October 15, 2024.
The ‘First Past the Post’ electoral system that we have is not the most democratic of electoral systems, but it seems that we are stuck with it for now anyway. Both federal Liberal leader Justin Trudeau and BC NDP leader John Horgan campaigned on changing to some form of proportional representation when they were in Opposition, but both successfully sabotaged any such change when they formed government. That was easy for them to do when the new official Oppositions did not want it either. It seems that for the two big federal and provincial parties, the quest for the complete power that comes with a majority government is just too intoxicating to resist, especially once you have it, and when one considers that majority governments can be won with less than 40% of the vote. It almost seems like the Opposition is willing to wait till the next election in their quest for a majority rather than switch to a proportional representation system that likely will not reward the big main parties as much.
In my view, that is part of the problem with our biggest political parties under this electoral system. They are understandably focused on forming majority governments, but majority governments do not result in true representation for most voters. That is why I am once again hoping for a minority government in our BC election, and I am somewhat optimistic that may happen this time. With many strong BC Green and Independent candidates, we could end up with a similar situation as happened in 2017 when two parties had to work together as government.
Meanwhile, don’t forget to get out and vote on October 19 or sooner. I voted on the first day of advance polls, and it was amazing to see how many folks were doing likewise. That is democracy working. People around the world have died fighting for the freedoms that we can so easily take for granted. So, while I might be griping somewhat about our electoral system, I am grateful for what we do have.
Ken Boon
Where the Hell is that? Tremendous photgraphy, lots of depth (A long exposure). Look at those fabulous spikey evergreens flanking the roadway and even a clue of the year abouts with the automobiles.