Voting Results

Voting results for the 2018 Referendum on Electoral Reform were reported to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on December 20, 2018. 1,403,358 completed voting packages were returned to Elections BC by the deadline of 4:30 p.m. on December 7, representing returns from 42.6% of registered voters.

Question 1: Which system should British Columbia use for provincial elections?

Of the validly cast votes in Question 1:

61.3% (845,235) supported the current First Past the Post (FPTP) voting system, and

38.7% (533,518) supported a proportional representation (PR) voting system.

FPTP 61.3% 845,235

PR 38.7% 533,518

Question 2: If British Columbia adopts a proportional representation voting system, which of the following voting systems do you prefer?

The Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting system is the system with the most support on Question 2. It was selected after a second round of counting.

Question 2 Round 1

In the first round of counting for Question 2:

29.45% (244,973) of valid votes supported Dual Member Proportional (DMP),

41.24% (343,038) supported Mixed Member Proportional (MMP), and

29.31% (243,749) supported Rural-Urban Proportional (RUP).

DMP 29.45% 244,973

MMP 41.24% 343,038

RUP 29.31% 243,749

Question 2 Round 2

Per the Electoral Reform Referendum 2018 Regulation, a second round of counting was required for Question 2 because no system won a majority of first preferences. RUP had the fewest first preferences, so it was eliminated and its votes were transferred to their second preferences.

In the second round of counting for Question 2, 36.95% (288,068) of valid votes supported Dual Member Proportional (DMP), and 63.05% (491,630) supported Mixed Member Proportional (MMP).

DMP 36.95% 288,068

MMP 63.05% 491,630

A total of 1,391,423 ballots were considered. There were 1,378,753 valid votes for Question 1, and 831,760 valid votes for Question 2. 2,461 ballots were rejected.</s>VICTORIA — British Columbia’s chief electoral officer says the labour dispute at Canada Post is being watched closely as ballots for the province’s electoral reform referendum are being placed in the mail.

Anton Boegman says the rotating strikes at Canada Post have yet to impact the movement of ballots but Elections BC is prepared to extend the voting period if required.

He says Elections BC has the authority to add extra time to the deadline, which was done in 2011 when the mail-in voting period for the referendum on the harmonized sales tax was extended by two weeks.

Boegman says the official voting period for the electoral reform referendum ends on Nov. 30, with the results expected several weeks later.

The referendum asks B.C. residents if they want to change the electoral system to a form of proportional representation or keep the current first-past-the-post method.

Boegman says Elections BC is placing 3.3 million referendum voting packages in the mail.
• Proportional representation: The pros and cons of reforming B.C.’s electoral system

Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.</s>VANCOUVER—British Columbians, your next ballot is in the mail. Assuming, of course, there is mail. Just two days after voters headed to municipal polls across the province, Elections B.C. started posting 3.3 million voter packages Monday for its referendum on whether to change our electoral system to a proportional one.

But on Monday at midnight, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers started rotating strikes in Victoria, one of several cities across Canada hit by the first phase of a contract dispute. “We’re aware that the CUPW have issued a strike notice,” chief electoral officer Anton Boegman told reporters Monday, adding that he has the option of extending the voting period if there’s a “material impact on people’s ability” to return their ballot by the deadline.

The independent body, which oversees elections and referenda including the two previous ones on proportional representation, announced voters would begin receiving their ballots early this week in the Lower Mainland and urban areas, and later farther away. Boegman confirmed ballots have to be received by the deadline, not mailed out by then. That means rural areas will have less time to vote than urban ones, since they receive ballots later and must send them earlier to ensure delivery in time.

Ensuring transparent, secure and accessible votes is “a mandate we take very seriously,” Boegman said. “This is an important event for British Columbians. The choice of voting systems impacts voters … and the way that government operates in the legislature.” Voters are being asked two questions: whether to keep B.C.’s current first-past-the-post voting system or replace it with one that attempts to match popular vote results with legislature seats. It also asks which of three proportional systems they prefer. Even though Boegman reviewed the two-part ballot question, the referendum has sparked allegations from opponents that it’s “rigged” in favour of the NDP and Greens, particularly since details of how each of three alternative systems would be implemented will be decided by government committee.

