Yesterday, the democratic process took place and, by all accounts, 85 MLAs were elected to the legislature in Victoria. (I can't tell you who they are; my deadline for this article was Monday!)
I spent election day working for Elections B.C. as a voting officer, and every time I've worked an election, I am amazed at how efficient, honest, secure and simple our system is. Sometimes I think it's something we take for granted. A close race, the occasional recount, but when it's all said and done, the people's voices have been heard. We are incredibly fortunate as people die in some countries for the opportunity to vote.
Compare our system to that of the U.S. The ballot has more options than a menu at Starbucks. They have a sheet of paper that slides into a machine, multiple but-tons are pushed and voilà - you have a page that looks like Swiss cheese. Run it through a counter and the result pops out the other end. Unless, of course, you have hanging chads. For us it's an X or check mark beside the name you choose; if it's in the circle, it counts.
We tend to dislike anything U.S. style: U.S.-style politics, U.S.-style health care; you name it, we hate it. The one U.S. style thing that I am becoming increasing weary of is fixed election dates.
I understand the premise behind a fixed election date - don't allow the governing party to set the conditions for re-election, then set an election date on their terms. Set a date for the election and everyone knows when it will happen.
Unfortunately, as we are seeing in the U.S., as soon as the results are posted, the campaign begins for the next one.
It doesn't help that Americans go to the polls every two years to elect congress, but it seems that U.S. politicians spend more time campaigning than executing what they are campaigning for. The only people who seem to win in this scenario are those who run political campaigns and the sign makers.
We have, in essence, been in campaign mode for the last six months. MLAs have been "with the people" since the fall when the legislature was shut down. Any government program, no matter how it was perceived, was seen as an election stunt. The press have been climbing all over Adrian Dix to release his platform since January and wondering what he was waiting for.
Had we not known about a May 14 election, Dix could have concentrated on his job as opposition leader and the government could have gone about doing the people's business. If fixed election dates lead us to a U.S. style campaign cycle, I think I'd rather go back to the historic parliamentary system where the government drops the writ and the campaign begins. If the opposition isn't ready for a campaign, it probably isn't ready to be government either.
I'm a firm believer in keeping things simple. I like boring governments - the more flamboyant they are, the more they seem to create problems instead of solving them.
That's why I really like how we vote, with a small piece of paper and a pencil. It can't get much simpler than that.
