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Pick your shortcoming in PR referendum

Can’t we all just get along? I realize that’s not the question on the proportional representation (PR) ballot we’ve all received in the mail, but your answer to it could help determine how you vote.

Can’t we all just get along?

I realize that’s not the question on the proportional representation (PR) ballot we’ve all received in the mail, but your answer to it could help determine how you vote.

It’s hard to argue with the premise that PR is a fairer way to allocate seats, but one of its drawbacks is the likelihood that it creates coalition governments that require politicians to find some sort of common ground. And if you haven’t noticed, they’re not terribly good at doing that.

To be fair, the first-past-the-post system now in place usually produces a majority government so the need to compromise is not in the job description, but it’s hard to picture today’s politicians putting the good of others ahead of the interests of themselves or their parties.

Maybe PR, should it be favoured by B.C. voters, will usher in a new era of politics, one where multiple parties put aside their differences in an effort to craft legislation that strikes a middle ground. I have to say, I chuckled a bit while typing that, not because it couldn’t happen, but due to the fact it’s essentially the polar opposite of our current “whatever you say, I’ll say the opposite” style of political discourse.

The way I look at it, PR could take us into a new world of cooperation and conciliation or it could pave the way for years of dysfunctional governance punctuated by repeated elections. In other words, do you trust the politicians to make it work? After last week’s leaders’ debate, I remain unconvinced.

I know, that’s a defeatist attitude and it’s not fair to shun PR because we refuse to make it work, but there’s a reality at play here that can’t be ignored. There are places where PR works quite well and other jurisdictions where it’s been a struggle, to the point where in extreme cases it’s taken more than a year after an election in order to form a coalition government.

First-past-the-post doesn’t typically result in such chaos, but it has the dubious distinction of handing 100 per cent of the power to a party that barely gets 40 per cent of the vote.

Both systems come complete with a variety of downsides, regardless of what their supporters contend, so how you end up voting likely depends on what shortcoming you’re willing to tolerate.