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Angela Nagy will be voting for proportional representation in the mail-in referendum now under-way in B.C.
The Green Party always gets a respectable number of votes in this part of the province, but not enough to elect anyone. Under proportional representation that would change. It would be good for the Greens, but would it be good for the rest of us? Smaller parties would get more of a voice if we changed our electoral system, but would that mean a more democratic system, or more chaos?
Angela Nagy is now CEO of Kelowna-based GreenStep Solutions. Here she is, arguing in favor of proportional representation.
BC voters have until the end of November to mail-in their ballot. There are two questions.
Firstly, you need to decide whether you support maintaining our current first-past-the-post system, or a switch to a system of proportional representation.
Secondly, you are asked which of three possible proportional models you prefer in the event that we choose to make the change. Those choices include dual-member representation, mixed member representation, and rural-urban proportional representation.
Proportional representation is often criticized because of it's complexity, but Nagy argues the basic principle is simple. "If a party gets 40% of the votes they will get 40% of the representation."
She points to Ontario as a place where the first-past-the-post system seems to have failed people. "41% of voters in Ontario voted for Doug Ford. He got 61% of the seats and 100% of the power." She said that has left 59% to wonder, "...what the heck is going on?"
Proportional representation would mean more minority or coalition governments. Nagy said that means more collaboration. "I think proportional representation is 100% better than what we have now," said the five-time Green Party candidate. "And I would really encourage voters to give it a shot. And we'll have an opportunity to review it in a couple of years."
Kelowna- Lake Country MLA, and Opposition Health Critic Norm Letnick will be in later in the week to argue why keeping the first-past-the-post system is the better option.
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