BURNABY – CUPE BC is gearing up to get out the vote in favour of a better way for British Columbians to elect our government, and against the old and unfair first past the post system.
Last week the provincial government announced that B.C. voters will receive ballots in the mail in the fall and will have between October 22nd and November 20th to make their choice, and mail it back.
“For too long in B.C. we have seen governments elected with less than 50 per cent of the vote, but get 100 per cent of the power,” said CUPE BC President Paul Faoro. “We have a historic opportunity to make voting in B.C. fairer, and make every voter count.”
The provincial government conducted the one of the largest public consultations in the province’s history to determine the question for voters to answer. The Ballot Question is as follows:
1. Which should British Columbia use for elections to the Legislative Assembly?
(Vote for only one.)
- The current First Past the Post voting system
- A proportional representation voting system
2. If British Columbia adopts a proportional representation voting system, which
of the following voting systems do you prefer?
(Vote for the voting systems you wish to support by ranking them in order of preference. You may choose to support one, two or all three of the systems.)
- Dual Member Proportional (DMP)
- Mixed Member Proportional (MMP)
- Rural-Urban PR
“We will be working with our allies and other supporters of proportional representation to provide CUPE members with a clear understanding of the three alternative systems,” said Faoro. “But I am pleased to see the referendum questions are simple and will give all British Columbians an opportunity to make their voices and their votes count.
“British Columbians have straightforward questions and a clear choice to make this fall,” said Faoro. “CUPE BC will be campaigning to every member and having conversations about how we can make democracy in our province work better.”
At CUPE BC’s convention in April, delegates voted strongly in favour of campaigning to change B.C.’s electoral system to one that truly reflects the intention of voters in every region.
