it would end up a bit more moderate and a bit more positive," Devra Rice told Assembly members.

In Penticton, the MMP electoral system was offered by one speaker as a way of cleaning up behaviour in the legislature. Errol Anderson disagreed. "It does not improve the level of debate. You still get the partisan stuff."

MMP was also on the menu in Revelstoke. Debra Ducharme and Patricia Sieber decried wild swings of policy as governments change under our current system. Antoinette Halberstadt also endorsed MMP, but pleaded with Assembly members to protect rural BC in any change they propose.

Several speakers in Vernon echoed a desire for MMP too. In Sparwood, presenters spoke in favour of virtually every major type of electoral system.  One thing every participant had in common, however, was the desire for change.

Not everyone wanted greater proportionality. John Katrichak, of Sparwood, saw proportional representation as a "party thing" and told the Assembly that he liked what we have now, but wanted his MLA to act in the interest of the constituency, rather than be forced by party discipline to vote the party line. 

And in Kelowna, Jim Nielsen, who was a Social Credit cabinet minister for 11 years, blasted PR in general as "a monumental error in judgment". "Why would we consider altering a system that has provided for the most part stable government over the past 133 years?" he asked the audience of 79 people. "Why would we wish to empower small segments of society with influence inconsistent with their political base?"

Assembly members were reminded of the importance of their work in Radium. Roger Granville-Martin, a Cranbrook teacher, told Assembly members, "The work this Assembly is doing is, in my opinion, far more important than any one election, either federal or provincial.  This Assembly has the opportunity to recommend fundamental change in the way we elect our representatives.  This is without doubt the most exciting and promising political event in my life." He backed some form of proportional representation.

Two presenters in Vernon turned their attention to the regional make-up of the province’s electoral districts. Dirk Pereboom suggested BC adopt a system similar to that in place in some Scandinavian countries, he said. He proposed that B.C.'s 79 seats be divided into 16 regions, each of which would have from three to seven seats. And Bjorn Meyer of Coldstream proposed 7-9 regions.

In each case, political parties would nominate as many candidates as there are seats in each region. Pereboom then proposed a Single Transferable Vote (STV) setup in which voters can numerically indicate their preference for one or more candidates. Meyer proposed, instead, a system in which voters would vote for party rather than candidate.

A note of caution was introduced in Cranbrook. William Hills, a long-time proponent of proportional representation, urged the Assembly to "go slow".  His concern was the lack of openness and democratic process within political parties and in the selection of candidates. William Latter, Lloyd Hodge and Carol Patton were more confident that injecting proportional representation into the electoral system would provided greater fairness and needed change.  "It’s pretty clear it’s time for a change," said Hodge.