Assembly votes for change

By Dan Hilborn
Published Oct. 27, 2004


It took almost a full year of meetings, stacks of reading and many long hours of debate, but the 160-member Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform has come up with a plan to radically change the way British Columbians choose their provincial government.

The panel voted 80 per cent in favour of recommending a system dubbed the 'single transferable vote' (STV) over a mixed-member proportional system.

"I'm feeling elated," said Nancy McAskill, one of eight commission members from Burnaby who were chosen at random to sit on the group.

"I was one of those frustrated voters going into this process, and I was grateful for the opportunity to become educated.

"I saw the potential for improving our system and I was one of those people who was not entrenched in having any particular system," she said. "Yeah, I'm feeling good about this, and I'm hoping every voter in B.C. learns about this before May 17 and then votes 'yes.'"

Similar sentiments were expressed by commission members Gerry Hurst, John Mak and Craig Henschel, the other commission members from Burnaby contacted for this story.

"I think STV is the way to go because I like the proportionality of it,"said Hurst, a retired teacher.

"What we have right now does not give you voter choice. This system will change that because we can elect members from different parties."

"I'm 100 per cent behind it," added Mak. "I just hope we have the kind of public resources we'll need to continue educating the public about what we're trying to accomplish."

Henschel, who is described by the other assembly members as one of the most knowledgable people in the group, said that despite the comments of B.C. Green Party leader Adriane Carr, the STV system is actually just another name for proportional representation. He also noted that the system is substantially different from the transferable ballots that were used in the 1952 and '53 elections.

The STV system is similar to that used in Ireland for the past 100 years, as well as in Malta, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory.

"In Ireland, the political parties have tried twice to get rid of this system, and twice the voters have wanted to keep it," he said.

And the STV system received a half-hearted endorsement from former Green Party candidate Robert Broughton, who ran in New Westminster during the last provincial election.

"The single transferable vote is an improvement over the status quo, but the problem will be in actually getting it to pass in a referendum next year," said Broughton.

"One of the principal features of this system is that everyone votes and then you feed all those votes into a computer, which tells you who won.

"I think the public will mistrust it," Broughton said.

And getting the politicians to support the plan could be difficult, too. Burquitlam MLA Harry Bloy said he supported the work of the Citizens' Assembly, but he stopped short of endorsing their STV proposal.

"I support the Citizens' Assembly 150 per cent," Bloy said Tuesday morning. "I applaud them for the work that they do, and their recommendation is what will go to the people of British Columbia and I support that recommendation."

When asked if that meant he'll vote 'yes' on the referendum, Bloy said: "I support that recommendation and I look forward to it coming to government so I can review it."

The STV system is described as more complicated than the existing system. Instead of having a single candidate per riding, the province would be redivided into larger constituencies with up to five members of the Legislative Assembly in each riding.

Then, instead of choosing a single candidate, voters will be asked to rank their candidates in order of preference, up to the maximum number of MLAs in the district.

Computer users can see a working model of a very similar proposal on the Australian government's website - www.seo.sa.gov.au/ flash.htm.

Click on the word 'continue' until the menu on the left side of the screen appears and, under the heading 'counting methods,' choose 'proportional representation' and follow the prompts.