An electoral reform vote was a key campaign promise of the New Democrats and is a central principle of the party’s governing pact with the Greens. The mail-in ballot will be issued in October to registered voters. Two of the three proposals offered for proportional representation have never been tested anywhere in the world — dual member model and the rural-urban model, which blends several including single-transferable vote. Opponents of changing the way B.C. votes have argued that proportional representation tends to favour fringe and even extremist parties, would reduce the voting power of rural areas of the province and that some of the proposals require larger ridings so MLAs are farther from more constituents. “Our current simple, stable and successful first-past-the-post system in B.C. … has successfully governed the province for 145 years,” wrote the official no vote proponent, the No BC Proportional Representation Society, in a statement Monday. “In many other countries around the world that have adopted a proportional representation electoral system … extremist parties win multiple seats in legislature and proceed to hold the balance of power.” The Green Party’s critic on electoral reform encouraged British Columbians to vote yes to ending first-past-the-post and replacing it with one of the three alternatives, but her party stopped short of advocating which alternative it preferred. “Proportional representation will enable us to shift away from a combative, hyper-partisan majoritarian system,” Green MLA Sonia Furstenau said in a statement Monday, “to one where politicians are required to work together. “It will end the cynical vote-buying in swing ridings and greatly mitigate negative campaigning because politicians will no longer be playing a zero-sum game for all of the power.” The elections chief said that online voting still remains too risky when it comes to security. Mail-out ballots lack the in-person security of a voting station, however, and Elections B.C. warned that voter fraud is illegal. “There are significant penalties for voter fraud, including fines up to $20,000, imprisonment for up to two years, or both,” the agency warned on its webpage to request a ballot. “You can only request and vote with your own voting package.” David P. Ball is a Vancouver-based reporter covering democracy and politics. Follow him on Twitter: @davidpball</s>VICTORIA - British Columbia's chief electoral officer says the labour dispute at Canada Post is being watched closely as ballots for the province's electoral reform referendum are being placed in the mail.

Anton Boegman says the rotating strikes at Canada Post have yet to impact the movement of ballots but Elections BC is prepared to extend the voting period if required.

He says Elections BC has the authority to add extra time to the deadline, which was done in 2011 when the mail-in voting period for the referendum on the harmonized sales tax was extended by two weeks.

Boegman says the official voting period for the electoral reform referendum ends on Nov. 30, with the results expected several weeks later.

The referendum asks B.C. residents if they want to change the electoral system to a form of proportional representation or keep the current first-past-the-post method.

Boegman says Elections BC is placing 3.3 million referendum voting packages in the mail.</s>This week British Columbians begin receiving ballots to vote on whether to change the province’s voting system from traditional first-past-the-post to proportional representation.

It’s the third such referendum in 18 years.

The first two failed to meet the threshold for change — just barely in 2005, when 57.7 per cent voted in favour of proportional representation, just missing the government’s 60 per cent hurdle.

In 2009, support for pro-rep dropped to 39 per cent.

But the rules have changed. The threshold this time is a simple majority of 50 per cent plus one and there is no rule that a majority of voters in 60 per cent of ridings must vote in favour.

That means that voters in populous Metro Vancouver — where polls show higher support for proportional representation — have the potential to have a greater influence than those in other parts of B.C.

This time voters are first asked to indicate whether they want to change to pro-rep from the first-past-the-post system.

Then, they are asked to rank three proportional representation systems. They all maintain local and regional representation but use different mechanisms to ensure that if a party passes the five per cent popular vote threshold, they will have a proportionate share of the seats in the legislature.

The political and socio-economic landscape has also changed in B.C. since the first two referendums and, perhaps, voters are in a mood for change.

