British Columbia is a large province with a relatively small population of 4.6 million people. The whole of the United Kingdom could fit within our borders. Japan, a country of 127 million people, could also fit within our realm.
The United Kingdom elects its parliament with the first past the post (FPTP) system as we have done here in Canada for 150 years. Japan elects its government with a complex proportional representation (PR) system.
Rural B.C. has always been well served by our FPTP electoral system but that may change in the fall of 2018 when we receive packages in the mail that will ask us to vote in a referendum to switch to PR. The question or questions on the referendum ballot will be developed by the Greens and NDP as per their coalition agreement.
The NDP and Green caucuses met on Wednesday to discuss the process. The government has added a website to help us understand the implications of a change and we would all do well to have a look (https://engage.gov.bc.ca/howwevote) before voting on such a crucial issue.
There are many types of PR used around the world and the general idea is that every vote counts and that elected officials are chosen by percentage of the popular vote. For instance, the Green Party, which received 17 per cent of the popular vote in this past election, would receive 17 per cent of the seats in the legislature.
Detractors argue there is too much opportunity for small fringe parties to make inroads into the parliament which only serves to complicate the ability to govern through backroom trade-offs and horse trading on party platforms. Proponents argue this is the best formula to achieve consensus on issues.
A recent example of some of the trade-offs has already occurred in British Columbia with the new coalition. The much larger NDP representation has to play ball.
The NDP campaigned on $10 a day daycare and rebates for renters as two of their main campaign planks yet these two items did not make it into the budget because the Greens want to focus on PR. You can see why. Although they have reached official party status under new legislation, with PR, their share of seats based on popular vote would be 14 rather than three.
It is interesting to note that longtime NDP strategist Bill Tielman is against PR, according to an article in the Tyee: “That’s because proportional representation practically guarantees that no party will ever be able to win a majority of seats, leaving every government dependent on small parties like the Greens.”
Proponents like Devon Rowcliffe in a Sept. 22 opinion piece, also in the Tyee, wrote, “Let’s face it: the first-past-the-post voting system that we use provincially and federally here in Canada is outdated, confusing and no longer fit for purpose. It fosters toxic, adversarial politics.”
We have been down the road on this issue in 2005 and 2009 and both times the idea of a singular transferable vote was turned down by British Columbians. This time the threshold for the referendum will be 50 per cent as opposed to 60 per cent and there will not be a simple yes or no question on the ballot as promised.
Either way, it is contingent on us to dive in to this issue to best understand how to make an informed choice next fall.
Mike Schneider is founder of Project Pickle and likes to write about growing, cooking and eating food. He is a Jamie Oliver Food Revolution ambassador.
