Thursday, May 17, 2018

Another failed attempt

I tried to interest the Globe in this, but they were not biting...

Gary Mason is a perceptive analyst of BC politics. Usually.
But his column "BC's NDP are sabotaging electoral reform" avoids most of the relevant history, and consequently misses the mark.
In 2005, the Citizen's Assembly on Electoral Reform finished its work by recommending a rather obscure version of proportional representation which they called BC-STV. The only extant examples were to be found in minor elections in Ireland and Australia.
Nonetheless, such was our dislike of FPTP that nearly 58% of us voted in favour.
Unfortunately, the government of the day had mandated a 60% vote to make the change, so it didn't happen. But after a while the political fallout had become so strong that same government conceded another vote, to be held in conjunction with the provincial election in 2009.
By 2009 the particulars of BC-STV were on the table; during the election campaign none of the political parties campaigned in favour of BC-STV,  and the proponents of all the various forms of proportional representation split into warring factions. The moment was lost: only 39% voted in favour.
However every poll before and after has shown that the BC electorate would like something other than the truly unfair system we use at present, where under 40% of the vote can result in a government majority in the Legislature.
Mr Mason is well aware of this history. He even claims to be interested in changing the system. But he must know that the only two things we can decide on in large enough numbers are: we don't want first-past-the-post, and we won't get a majority to agree on an alternative.
The only solution is to decide on change, and then to try another system.
Which is exactly what I believe the Horgan government is trying to accomplish.

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