Both sides of B.C. electoral reform campaign receive $500K funding

VANCOUVER— A campaign on electoral reform officially started on Canada Day in British Columbia before a fall referendum that has triggered a constitutional challenge from a business association and a union that want the process stopped.

Official groups on each side will get $500,000 in government funding and are expected to be announced mid-July.

Voters who choose to replace the first-past-the-post system with proportional representation will be asked to rank three options of that model between Oct. 22 and Nov. 30.

Proponents of proportional representation say it’s fair because the percentage of votes a party gets would equal the number of seats it has in legislature. Opponents say local representation would shrink with parties having more control.

The Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, the Canada West Construction Union and its labour relations director Kenneth Baerg filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court, arguing the B.C. government undertook a “rushed” process for fundamental changes to the democratic system. New Democrats proposed three replacement models:

Mixed member proportional representation, or MMP, in which 60 per cent of members of the legislature would be elected by the most votes and 40 per cent by lists set by political parties.

Dual-member proportional, involving large ridings represented by two politicians, including one with the most votes.

And rural-urban proportional, a blend of MMP for rural ridings and the single transferable vote system, which voters have rejected in two previous referendums, for urban ridings.

Peter Gall, a lawyer who represents petitioners, said all the options are complicated.

“You don’t even know the full details let alone understanding fully what the three options really are,” he said.

The Attorney General’s Ministry, a respondent in the court action, said in a statement that it would defend the matter.

Maria Dobrinskaya, a spokesperson for Vote PR BC, who is hoping to be selected as official proponent of the referendum, said proportional representation allows for a more democratic system.

Dobrinskaya said spending limits are important aspects of the referendum because corporations and unions won’t try to influence the outcome.