As the Attorney General’s office gathers public feedback on an upcoming referendum on B.C.’s electoral system, the Green and NDP caucuses say they’re banding together to give their opinion.
“We are making a submission just like everyone else in British Columbia,” said NDP MLA Bob D’Eith.
British Columbians are being asked to vote next fall on whether the province should keep its current voting model, known as first-past-the-post, or switch to a form of proportional representation in which the number of seats a party gets is linked to the percentage of votes it wins.
D’Eith said the parties are trying to get all B.C. voters to participate, but Green MLA Sonia Furstenau admitted that could be challenging.
“When you’re worried about keeping your rent paid, getting your bills paid, getting groceries, getting your kids to school, electoral reform can be something that goes to the bottom of your priority list,” said Furstenau.
WATCH: Electoral reform in the form of the first-past-the-post system
Furstenau said the questions offered in the province’s online electoral reform survey have shortcomings, but did not elaborate on what they were.
She did, however, say any shortcomings shouldn’t prevent people from adding “their own written submission to get the answers they want.”
The government’s consultation on what the referendum question will look like has come under fire from the opposition BC Liberals, who argue they are skewed toward the pro-proportional representation side.
The survey process ends in February, with the vote taking place next fall by mail-in ballot.
Holding a referendum on proportional representation was a key NDP campaign promise, and an element of the power-sharing deal the party signed with the Greens.
Under the terms the NDP have set for the referendum, a simple 50 per cent plus one “yes” vote will be enough to implement a new system for the province’s 2021 provincial election.
~With files from Simon Little
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