For example, residents of the Lower Mainland who are frustrated with housing affordability and the government’s reaction to it during the 16 years of majority rule by the B.C. Liberals may be looking for an electoral change they believe will bring governments that are more responsive.

And for the first time in more than 65 years, B.C. has a minority government. The NDP governs with support from the Green party, which won a historic three seats on Vancouver Island in the 2017 election, giving voters a taste of what a coalition-like government may look like under proportional representation.

A look at the ballot

The ballot, which Elections BC says should arrive in mailboxes between Oct. 22 and Nov. 2, will ask two questions.

The first question for voters is whether they want to stick with the existing first-past-the-post system — where each of 87 ridings are represented by a single MLA who is the top vote winner in the election — or change to proportional representation.

Voters are also being asked to rank three different proportional representation systems.

Voters can answer one or both questions, and can rank the following three representation systems even if they vote no to change. Under all proportional representation systems, more ridings could be added, up to a total of as many as 95.
• Dual member proportional: Most single-MLA ridings are combined with a neighbouring riding to form two-MLA ridings. A few large, rural ridings continue to be represented by a single MLA. (The dual member system has not been used anywhere in the world.)
• Mixed member proportional: Sixty per cent of the MLAs are directly elected under the first-past-the-post system in ridings and the other 40 per cent of seats are distributed to ensure seat totals reflect the popular vote. (This system is used in countries such as Germany and New Zealand.)
• Rural-urban proportional: Combines two different systems for urban and rural parts of B.C. The urban ridings use a single transferable vote system, where candidates are ranked on a single ballot in large ridings. The candidate with the fewest votes is dropped and votes redistributed to the second choice on each ballot. The process continues until a candidate has 50 per cent plus one of the votes. (This system is used in countries such as Ireland.) The rural ridings are determined using the mixed member system.

The voting period is Oct. 22 to Nov. 30.

If the vote for proportional representation is successful, British Columbians can expect more parties in the legislature and minority governments that hold power through coalitions of two or more parties.

That’s been the experience everywhere else proportional representation is used. In New Zealand, which switched to proportional representation in 1996, the past three elections have seen five to eight parties elected to the legislature.

The latest governing coalition includes the Labour, New Zealand First and Green parties. Ousted was a minority government of the conservative National Party supported by the centrist United Future party, the neo-liberal ACT Party and the Indigenous-rights-based Maori Party.

Something similar in B.C. would be a significant change from the one-party majority governments that are almost always produced under the first-past-the-post system.

Supporters of a change to proportional representation argue it’s a fairer voting system, where every vote counts. Under such a system, the Greens would have gained closer to 15 seats in the last election, reflecting the 16.8 per cent of the vote they received, rather than the three seats they won. In 1996, proportional representation would have given the now-defunct, right-wing Reform Party of B.C. more than the two seats it won with 9.1 per cent of the popular vote.

Supporters of proportional representation say voters can cast a ballot for the party that best represents their interests without feeling their votes will be wasted.

Opponents of pro-rep argue the existing system has been tried and tested, and has served the province well with stable governments. They argue a change to proportional representation will destroy the connection between the voter and their local representative and allow extremists into the B.C. legislature.

So, where does the truth lie?

The reality, say political scientists, is that both are legitimate voting systems that represent different philosophies.

They also warn against being swayed by the rhetoric of those campaigning for a Yes vote or No vote in the referendum.

“People need to ask themselves a kind of basic question about a vision of democracy,” said Richard Johnston, a University of B.C. professor of political science. “You are not going to get an honest depiction of the world of (proportional representation) from advocates, but neither are you going to get it from the opponents.”

Political scientists say voters should try to make themselves as informed as possible by, for example, taking a look at more neutral information from Elections B.C., which is being mailed out along with the ballots and available on its website, elections.bc.ca/referendum.

“There are no best electoral systems,” said Eline de Rooij, a Simon Fraser University political scientist. “They are designed for dealing with different issues, and so they do different things. To some extent it’s comparing apples and pears.”

