Former N.Z. prime minister lauds PR system
British Columbians wondering what a proportional representation (PR) system could mean in this province don’t need to look much further than Victoria, said former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark.
The current minority NDP government, which has the support of the B.C. Green party on supply and confidence matters, is a taste of what the result of a PR system could be in B.C.
“In a sense, you already have a proportional representative government in action — it’s trialling what is likely going to become the norm if the province votes for proportional representation,” said Clark on Monday.
Clark is in Vancouver to talk about New Zealand’s experience of switching to a mixed-member PR system after a binding referendum in 1993 at an event organized by the Broadbent Institute, one of the groups backing the Vote PR B.C. side, on Monday evening.
Clark, who was PM from 1999 to 2008, said New Zealand is proof that a PR system works.
When a resounding 85 per cent of New Zealanders voted in favour of some form of a PR system, it was an indication that people were fed up with the first-past-the-post system, propelled in part by a sense of unfairness, said Clark.
“One of the major arguments for reform is that it wasn’t fair a party would be pulling in quite significant amounts of votes, then either getting none or very little representation,” said Clark, using the B.C. Greens as an example. The party got close to 17 per cent of the vote in last year’s election, yet only received three seats.
“The largest benefit is every vote counts, which clearly it doesn’t in the first-past-thepost system,” which is used in B.C., she said.
In New Zealand’s mixed-member PR system, voters can cast one vote for a candidate and a second vote for a party, which would decide what proportion of seats each party would have in parliament. Parties then make ranked lists of “list MPs” to fill out the second seats. Minor parties have to reach a five-per-cent threshold of support to get a seat.
Such a system tends to result in coalition governments, acknowledged Clark.
Since switching to MMP in 1996, the National and Labour parties have formed government four times — each time with a coalition, or a confidence and supply agreement, with at least another party. The current Labour government, led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, is in a coalition with the New Zealand First party and in a confidence and supply agreement with the Green party.
Critics say PR would lead to unwieldy and unstable governments. Clark disagrees.
“In 21 1/2 years, no coalition government has fallen,” she pointed out.
What’s needed, however, is plenty of consultation and communication. After her government came to power in 1999, it used a simple onepage coalition agreement that “basically said we will work in good faith with each other and not surprise each other,” said Clark. “It doesn’t say much more than that.”
Since then, New Zealand has devised a number of mechanisms to create more stability to see governments through their three-year terms. These include allowing the smaller parties to differentiate positions from major parties and enable confidence and supply parties to have ministers outside of cabinet.
In B.C., both sides on the PR debate are gearing up for the campaign launch July 1. The mail-in referendum will be held in November.