Group set its sights on electoral reform
Meeting planned Monday at Penticton pub to educate public about proportional representation
A South Okanagan group is hoping you vote Yes on the mail-in referendum to change B.C. elections to proportional representation.
Later this year, voters will be asked to choose between keeping the current first-past-the-post system or opting for proportional representation.
The question is expected to arrive in mailboxes in the fall.
Connie Sahlmark, Penticton’s Green party candidate in the last provincial election, is part of the newly formed Fair Vote South Okanagan Similkameen team, which is heading into the community to inform the public about the upcoming choice.
“Our electoral system is just not working. If you want to see the apathy end, you have to make it so that everybody feels like they’re actually being represented,” Sahlmark said.
An Ipsos poll in 2017 found 54 per cent of British Columbians were in favour of changing the electoral system.
Sahlmark says the change will not only bring fairer representation, but also cut down on voter apathy.
“When you have people that are representing their interests, people get engaged more. Whereas (now) a lot of people feel just totally disenfranchised,” Sahlmark said.
The mail-in ballot needs engagement from the public, and events such as a meeting Monday at The Barley Mill attempt to raise the profile of the issue.
“If (the referendum) just goes ignored and you chuck it out with your junk mail, it would be easy to have this opportunity pass by. I think people really want change,” Sahlmark said.
B.C. could lead the way in the country with proportional representation, after the federal Liberals kiboshed a promise to change the election system.
“There needs to be more accountability. I’m really kind of disgusted with how it seems like in politics now the job is to keep power, not to do the job you were elected to do,” Sahlmark said. “I think if you have proportional representation, it’s going to make people more accountable to the things they say they are going to do.”
Monday’s meeting is set to be a discussion and opportunity to have questions on the voting system answered. The issue is being represented in a non-partisan format, with local New Democrat president Tina Lee joining the cause as well.
“This is about making every vote count, not partisan politics. This referendum is a chance to fix an electoral system that too often silences the majority of voters,” Lee said.
Those interested in meeting the team or getting involved can attend the meeting from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Barley Mill Brew Pub in Penticton. More information can be found online at facebook.com/SOSFairVote.