The public has spoken

Pollsters were predicting a photo finish but, in the end, it wasn’t even close. British Columbians are content with first-past-the-post.

Results of the referendum were announced Thursday afternoon and 61.3 per cent of the votes cast in the mail-in referendum were to keep the present FPTP system. Proportional representation scored only 38.7 per cent.

A few thoughts.

The “Yes” side did a great job at getting their message out. They were present at events, flooded letters to the editor, and made convincing arguments for their cause.

The volunteers who worked hard for the past five or six months deserve praise for their efforts and standing up for demoracy.

John Horgan and the NDP allowed the people to decide rather than arbitrarily making the decision for us.

It was also a good thing when the voting period was extended due to the postal strike. Everyone’s vote counted.

PR lost because people don’t want to gamble with something as sacred as an election.

Federally, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned on being the final prime minister elected by first past the post, but abruptly flip-flopped.

Trudeau’s reasoning was Canadians didn’t have the appetite to switch to PR.

He was right, and B.C. just proved it.

As we learned in the recent municipal elections, seniors make up the largest voting block of any demographic. Chances are, most seniors were content with the system we have.

The “Yes” side never provided a map, using the 2017 provincial election as a hypothetical example. Even with their hard campaigning, there were still a lot of unanswered questions.

The government was basically saying, “trust us, we know what we’re doing.”

It’s a good thing that the final tally was convincing. Nobody can question the legitimacy of the vote.

Now that it’s over, hopefully the NDP/Green coalition will get back to doing what it’s supposed to do — manage our province.