Horgan feels the heat, agrees to debate — finally

Oct 18, 2018 | 3:39 PM

EARLY NEXT WEEK, mail-in ballots for our provincial referendum on electoral reform will be going out to B.C. households. But if you’re also expecting to receive detailed information on how a change in electoral systems could affect you, think again.
 
No, B.C.’s NDP government doesn’t think you need detailed riding maps explaining how a switch to proportional representation (PR) will affect your community and your representation in the Legislature.
 
They don’t believe you need information on how two of the three systems of PR on the ballot actually work, because frankly, they can’t provide it— those systems aren’t in place anywhere in the world.
 
They also don’t think it’s a problem to leave you in the dark on those specifics until the referendum is over. Take a leap of faith and trust us, they say.
 
And until Premier John Horgan felt the heat from the Opposition and the public, he didn’t feel he needed to take up Opposition Leader Andrew Wilkinson’s request for a public debate on electoral reform.
 
Our leader asked him for that opportunity about three weeks ago. On October 4th the Premier appeared to accept, telling media outlets that, “if Mr. Wilkinson still wants to go, I’m good with that.” So our leader followed up with a letter on October 12th. It wasn’t until today, October 18th – after much pressure both inside and outside the Legislature — that he finally agreed to it.
 
I suspect Mr. Horgan was reluctant because he doesn’t really want to take part in this debate. He and the rest of his caucus aren’t interested in equipping voters with more information, because they are hoping for low engagement and low voter turnout to get what they want— or perhaps more accurately, what their Green partners propping them up want— and that’s a switch to a PR system.
 
Voters in this province should be angry. I’ve certainly been hearing that sentiment from constituents and from those who have attended the recent town hall I co-hosted along with my colleague, Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone.
 
People expressed their concerns that a switch to proportional representation will result in diminished local representation. They worried about MLAs being appointed from a party list rather than elected, and about the potential impact that could have on their accountability to voters.
 
These are legitimate concerns that we hope will be addressed by the premier, once he finally takes part in that debate with our leader Andrew Wilkinson.