Under the existing first-past-the post system, in which each voter casts a ballot in one of 87 electoral districts in B.C., the winning candidate in each riding often receives less than a majority of the votes; across the province, this results in a party winning a greater portion of seats than is reflected by their popular vote.

In 2005, the B.C. Liberals won 46 seats with 45.8 per cent of the vote, while the NDP won 33 seats, 13 fewer, with 41.5 per cent of the vote. The Greens, with 9.2 per cent of the vote, did not win a seat.

In 2001, the B.C. Liberals won 57 per cent of the popular vote and 77 of the then 79 ridings, or 97.5 per cent of the seats. The NDP won just two seats with 21.6 per cent of the vote. The Greens won no seats with 12.4 per cent of the vote.

This winner-take-all system almost always creates a majority government.

And it is a system where the winning party can carry out its mandate unimpeded, where accountability is clear and where the public can vote that single party out of government.

“The clarity of responsibility is the great virtue of (the first-past-the-post) system,” says Johnston, who holds the Canada Research Chair in public opinion, elections, and representation at UBC.

Proportional representation leans the other way. By creating a system where no one party earns enough seats to form a majority government, it requires parties to come together in a coalition after an election in order to form a government.

Political scientists say that process tends to create a consensual-type of government that is forced to co-operate and compromise.

Coalitions are also formed in the current first-past-the-post system under so-called big-tent parties — like the NDP and Liberals in B.C. — but they are almost always formed before voters cast a ballot.

Maxwell Cameron, a UBC political science professor, said that the government created by first-past-the-post — where there is almost always a clear, and therefore accountable winner — is a compelling vision of democracy.

Proportional representation provides a different vision, said Cameron, who is director of the UBC’s Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions.

“What is really important (under proportional representation) is that we get legislatures that reflect the society — and that politicians do the work of finding common ground, of compromise and negotiation, and trying to govern on behalf as many people as possible,” he said.

De Rooij agreed that proportional representation creates governments that are forced to work and co-operate in partnership.

“There’s no right or wrong. It’s a preference,” she said.

So, where does that leave voters?

There’s an acrimonious battle between the No and Yes sides, with those against proportional representation often making charged statements and those in favour of it accusing the No side of fearmongering.

For example, union lobbyist Bill Tieleman, who is helping lead the No side, argues that proportional representation will allow extremists, potentially with anti-immigration views, to enter the legislature, as has happened in Europe. At a debate on electoral reform hosted by the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, Tieleman told the audience: “I say there is no room in the B.C. legislature for neo-Nazis or fascists.”

While it is true that parties with anti-immigration sentiments have gained a foothold in legislatures in Europe, including in Germany, Austria and Sweden, the issue is complex and reflects responses to globalization and waves of refugees and asylum seekers fleeing war-torn regions and totalitarian regimes, as well as the rise of populism — issues that are also affecting politics in countries with first-past-the-post systems, including the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.

And because these parties have gained a foothold in Europe does not mean that will happen in British Columbia, argue political scientists, including Cameron.

The reality is that these global issues exist irrespective of voting systems.

A key argument of pro-rep advocates, including the Broadbent Institute’s B.C. director, Maria Dobrinskaya, is that the system will ensure that nobody’s vote is wasted and that it will eliminate strategic voting, where voters support a candidate who is not their sincere preference. “It’s not fair,” said Dobrinskaya.

But strategic voting exists under proportional representation as well, including in New Zealand, with supporters voting for a candidate because their preferred party may form a coalition with that candidate in order to gain more seats.

It’s not clear how useful this debate is to voters.

An Angus Reid poll from late September showed one third of respondents were undecided on prop-rep. One third supported change and 31 per cent were opposed. Half of respondents said they felt the referendum was a low priority as there were more important issues.

A Research Co. survey in late September found that 47 per cent of respondents were dissatisfied with the first-past-the-post system and 56 per cent thought proportional representation was a fairer system.

