Women’s advocate says yes to BC-STV

April 15, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Women’s advocate says yes to BC-STV

Judy Rebick to speak at women’s forum on electoral reform in BC
Vancouver, B.C. - Canada’s leading champion of women’s equality and a passionate advocate for social justice is adding her voice to the growing number of people demanding a change to British Columbia’s electoral system. Judy Rebick, one of Canada’s best known feminists, was one of the first people in Canada to promote electoral reform, calling for proportional representation as a way of increasing the election of women when she was president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC).

“I have long been an advocate of proportional representation in government and believe the BC-STV system will deliver a government that is good for women and truly representative of the population,” said Rebick, former president of NAC.

“Electoral reform is not a left or a right issue,” added Rebick. “It’s about fairness. Women are under-represented in all levels of governments in Canada. This inherent unfairness is built into our electoral system and it has to change. Only through equal representation of men and women will governments truly become accountable to all Canadians. The way to achieve this is through a fundamental change to our voting system.”

In 2004, the 160 members of the Citizen’s Assembly on Electoral Reform overwhelmingly recommended just such a change to British Columbia’s voting system: the BC-STV (single transferable vote) electoral system.

“One of the objectives of the Citizens’ Assembly, half of whom were women, was to remove barriers in our electoral system,” said Shoni Field, former member of the Citizens’ Assembly. “Our research showed that STV has the potential to significantly increase the number of women we elect in BC.” Rebick and Field will be joined by Tricia Marwick, a member of the Scottish parliament (MSP) and advocate of the single transferable vote electoral system in Scotland, at a forum on Friday, April 17, 2009 to discuss the issue of women and electoral reform.

All members of the media are invited to attend the forum:

Date: Friday, April 17, 2009
Time: Noon - 1 p.m
Location: YWCA (Welch Room)
535 Hornby Street, Vancouver