Surrey should let voters decide whether to replace RCMP
I voted for Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum and his team, mostly to see the last of Surrey First. That does not mean I support his notion of a municipal police force. After all, there were no yes/no boxes on the ballot to learn voters’ opinions on that option.
Anyone who thinks that crime and gangs in Surrey will disappear by changing to a new police force is naive. The RCMP have always provided dedicated service to the people of Surrey and comment to the contrary is both egregious and disrespectful. Only the people have the right to decide if the RCMP should be allowed to continue their service. Surrey should immediately initiate a referendum to decide the matter. David Peelo, Surrey
PR best option for rural voters
Nick Loenen covers all the important bases of support for proportional representation in his op-ed last Tuesday. I was one of the lucky 160 participants in the Citizens’ Assembly of 2004. We spent a year studying the many ways democracies around the world choose their governments, and although the majority of participants began the year with a stated preference for our present first-past-the-post system, by the end of the year, we decided the single transferable vote was the cleanest, most elegant system, with maximum voter representation.
That’s why I will vote proportional representation and choose rural-urban PR because it uses STV and will give greater representation to rural voters. Barbara Carter, White Rock
PR ‘rigged’ in favour of NDP
I voted to continue with our FPTP elec- toral system, which has worked well for Canadians since Confederation.
First past the post voting is transparent and easy to understand. And, unlike proportional representation, it lets voters choose their representatives. I don’t want a system that is rigged to give the NDP and Green parties a permanent lock on government in B.C. Kenneth Lawrence, Surrey
Reform debate disappointing
The electoral-reform arguments used in the television debate between Premier John Horgan and B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson were disappointing.
Horgan said modern, proven alternatives will upgrade an ancient system. In fact, proportional representation and first past the post have both been used for centuries and are equally ancient. While promoted as used in 90 countries, two of three PR systems offered in the B.C.’s referendum have never been used anywhere. The third is used only in Bolivia, Germany, Lesotho and New Zealand.
Rather than promoting collaboration, a new law under PR in New Zealand enables party leaders to unseat members who don’t follow party discipline, enforcing partisanship over collaboration. Said to better reflect voter wishes, in New Zealand a party with seven per cent of the vote and members selected only from party lists chose the prime minister, leaving 93 per cent of voters out.
Choose FPTP on your ballot and reject this misrepresented PR system. Ross Murray, Qualicum Beach
I’m still waiting for my ballot
I am a registered voter in B.C., but for some reason I did not receive my ballot for the upcoming referendum. My husband received his two weeks ago, so last week I phoned to inquire why my ballot had not arrived and was told that my address was incorrect.
I have owned our house and always received all previous voting info at my address, so I wonder how many more ballots are not sent out for this particular and very important referendum. As a handicapped senior, I was told to drive to Richmond from Tsawwassen to pick up my ballot. I chose to have it mailed. Hopefully, the postal strike won’t cause me to miss voting. Elaine Widsten, Tsawwassen