Electoral reform needed much closer to home
Local politics benefit, say Megan Dias and Vyas Saran.
Earlier this month, the federal Liberal government betrayed its promise of electoral reform. Condemnation for this decision has been swift from all sides.
Last week, hundreds of Canadians took part in independent rallies across 29 cities, and a petition calling the government to re-affirm its commitment to reform surpassed 120,000 signatures.
Taking a different and quite bold approach, Fair Voting B.C. is seeking to raise the issue in court, arguing that our current system is unconstitutional.
But if reformers want the benefits of change, their fight needs to take place closer to home, as well. Many of the principal goals of electoral reform — increasing the representation of women and ethnic groups, including a wider range of views in policy-making, and expanding political participation among all Canadians — would likely bring greater benefits if it takes place at the provincial and municipal levels.
By most measures, the policies that come out of our provincial and municipal governments have a greater and more visible effect on the daily lives of Canadians than federal policies. Issues like housing, health care, and transportation are less dependent on Justin Trudeau, and far more the responsibility of Christy Clark or Gregor Robertson.
And yet, turnout and involvement in provincial and municipal elections is consistently lower than the federal turnout. Just over half of British Columbians voted in the last provincial election, and only one-third of them went to the 2014 municipal polls — Vancouver stood as an outlier with a 44 per cent turnout.
Taken together, these statistics are more concerning when broken down by demographics. Lower-income, less-educated, younger and non-white British Columbians are far less likely to vote than others. By extension, they are nowhere near as well-represented in their local governments than their upper middleclass, educated, older and white neighbours.
Vancouver city council attempted a remedy to these problems this year by commissioning an independent body that had the goal of bringing the city’s voter turnout to at least 60 per cent. In January, that group released their recommendations to council. While its proposals largely rely on provincial approval, it recommended that Vancouver switch to a proportional electoral system, chosen by a citywide citizens assembly (similar to the one B.C. used in 2004). Such a switch, they argue, would increase turnout, engagement, and representation.
Additionally, the group recommended a pilot program to test online voting in Vancouver, and to allow 16-year olds to pre-register to vote.
If approved, these measures would almost certainly cause an increase in local voter turnout.
They would also make city council, parks, and school board more representative of the diversity of Vancouver, and less influenced by older, affluent voters who often end up with a veto on civic affairs.
Further, these are the same proposals that proponents of electoral reform have been arguing for federally. And yet, where is the support for this? Where are the petitions and days of action?
If we’re serious about making Canadian politics more inclusive and representative, we have to remember that our politics are much more than whatever happens on Parliament Hill.
Ultimately, municipal and provincial politics might not be as alluring as federal politics.
Gregor Robertson will rarely make global headlines for his selfies. But his decisions, and those of city council, will have a real effect on the daily life of Vancouverites.
They will affect a wide range of things — what transit we have, which neighbourhoods get priority for snow removal, how much housing supply is being created. As we learned this year, they also can affect how many people could die during a cold snap if the disadvantaged in our city don’t have adequate shelters and assistance.
Electoral reform can make our politics more inclusive and representative. This matters on the local level, as much, if not more, than the federal level.
If we’re serious about these goals, the fight needs to take place closer to home, too.