British Columbia Must Make a Decision

Wilkinson   -   Horgan

Why proportional representation is a bad idea.

Premier Horgan and Opposition leader Wilkinson debated on TV, which kickstarted some voter interest in the ballot that has been mailed to BC voters.  How we actually elect Provincial MLAs is on the line. Horgan wants Proportional Representation, and Wilkinson doesn't.   

Proportional representation (PR) is a rigged system that elects members based on the general proportion of total vote that each Party receives.   While no PR system is exactly proportional, the comparison between the vote-share and number of seats won, is rearranged after the election to be closer in number, than under the current first past the post system (FPTP).

Under PR, sometimes even single-issue, or regional Parties, are likely to be elected.   The proliferation of the number of Parties on the ballot, and the number of Parties with some elected seats, makes it difficult for a broadly supported mainstream Party to achieve a working majority.   PR can dilute governance into the lowest common denominator.

Minorities mean that coalitions, working arrangements, and secret deals become the norm.  This is not healthy for wise governance, finding the power to face tough challenges, or hold a government and its Leader politically accountable.   Between 2000 and 2015, only 17 per cent of elections in PR countries achieved a working majority, while governing majorities occurred 85% in countries with FPTP.

In PR, the leading Party must bargain with smaller Parties, and often secretly capitulate on key policy issues.   Therefore, smaller Parties can exert a disproportionate power over government beyond their real public support.   In implementation, PR does not yield equality, for it disproportionately empowers small and even radical fringe Parties, at the expense of the majority of voters.

The evidence, is that the inter-Party deals results in higher spending to placate minority support.   Inevitable higher government spending in PR jurisdictions is financed with harmful deficits (borrowing).   In a balance of power, a small Party can extort through the back door, what the electorate has never supported through the front door of Party Platforms, media criticism, and a direct test at the ballot box.

To make matters worse, in PR, candidates will no longer be directly accountable to their constituents, as they will be proposed by and be more accountable to their Party, over their community.

To add more uncertainty into the British Columbia referendum, the NDP-Green alliance have chosen two proportional representation options that have never been tested anywhere in the world.   They could be a recipe for political disaster.   We must defend our democracy, and stand against experimentation in our electoral system.   The present system is fair, is not broken, and has shown to work best within our Constitutional Westminster model.

Few BCers wanted the referendum, as evidenced by the low voter returns.   The NDP have done this to placate the Greens.   PR would perpetuate, that every election would produce similar weak negotiable results for governance.   Under FPTP, minorities don’t usually happen, and when they rarely do, our system and events resolves them.   

For our situation, when spending and deficits are already on the hurtful rise across Canada, the fiscal and policy consequences of PR should not be taken lightly.   I simply put the question to rest by voting NO to protect our stable democracy.   I hope you will do the same.

Paul Forseth  

Material derived from many public media sources.