Jump to content
Bizud

Bc Will Have Second Referendum On Stv

Recommended Posts

http://www.gov.bc.ca/bvprd/bc/home.do?acti...NAV_ID_province

 

British Columbians will choose between a Single Transferable Vote system and the current first-past-the-post system in a second, more informed vote on electoral reform in November 2008, and whichever system prevails will be the one used in the next provincial election on May 12, 2009.

 

 

Edited by Bizud
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually I am not opposed to this vote, I am opposed to the system, but not the vote because my main criticism of the vote was that many voters I talked to about it voted for the STV representation system un-informed of what it was about. However, The idea of voting between two proportional representational systems that Bizud suggested is ridiculous, it should be between our current representation system and one other new representation system idea.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Voters ought to have a choice as to what system to go for. There was a lot of talk about democracy and how the citizens' assembly having so much authority was such a great thing, but that just isn't democracy. It might have given real power to average British Columbians, but it's not democratic.

 

I see no reason why we couldn't choose between multiple systems. That's what they did in New Zealand. Let us choose which model we want to switch to. I'll bet dollars to donuts that we end up switching to it within 20 years anyway (PEI will almost certainly do it later this year, with Quebec soon to follow and the federal government already having basically made up its mind to move in that direction).

Edited by Bizud
Link to comment
Share on other sites

But maybe people don't want to change and they ought to have that option.

So give them that option too, obviously. Give us two referendums, one on whether we want to change to a proportional system or not, and then if that passes, give us the choice between STV or MMP. Or else give us the choice of all three options, but for crap's sake don't ignore the fact that pre-assembly report MMP was the clear preference.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It would make a lot more sense to offer multiple choices. If only given the choice between first past the post and STV, and you support changing the system, but are against STV, how the hell do you vote? That being said, if the government is just going to keep introducing referendums until we agree to STV, why don't the just introduce legislation and get it over with?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's been used in plenty of B.C. referendums, I even read in a book written by the first curator of the Vancouver Aquarium that when they wanted to expand a bit more there had to be a referendum where about 60 percent had to be approved because they were expanding in a park.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's fine because proportional representation will mean nothing will ever be accomplished so actually the current systems represents people's needs.

Matt, can you please prove that nothing gets done in Ireland, Germany, New Zealand, or Norway?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, but you made the assertion. You claimed that nothing gets done in countries that use PR, so you have to substantiate that claim. Go on, tell us how nothing ever gets done in, for example, Norway, which is repeatedly described as the best country in the world to live in by the UN and the Human Development Index and is ranked 9th in the world in terms of economic competitiveness. And has zero debt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.