Dear Editor,
There are a few days left till Nov. 30, the deadline in the referendum on electoral reform which could fundamentally change the way British Columbians choose their MLAs, from the current system of “First Past The Post” (FPTP) to a form of “Proportional Representation” (PR).
The NDP government has completely mishandled this referendum. Firstly, changing something as fundamental to our way of life as our election system should not be put in the hands of politicians but rather should belong to citizens. By making it a project of the Attorney General and the NDP cabinet, rather than having a non-partisan Citizens Assembly determining the referendum process, as was done with the 2005 referendum, the NDP has politicized the referendum, making it difficult to have a reasoned, non-partisan debate on the relative merits of FPTP versus PR.
This NDP referendum is also deeply flawed in not having a minimum participation threshold, with currently about 24 per cent of ballots returned. There is also no regional threshold, meaning that a tiny part of the province or Metro Vancouver could determine the entire outcome, potentially at odds with the rest of our vast province.
Furthermore, there is no minimum majority threshold for the referendum to pass beyond a simple 50 per cent plus one vote, which is not reasonable given what is at stake here: our democracy.
We are also asked to vote on PR without 24 key details which will only be decided after the referendum should PR be selected. We are missing details such as: How many MLAs will there be under PR? How will ridings be combined to form larger ridings under PR? How big will these PR ridings be? Under PR, MLAs will be appointed by political parties, how will this happen?
The loss of local accountability with MLAs being appointed by parties is the biggest concern of my constituents. Under the FPTP system, local voters directly determine whether an MLA is elected in each riding.
There is also the negative experience of PR jurisdictions with so many examples around the world of political instability that comes with perpetual minority governments.
Given the flawed process, the loss of local MLA accountability with PR, the history of political instability in PR jurisdictions, the potential for extremist parties to have MLAs appointed and the missing information on how PR would work, I encourage voters to stick with our current First Past the post system.
John Yap
MLA, RICHMOND-STEVESTON