Mario Canseco, the Research Co. president, believes many people don’t have enough information to make an informed decision. “That’s basically the problem. A lot of people, I think, don’t know what to do.”
• Lydia Miljan: The costs of changing the way British Columbians vote
• Bob Plecas: Badly flawed electoral reform process is too controlled by politicians
• Vaughn Palmer: Leap of faith with Horgan on electoral reform has dark side for voters</s>VICTORIA - Ballots for British Columbia's electoral reform referendum are in the mail as postal workers across Canada launch a series of rotating strikes.

Chief electoral officer Anton Boegman said Monday the labour dispute at Canada Post is being watched closely by Elections BC for any potential impact during the mail-in referendum period, which is scheduled to conclude Nov. 30.

He expects the delivery of 3.3 million voter packages and ballots to be complete by Nov. 2.

“At this time, the job action is not impacting the delivery schedule for voting packages,” Boegman said at a news conference. “Voters have lots of time to receive, complete and mail their packages.”

Boegman has the authority to add extra time to the deadline, which was done in 2011 when the voting period for a referendum on the harmonized sales tax was extended by two weeks due to a lockout at Canada Post.

Packages are also being sent internationally to registered voters who are temporarily away from their homes in B.C.

Boegman said he can't give a date when the results of the referendum will be known other than it will take several weeks after Nov. 30.

“All we can say, at this point, is we will count the ballots and report the results as soon as possible,” he said.

The referendum asks B.C. residents if they want to change the electoral system to a form of proportional representation or keep the current first-past-the-post method. A majority of 50-per-cent plus-one is needed to change the system.

This is the third time B.C. voters have decided whether to switch to proportional representation. Voters decided in 2005 and 2009 not to change the system.

The New Democrats made electoral reform a key election promises in 2017. The Green party also supports switching to proportional representation.

Premier John Horgan has said the current system is not fair. In the past five B.C. elections, he said only one political party formed government after receiving more than 50 per cent of the votes.

Opposition Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson is opposed to proportional representation, saying the system would be complicated and make majority governments rare.

In a statement, Green Leader Andrew Weaver said proportional representation would reflect the views of all voters and make government “more representative and responsive to the views and desires of citizens.”</s>British Columbia is asking its citizens if it should become the first province in Canada to move away from first-past-the-post voting.

The voting period for the province’s electoral reform referendum began Monday and runs until Nov. 30.

Voters are being asked two questions, including whether they would prefer to continue with a first-past-the-post electoral system or switch to some form of proportional representation. They can also rank three different forms of proportional representation in order of preference.

Under a first-past-the-post system, whichever candidate receives more votes than each of his or her opponents is declared the winner of the election.

Critics argue that this allows for major parties to be over-represented in legislatures based on their share of the vote, while smaller parties can be shut out entirely even if they receive a significant percentage of all votes.

People in favour of first-past-the-post often argue that proportional representation systems are too complex and do not provide as direct of a link between voters and their elected representatives.

A referendum on switching to proportional representation failed in Ontario in 2007. Voters in Prince Edward Island were in favour of making the switch when asked during a referendum in 2016, and will vote on the issue again next year.

More information on B.C.’s referendum is available on the province’s dedicated website.</s>The ballots for the upcoming electoral reform referendum are now in the mail. But a potential postal strike could delay when the voting packages arrive.

Elections BC is closely watching the rolling strikes at Canada Post that could slow down mail distribution. Chief Electoral Officer Anton Boegman has the authority to extend the voting period for the referendum if necessary, should job action at Canada Post materially impact the referendum process.

Any changes will be communicated to the public but at this point there is no plan to extend the voting deadline. Elections BC has been forced to extend referendum voting periods in the past.

“In the 2011 HST referendum there was a lockout by Canada Post and there was a two-week time period when there was no mail moving at all in Canada. At that time we did extend the voting period by two weeks to make allowances for that disruption,” Boegman said.

British Columbians will get a chance to decide whether to keep the current voting system or switch to a proportional voting system.

READ MORE: British Columbians split on proportional representation, one third undecided: poll

All the ballots will be sent out by November 2. Voters who are not registered have until November 23 to sign up and all ballots must be in by 4:30 p.m. on November 30.

