Why are people afraid of change? I’m thinking specifically of those who oppose the Proportional Representation system of electing governments.
The current First Past The Post system was geared for a two party system. It’s been years since BC had only two political parties. Currently there are 26 registered with BC Elections. I’m not familiar with them all, but the Excalibur Party, and the Platinum Party of Employers Who Think and Act to Increase Awareness sound interesting. Having an Unparty member (the consensus building party) could be useful in a mixed bag of MLAs.
READ MORE: Proportional representation means more B.C. parties, coalitions
One argument against PR is the apparent horror of having any of these “Fringe Parties” actually electing an MLA. My point is if any party has enough support to get someone elected, isn’t that what democracy is about? No party has the divine right to rule.
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Last month Monsanto was ordered to pay $289.2 million to a former U.S. groundskeeper who convinced the court that the company’s weedkiller, Roundup, caused his cancer. Since then Monsanto has lost another case involving glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, and a court rejected a bid by Monsanto to sue an activist group, Avaaz, that campaigned against Roundup. Given these outcomes there will likely be more lawsuits.
READ MORE: Ingredient in popular weed killer could be cancerous
There’s more. Roundup, widely used by commercial and home gardeners, is usually applied before harvest, and traces of glyphosate have shown up in food products. For years health groups have warned that glyphosate can affect human immune systems. The traces in our food may be may be tiny, but what about consumed over time?
Glyphosate is currently in the news, but what other harmful chemicals lurk in our air and food? We have the right to eat whatever we want to, but it helps if we know what’s not healthy.
Diana French is a freelance columnist for the Tribune. She is a former Tribune editor, retired teacher, historian and book author.
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