Question 2 is optional
Dear Editor: Re: B.C. electoral reform, reporting errors and misleading information affecting voting.
On the front page of The Daily Courier (Friday, Nov. 9), the Canadian Press made a big error in their article “Leaders clash on electoral reform.” CP stated in the third paragraph that “voters who mark their referendum ballots in favour of proportional representation must rank three possible systems.” “Must” is wrong. The voters guide on Page 3 states that voters can answer question one, only. This means question two is optional. Furthermore, all voters who choose to answer question two can rank one, two, or all three systems.
I sent a note to CP about their error, and shortly after I received a reply confirming it was an error, and CP said they sent corrections to all newspapers.
In reality, the main-or-mostimportant question on the ballot is No. 1. Unfortunately, voters assuming and believing they must answer Question 2 and those who don’t understand the three systems, may not vote at all.
So, to ensure more people vote and answer the most important question, No. 1, it should have clearly stated on the ballot that Question 2 is optional.
This would have made it easier for voters to know without any doubt that the main and most important question on the ballot isdo you want the first-past-the-post system or the proportional representation system. Furthermore, it may have prevented reporting erroneous and misleading information.
It would be unfortunate if the reporting errors and misleading information caused people not to vote. So, citizens please vote. Robert Cichocki
Kelowna
I grew up under British colonization. I arrived in London, England at 19. Walking around London, I saw many posters looking for workers, with “coloured need not apply.” Amazingly, it did not bother me at all, as I had lived it. However, I almost fainted when I saw signs: “Colour and Irish need not apply!”
Over the years, I have read several letters to the editor complaining about Canada taking in immigrants and visible minorities. In 1967 (the year of my arrival) Canada chose a way to remove discrimination and prejudice from the process of choosing which immigrants to let in. The points system ignored an applicant’s race and country of origin (until then, it helped to be white).
Those who complained about visible minority immigrants feel taxpayers’ money would be better spent on Canadians that need help, totally ignorant of the fact that Canada, the second-largest country in the world after Russia, has just over 37 millions. Between now and 2021, a million jobs are expected to go unfilled across Canada because of a high number of seniors retiring and not enough childbirth.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been both open-minded and brilliant, because she knew Germany has one of the lowest birthrates in the world and she took in one-million Syrians, at great cost to herself. Also, the German population is aging with a median age of 43, and needs younger people to work in the factories and service industries and pay the taxes.
Racists, please grow up into the 21st Century. Dr. Mo Rajabally Kelowna