IN BBQ TIME VOTE REFORM GOES ON BACK BURNER
Premier John Horgan this week rejected calls for the New Democrats to announce the question and other rules for the fall referendum on electoral reform, saying there is no particular rush.
“We are months and months away,” the premier told reporters during his weekly media scrum at the legislature Wednesday. “There’s summer between us and the vote.
“I’m fairly certain there won’t be too many summer barbecues where the topic of conversation is proportional representation,” Horgan continued. “People will be enjoying their summer. They’ll be getting on with their lives.”
The referendum, a ballotby-mail, is set for the fall. Is Horgan really suggesting it will be enough to disclose the particulars when September rolls around? Apparently so.
“When we come back in the fall, there will be a question. There will be a yes campaign. There will be a no campaign. There will be ample information.”
Still plenty of time, as Horgan sees it, for the public to get up to speed on the options, digest the contents of voting packages, and mail back their choice before the Nov. 30 deadline.
“I am confident that BCers are sophisticated enough to look at options and make decisions,” the premier assured reporters. “We have election campaigns that last 28 days that cover a whole range of issues. The public has the wherewithal to make their choices based on that information.”
Indeed, the premier went on to predict: “I suggest there may well be criticisms that there’s too much information.”
Too much information would be nothing like the current state of affairs. For days, the Opposition has sought answers from Attorney General David Eby, chosen by Horgan as the “neutral arbiter” of the referendum process. He’s told them nothing.
Following Horgan’s comments Wednesday, Eby did clarify his intentions on one point: “I expect that this will all be done well before the fall.”
Otherwise Eby continued to stonewall requests for information, interspersed with partisan shots at the Liberals for daring to ask.
Horgan, for his part, again rejected complaints that Eby is too much of a partisan to qualify as a neutral arbiter.
“I’m comfortable that the attorney general is managing the process as he’s been asked to do,” he said. “We will have a question. It will be one that is simple and straightforward and the public will understand it.”
Twice the premier referred to the “question” in the singular. Had the New Democrats abandoned earlier notions that the referendum package might include multiple questions and/or ballots?
“I believe that Minister Eby is working on that very issue right now,” returned Horgan. “It will be crystal clear by the fall.”
Later in the same media scrum, he re-hinted that a multiple-choice exercise may be at hand.
“I believe that we have to figure out whether we want to keep what we’ve got or move to something else. I also believe that if we’re moving to something else, that’s another series of issues.”
The first question might be: do you want to change the status quo electoral system known as First-Past-thePost? Presuming a “yes” on that option, a second question in the same ballot package would set up a ranked run-off among several versions of proportional representation.
The New Democrats would thus encourage adherents of the various options for proportional representation to combine to eliminate FPTP on the first ballot, knowing some version of PR would triumph in the second.
Each electoral system has its complexities, its upside and its downside.
The two previous referendums on electoral reform in this province entailed many months of preparation.
The single transferable vote version of proportional representation, put to the electorate 13 years ago this spring, emerged from a twoyear process involving an independent citizens’ assembly, chosen at random from every riding in the province.
The assembly announced the choice of B.C.- STV in October 2004, more than six months before the vote in May of the following year. The ballot offered a simple yes/no option.
When B.C.- STV fell just short of the threshold for approval, the then-B.C. Liberal government agreed to a second referendum. But first an independent boundary commission crafted maps showing voters precisely how local representation would change under STV.
In the second referendum in May 2009, electoral reform was soundly defeated, with 61 per cent of those voting opting to stick with the status quo.
This time out, the New Democrats rejected setting up another citizens’ assembly (“not enough time”) in favour of crafting the options themselves. Nor are they leaving much time to educate the public.
Still Horgan insists there will be time enough.
“When the campaign begins, there will be a lot of information in the marketplace of ideas,” he said. “The public will be able to make their determinations based on that. If people contact you and say they don’t have enough information, I suggest you pass it on to me and I’ll do my level best to get them the information they need.”
This from a premier who during question period one day this week, pretty much gave away the goal of this exercise for the New Democrats and their partners the Greens: “To make sure that we get proportional representation in this House — that’s what we campaigned on, that’s what we’re going to deliver.”
A determined premier with a stacked deck. I wouldn’t bet against him at this point.
I’m fairly certain there won’t be too many summer barbecues where the topic of conversation is proportional representation. People will be enjoying their summer.