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By Michael Reeve

ELECTORAL REFORM

Electoral reform committee submits first report to the BC Legislature with 36 recommendations

Nov 27, 2025 | 4:13 PM

VICTORIA — The B.C. legislature’s Special Committee of Democratic and Electoral Reform has issued its first report, making 36 recommendations for consideration by the legislative assembly and Elections BC.

In total, the committee heard from nearly 1,000 participants, with many espousing their beliefs that electoral reform is needed in the province, wishing to see a change from the current first-past-the-post system. Deputy Chair Ward Stamer highlighted that those voices may have been an echo chamber leading the committee to recommend further investigation.

“A lot of the submissions we had were kind of one-sided, in as much that many of the people that came to our committee where looking at some form of proportional representation,” said Stamer, who represents the riding of Kamloops-North Thompson. “I believe that there are members of the committee who are not entirely convinced that is what the majority of the people in the province are actually looking for. That is why if we want to start looking at other alternatives we would certainly want to be able to engage with the public before we made any further recommendations to the house.”

The committee also looked into how information about elections is shared, hoping to clamp down on disinformation while also encouraging more residents to get involved in the democratic process.

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Stamer addressed wanting to see more education to inspire the next generation.

“We also want to be looking at our curriculum in our schools, because we know that the earlier that somebody gets an opportunity, not age-wise, but if they vote when they are younger — 18, 19, 20 years old — the chances are they will continue to be involved in the process,” said Stamer. “We need to do a better job of educating our students so they are more fully engaged and ready to be able to cast their vote when an election is called.”