Far right in the U.S. gives lie to anti-pro rep fears
I was bemused that the “no” side in the proportional representation debate tried to frighten people away from voting “yes” for pro rep by running an ad showing an image of Nazi-like soldiers marching in the street!
Supposedly, this is meant to imply that proportional representation would allow far right fringe parties to gain control and take over our government. What struck me as particularly odd about that choice of image is that one of the three major countries that still use first past the post is having significant difficulties with the far right. In the U.S. for the past two years under the “winner takes all” first past the post system, the ugly far-right incidents such as Charlottesville have been condoned and encouraged, and the recent synagogue bombing is just another glaring example of the increase in racism, and the inability to control it when one party has a complete lock on government.
The “no” side also conveniently ignored the fact that in the pro rep systems proposed for B.C., parties need to get at least five per cent of the popular vote before they get any seats at all. It would be very hard for a fringe party to take over the government. Proportional representation ensures that all voices are heard by assigning seats based on the proportion of the popular vote that a party receives, and requiring parties to work together to achieve equitable solutions for all. No jack boots marching to take over our streets!
Nancy Clegg
Cowichan Bay