Elections BC will begin to count on December 1 and hope to finish within the month, if there are no delays.

WATCH HERE: Canada Post strike not expected to impact proportional representation referendum: Elections BC

“The choice of a voting system impacts voters, impacts candidates, it impacts the way government operates in the legislature. Our desire is that people educate themselves and cast their ballots,” Boegman said.

“We are going to work hard to ensure results are delivered as quickly as possible. We are aiming for a couple of weeks.”

Elections BC has posted neutral information about the voting systems, short videos and a voter’s guide on its website. Each referendum voting package is personally addressed to a registered voter, and voters may only use the package that is addressed to them. The package includes a ballot and instructions on how to complete the package and return it to Elections BC.

READ MORE: B.C. Government to legislate a second referendum on electoral reform if new system passes

On Monday, Vote PR BC, the official proponent in the electoral reform referendum campaign, requested an investigation into activities of the BC Liberal Caucus and BC Liberal Party. The group is concerned the BC Liberal Caucus website links directly to the BC Liberal Party website under a link that reads “Click here to find out more about the three pro-rep systems handpicked by the NDP.”

“Our understanding is that using a taxpayer-funded caucus page to direct voters to a political party site is not allowed under the rules of the BC Legislative Assembly,” Vote PR BC President Antony Hodgson said in a letter sent to Elections BC on Monday.

“We are concerned that the BC Liberal Caucus may be doing so in order to support the BC Liberal Party in either gathering names for partisan and fundraising purposes, and/or to support a registered advertising sponsor (i.e., the BC Liberal Party) with their referendum activities.”

Elections BC is still looking into the issue.</s>Elections BC began mailing out voting packages for the province’s referendum on electoral reform on the same day that workers at Canada Post began a rotating strike.

“We’re monitoring the situation very closely,” said Chief Electoral Officer Anton Boegman. “At this time the job action is not impacting the delivery schedule for voting packages. Voters have lots of time to receive, complete and mail their packages.”

A statement on Canada Post’s website said the Canadian Union of Postal Workers began strikes Monday that were expected to last 24 hours in Victoria, Edmonton, Windsor and Halifax.

“We are accepting and delivering mail and parcels in all other locations,” the statement said. “We remain committed to arriving at a negotiated settlement with CUPW, while making every effort to minimize the impact of any disruption on the customers we serve.”

Boegman said Elections BC has over 3.3 million voting packages to mail to registered voters. Voters in the province’s interior, north, Richmond and Vancouver should receive voting packages by the end of the week, he said, as should people north of the Malahat on Vancouver Island.

Voting packages should arrive at homes in greater Victoria and in the rest of the Lower Mainland outside Vancouver by the end of next week, he said.

Boegman said he has the authority to change the timing of the referendum if there are extraordinary circumstances such as a postal strike, as the agency did when it extended the voting period during 2011 referendum on the harmonized sales tax by two weeks.

Any extension would mirror the length of time of the disruption, he said. “There has to be a material impact to voters’ ability to participate in the process. Right now mail is getting through. We don’t anticipate that our schedule will be missed.”

Attorney General David Eby said he understands from Elections BC that so far they have seen no impact on the distribution of the ballots. “If they do, they have all the tools they need to extend the voting period and I’m confident they’ll exercise the discretion wisely.”

To be counted, completed ballots and certification envelopes must be received by Elections BC by 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 30, Boegman said. “If voters are completing their packages close to the deadline, they may want to use the in-person drop-off locations rather than placing them in the mail.”

Those locations include Service BC offices throughout the province and Referendum Service Offices that are opening Nov. 5.

When counting is complete, Elections BC will report the results as soon as possible, Boegman said, noting each ballot needs to be physically prepared before they go into the tabulation machine and that the number of people working on the counting will be smaller than it would be during a general election.

Until the result is known and released, he said, “It will be a matter of weeks.”

