Another Vote in BC

British Columbia is having another vote - this time on whether or not to keep the present system of electing members of the provincial legislature or to switch to a newer, some say improved system. The present system, commonly called "first pass the post" means that the individual with the most votes wins the riding and the party with the most wins - (usually) forms the government. The downside to this system is that smaller parties- some might say those on the fringes - might get a significant number of votes across the province but that because those votes are spread out, these parties win few if any seats. An example would be the Green Party who in 2017 earned 16.8% of the total number of votes but only won three seats. The NDP garnered 40.2 % of the voted but won 41 seats. Another way to look at it - the NDP needed approximately 19,392 votes to win a seat whereas the Green party needed over 110,000 votes to earn a seat. On the numbers alone - clearly the present system does not reflect the wishes of the voting public.

The alternatives that are being suggested are generally referred to "proportional representation". The new system, variations of which are used in a number of countries, not only counts the number of votes in each riding to determine who is going to represent that area, but also allocates seats based on the total percentage of votes earned by each party. In a revised legislature, using 2017 voting percentages - the Green Party would have 14 seats in the legislature and the NDP would have 35. Using those numbers to generate a new legislature using some form of proportional representation we would have exactly what we have now - a minority government (run by a party that did not win either the largest percentage of votes or number of seats) -the NDP, propped up by a party - the Green party - that won the fewest number of seats and geographically represents a very small part of the province.

Those who are arguing for change suggest that not only does the present system not accurately reflect the wishes of the public, but that it discourages people from voting because they may feel as of their vote is not worth anything. While I would agree that our present system is perhaps poorly designed for a parliamentary system that has more than two main parties, it feels as if some of the justifications used are at best, weak. I worry that we are fixing a problem that is not clearly understood.

It has been argued that fewer people vote because they feel as if their votes are not really counted - that the person/party they vote for never has access to power. I am not sure when we collectively decided that we all should win or get who we voted for. We can make voting easier such as doing it online so no one needs to expend any energy to vote, we can make people feel that they are more influential and we can pander to everyone's complaint that someone is being unfair to them. But people should vote because it is their civic duty to do so, not because they will always win what they want, not because it makes them feel special or needed or valued.

I suspect that the drive to reform the voting process is driven by those who situate themselves on the centre left or left side of the political spectrum. I would guess that they feel that proportional representation will ensure that their environmental and social justice issues will be placed closed to the top of the government's agenda, because that newly formed government will need the support of the parties on the fringes. I personally worry what happens if the party on the fringe is far right of centre and they drag the government in that directing.

I also worry that while coalition governments can be effective, they require non-partisan, non-confrontational politics. As sad as it is, I wonder if that time has passed us by. I see little or no sign that any of the political parties have the capacity to work together. If a minority government is working adequately well now in BC, it is only because the politicians know the public is not in the mood for another provincial election. It should be noted that while I think that it is working adequately well - I meant that it is doing okay for folks living in the southern tip of Vancouver Island - where the Green Party's three seats are. I am not so sure if all British Columbians are equally as satisfied.

If we can agree there are problems that need to be addressed - should we not look at other options other than the party system? The consensus model used by the North-West territories strikes me as an interesting and viable model - there must be others.

And we are doing a mail-in vote - I assume because some bright minds thought that more people would vote that way - we will see. As usually - those who really care will vote and those who do not or find the whole thing too damn confusing will not.