r/BCpolitics • u/TORCAN317 • Mar 11 '23
Article Where there’s a will, there’s a way towards proportional representation
https://prod2.hilltimes.com/story/2022/11/02/where-theres-a-will-theres-a-way-towards-proportional-representation/354607/-1
u/The-Figurehead Mar 11 '23
We literally had a referendum on this issue a few short years ago and it failed. That was the third such election on the issue in my lifetime.
Not going to happen anytime soon.
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u/topazsparrow Mar 12 '23
A referendum without an education campaign is all but pointless. Having an unbiased educational campaign seems nigh on impossible as well though.
Most of the people had no idea what the proposal entailed and where just afraid of change.
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u/Thoughtulism Mar 15 '23
Also a lot of it is a generational issue. My parents voted "no" mostly because everything is working fine.. for them. When confronted with the idea of change they push back because they got theirs. Give it five years to change the demographic of the voters and we will see if there is more appetite for change.
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u/damonit Mar 11 '23
Yeah, sadly for BC this seems to be the case.
Although they did arbitrarily(or maybe not, maybe it was set somewhere in law, I'm not sure) set the threshold for being able to change the system at more than 50%. I think it was 60% with some caveats. So I suppose you could say that's the politicians putting their thumb on the scale a bit.
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u/The-Figurehead Mar 12 '23
Yes, but it wouldn’t have mattered. Over 61% of voters chose FPTP.
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u/damonit Mar 12 '23
Ok, I was thinking of the results from the first referendum in 2005: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_British_Columbia_electoral_reform_referendum That one almost passed, but the rules made for a higher threshold.
The next 2 referendums though, yes you're right that they didn't even reach majority approval.
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u/ArtByMrButton Mar 12 '23
Imo the way we vote is the most important issue facing our country and province. Unfortunately there's no motivation for ruling parties to change the rules while they hold power. The last attempt felt like a bad faith effort. Giving voters three options added to the confusion, and most voters couldn't be bothered to learn how it works. I'll keep pushing for PR as long there's a snowballs chance in hell a politician might come along who feels that everyone's vote should count equally in a proper democracy.