Unlike past referenda on electoral reform, this one has become partisan. The BC Liberals are opposing the change while the NDP and Greens are campaigning in favour. Premier John Horgan and BC Green Leader Andrew Weaver are set to participate in a rally together in Victoria on Tuesday evening.

The government has put in law that if voters choose to change the electoral system, the new one would be in place for any election held after July 1, 2021.

Following the referendum, a legislative committee will need to convene and make decisions about various details of the system that’s chosen. An Electoral Boundaries Commission would also need to draw constituency boundaries.

Depending how long those steps take, it could make it difficult for Elections BC to be ready to go with a new system in 2021.

“We would need, I would say, a minimum of 14 months from whenever any new legislation would come into play,” Boegman said. “It could be tight, I agree.”</s>For more than 30 years, the Christian Heritage Party of Canada has supported the concept of proportional representation. The current system (first past the post) is flawed and — as its critics say — often allows individual candidates to win with less than 50 per cent support. If enough candidates from one party win, they can form a government with 100 per cent of the power, sometimes ruling brutally along narrow partisan lines. Like the one we have now in B.C.

So why will I be voting AGAINST change in the upcoming B.C. referendum?

Because the questions are rigged, the deck is stacked and the writing is on the wall. Since taking power last year with less than half the seats, John Horgan and Andrew Weaver’s NDP/Green government has been planning this referendum process designed not only to change the way we vote but to change the way we live in B.C. — permanently!

The simplest explanation as to why I will vote against the proposed change is this: if we had this system in place in the 2017 election, we would now have 15 Green Party MLAs instead of only three. If you make your living in a resource industry or if you think responsible resource extraction is a legitimate career, your livelihood is on the line. A permanent NDP/Green coalition will create so many obstacles to resource and energy development that investment and jobs will eventually disappear.

The second reason I will vote against the NDP/Green changes is that the same groups who say they are promoting PR so that “all voices will be heard in the Legislature” are not being honest. Take the current government’s gender-identity political approach to public education. They have no interest in diversity of opinion. In fact, they’re trying hard to purge out anybody — trustee, teacher, student or parent — who holds a more traditional view. That’s not diversity and inclusion; that’s arrogance and bullying by the Minister of Education.

The truth is the NDP and the Greens have stacked the electoral deck and all in their favour. They’ve made it harder for the smaller parties to raise funds from their members and they set up a scam to support themselves with your tax dollars … $27 million over four years to start off. Under their system, the BC Liberals, the NDP and the Greens will get money but not the smaller parties. Their threshold of 5 per cent of the votes province-wide will make it even harder for new parties to elect an MLA.

Early in discussions on electoral reform, I proposed a system which would have incorporated a preferential ballot, along with a form of PR. My proposal would have kept MLAs accountable to local voters (not “party lists”) while achieving a high level of proportionality. It would have kept costs down with no increases in the number of MLAs.

Most importantly, a preferential ballot or ranked ballot would have ended the fear of “the wasted vote” and would have encouraged people to vote their true convictions, knowing that their second and third choices would still count. My proposal never received even an acknowledgment from the committee; I then realized that they were not looking for all voices to be heard but only for an electoral environment where socialists and eco-activists would perpetually form government.

The two-question ballots being prepared by the government do not give voters any choice for Preferential Balloting or other systems.

The first loaded question on the ballot will ask whether you want to keep the flawed first past the post (FPTP) system or change it to a new flawed system. The second question asks what “kind” of PR but without any real choice. If the Yes-to-change votes win on Question #1, we will get one of their proposed systems and a lifetime of socialist government. I’m voting against this change in the hopes that British Columbians will one day elect some MLAs with backbone who will defend Life, Family and Freedom. Mob rule by socialists is not a pretty sight. I’m voting against the rigged vote for phoney PR.

Rod Taylor is the Leader of the Christian Heritage Party of BC. chpbc.ca
The Canadian province of British Columbia begins a postal ballot to determine whether to maintain the current first-past-the-post voting system or switch to a form of proportional representation for their provincial elections.