Endorser quotes
Under the current, first-past-the-post voting system we have in Canada, more than half of all votes cast in any given election are wasted. Under the rules as they apply now in B.C., the party obtaining 40 per cent of the vote gets 100 per cent of the power for four years. In the 2001 election, Liberal Leader Gordon Campbell received 57 per cent of the popular vote, yet got 97 per cent of the seats in the legislature. In 1996, Mr. Campbell's party received 41 per cent of the popular vote, yet it sat in opposition to the New Democrats, which received only 39 per cent. The voting system we have today is seriously flawed. We can all see that. There are too many votes that don't matter. Consequently, people are losing interest in the electoral process, a fact evident in the ever-declining numbers of people voting. STV isn't perfect, but I believe it's better than the system we have now. The voting itself isn't complicated. You rank candidates on the ballot in order of preference. I think there has been a lot of fear-mongering around STV being propagated by those who have a vested interest in the status quo. They focus almost exclusively on how complicated the STV system is, almost as if voters will have to count the ballots at the end of the day and make sense of it all themselves. They won't. Under STV, voters need worry only about deciding who will best represent their interests, values and point of view. And more of their votes will count for something. BC-STV, to me, seems like a system worth voting for.
Gary Mason, columnist, Globe and Mail
On Tuesday you will make two choices. The first is a short term choice of who will run our system for the next four years. You will vote for someone who has been chosen for you by entrenched interests in a big party machine. They will be someone who will be accountable to that machine, not to you. And perhaps some of the people you vote for will get elected not because of who they are but because they have proven to be the best at slinging mud. The other vote you will cast will be the much more important one. It will be the vote that determines if next time you will be faced with exactly the same ugly choices, or if you get to make the choices yourself. Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. We have a choice, perhaps a once in a lifetime choice, to do things differently. We have a chance to change our political system and remake it into one that we can have some measure of faith in. If the established interests succeed in defeating this on Tuesday, they won’t give you another chance. I hope British Columbians take this chance for real change. I hope we take this chance and vote for STV on Tuesday May 12.
Christy Clark, broadcaster, former Deputy Premier and cabinet minister
I spent almost 10 years in the press gallery, watching B.C. politics from a front-row seat. That's largely why I'm so convinced that you should vote yes in the STV referendum on Tuesday. The current system doesn't work. Results are routinely unfair. In 1996, the Liberals got more votes than the NDP, but the New Democrats formed a majority government. In 2001, the Liberals got 58 per cent of the vote and 98 per cent of the seats. In 2005, 162,000 British Columbians -- nine per cent of voters -- backed the Greens, but were not represented in the legislature. And that's not the only issue. The current system encourages MLAs to keep their faces fixed on the leader and, as a result, to turn their backsides to their communities. Bad behaviour is the norm. The challenge in most ridings is to get the nomination, not to win people over in the election campaign. . . . STV won't fix all the system's ills. But it will be a significant step forward.
Paul Willcocks, columnist, Times-Colonist
Thoughtful people have put an amazing amount of work into finding a voting system that more closely brings results into line with voter preference. In BC more than in any other jurisdiction I know, the whole thing was designed from the outset to involve ordinary voters in the important decisions. From soup to nuts, the whole thing was a majestic rebuke to the leader-knows-best secretiveness and arrogance that has typified far too much of our federal politics. Quite apart from the substance of the argument, I’d say this process deserves your endorsement. And do not doubt that if a grassroots-driven, heavily deliberated reform is rejected again by voters, leaders will take this as their green light to stop bothering.
Paul Wells, columnist, Maclean's magazine
I'm not an expert on voting systems. I doubt many of us are, or plan to become one in time for Tuesday's election. Fortunately, a group of 160 randomly chosen British Columbians have already done the legwork for us. Known as the Citizens' Assembly, those 160 hard-working volunteers put in close to a year of research, public hearings and community presentations in 2004 after being asked by Premier Gordon Campbell to take on the task of assessing voting methods and recommending the best one. The one they picked was STV. And if that's the informed opinion of a diverse, apolitical citizens' group after many months spent learning and listening, then that's good enough for me.
