By Corey Fischer

MLA Gives Thumbs Down On Electoral Reform Plan

Jun 1, 2018 | 7:44 AM

The M-L-A for Vernon-Monashee says the NDP government is trying to stack the deck on the electoral reform referendum.

Liberal Eric Foster feels John Horgan’s government is structuring the vote to ensure proportional representation wins out over the current first-past-the post system.

He also feels it’s too complicated.

“The three types of proportional representation they put in, I mean, I don’t understand them. I’ve studied proportional representation in a lot of countries. This is what we’ve had to go on. But these are, I mean, it’s almost like they’ve made them up.”

The attorney general’s recommended options for new voting systems are Dual Member Proportional, Mixed Member Proportional, and Rural-Urban PR.

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Foster adds he’d like to hear more details.

“What the government, the Premier and the Attorney General, are asking the people of the province to do is: okay, you just vote on it, and then trust us, we’ll figure something out for you.”

He also scoffs at suggestions the system will be reviewed after two elections.

“If you get five per cent of the vote, you get seats in the house. So you’re going to have a number of parties that get five per cent of the vote that will have the balance of power. They will never, ever scrap this. Once it’s in, there’s no getting rid of it.”

Premier John Horgan says the vote will give the public a clear choice of what system they want, and people will have enough time to educate themselves on the options.

The mail-in vote is scheduled to run from Oct 22nd to Nov 30th.

by Corey Fischer