Dear Editor:
This fall, British Columbians will be asked to choose how we elect our legislature.
We are given two choices: First past the post or some form of proportional representation (as yet undefined.)
First past the post has its drawbacks, since rarely does anyone get elected with over 50 per cent of the vote, thus giving the impression that the governing group does not really have the support of the majority of the electorate.
The yet undefined proportional representation calls for as many as 50 per centof the members of the legislature to be appointed.
So if you like the Canadian senate, with its unelected, back room appointed party hacks, you will love PR since up to half of the legislature will be exactly these unelectable party hacks.
Or as former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien put it: “For all the professors who want to sit in Parliament but who can’t even get themselves elected dogcatcher, sure, it’s a good system,” the 84-year-old said in a French language interview with Le Devoir.
Former B.C. NDP premier Ujjal Dosanjh says he believes that PR will usher in extremist parties like those in some European countries like Germany, the Netherlands and Hungary where it take a very low percentage of the people to vote in candidates with racists views and that has changed their political landscape in a negative way.
There is however, a third option, a system that is used in one form or another by over 40 countries in the world today. (According to Wikipedia). These countries include France, Portugal and Finland. It is called the Two-Round System.
The Two-Round System (also known as the second ballot, runoff voting or ballotage) is a voting method used to elect a single winner, where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate.
However, if no candidate receives over 50 per cent of votes, then all but the two candidates receiving the most votes, are eliminated, and a second round of voting is held usually a week or two later.
Obviously, one will receive over 50 per cent majority of the votes.
This method assures that your member of the legislature is
1. Elected (not an appointed party hack), and
2. Has over a 50 per cent majority of the votes, which is clearly democratic by definition.
Yes, if your candidate is not in the top two, you may have to hold your nose and vote for the lesser of two evils, but I am sure this will not be the first time you have held your nose and voted.
It is clearly better than having a majority government elected by a minority of the people or having some unelected party hack shoved down your throat.
But this third option is not even on the ballot.
So, write your MLA and demand that if a democratic system is good enough for one of our founding nations, namely France, it should at least be on the ballot for our consideration and debate.
Bill Friesen
Summerland