Jody Paterson, columnist, Times-Colonist
Dear British Columbia: I know you're kind of busy right now, and maybe it's not my place, being from another province and all, but could I just ask you, on behalf of the rest of the country, to please vote Yes in the May 12 electoral reform referendum? I wouldn't intrude, except it's terribly important-important not just for B.C., but for all of us. Because politics is broken in Canada, and electoral reform-changing the way we vote-may just be the key to fixing it. B.C., you hold that key in your hands. If the referendum passes, it will not only transform the politics of your province, it will put electoral reform squarely on the map for the country as a whole.
Andrew Coyne, National Editor, Macleans magazine
STV will make it possible for important groups, traditionally left out of government, to be elected. For example, more women can be elected. More interests represented in decision-making can only be better for us all.
Eleanor Guerrero-Campbell, Executive Director, Minerva Foundation for BC Women
We must change how we do government. While no system is perfect, moving to one which will better represent the range of political ideas in British Columbia will only benefit the people of this province. That's why I'm voting for BC-STV.
Bill Siksay, MP, Burnaby-Douglas
The diverse group of B.C. citizens who carefully assessed options and then overwhelmingly endorsed the STV system demonstrated the power of democratic input. British Columbians have an enormous opportunity to widen views represented in government with STV. As someone who has felt disenfranchised by our current first past the post system, both provincially and federally, I urge all British Columbians to support the STV initiative.
David Suzuki, environmentalist, author, broadcaster
This is an historic opportunity we have as voters to be able to change the electoral system from the first past the post system to the B.C. Single Transferable Vote (BC-STV). The BC-STV method of voting was overwhelmingly endorsed by the Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform, made up of 160 ordinary people, in 2004. I am supporting BC-STV, as I believe the results of the election would be more reflective of the wishes of the people. I also believe that people in constituencies would be better represented by their MLAs. The first past the post system often leads to distorted or undemocratic results. The BC-STV is not perfect, but I believe it is a more progressive and democratic electoral system. If we do not pass BC-STV in this election, we may not have another opportunity for electoral reform for years, if not decades.
Kay Sinclair, Regional Executive Vice President for British Columbia, Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC)
I was largely undecided as to which way I was going to park my vote on this STV proposal. Then I heard the arguments from Christie Clark. Hugh Segal. Rafe Mair. Preston Manning. Our own MP Jean Crowder. David Suzuki. Deborah Grey. I couldn't imagine in my lifetime the left, right and center all agreeing with each other! Incredible! When the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and Greenpeace both endorse the same position on an issue, something has to either be very wrong with it, or be very right with it. And that's why I changed my decision from NO to YES. Truly sorry I didn't support this initiative sooner.
Mark Robinson, political activist
In northern Europe, with its proportional representation, I have long noticed that political campaigns are less personalized, less partisan and less distorting of the issues and even the facts. This is because governments are usually by coalition, meaning that several parties are responsible for current policies instead of one party with one leader. In our first past the post systems, the focus is often more on the individual political leader rather than the policies - the goal being to demonize this person in order to draw votes away from them. This is less democratic and leads to poorer policy in my view. In my own area of climate policy, this has definitely been the case.
Dr. Mark Jaccard, Professor, SFU School of Resource and Environmental Management
Tomorrow's Vote ~ Say Yes to STV. We have an opportunity to change our electoral system to the Single Transferable Vote (STV), a form of proportional representation. More and more people are indicating that they will vote for the STV by marking their ballots for the BC Single Transferable Vote (BC-STV).
Be The Change Earth Alliance
Our current electoral system fails to reflect the increasing diversity of our society. BC-STV will improve democracy and bring new voices to the governance process. BC will need to join other democracies who have chosen this system as a best practice if we are to meet the Global Sustainability Challenge.
Ken Melamed, Mayor of Whistler
If you really want to put power in the hands of the individual voter and make it candidate-based and you want the sense that the voter really can choose among candidates, then BC-STV is the best system. Where we are now in politics, with the cynicism, declining turnout, and the wild swings we've had, Social Credit disappeared as a party in my lifetime and the NDP were virtually wiped out in 2001, I think accountability and trust is on people's minds. There is an argument to be made that, here and now in B.C. politics, BC-STV is worth trying.
Norman Ruff, Political Scientist
The Tofino-Long Beach Chamber board of directors has endorsed BC-STV. The chamber's Mission states that the chamber will "promote and improve the economic, civic and social welfare of Tofino" through developing policies and taking positions on important issues. The board believes that BC-STV is a fair and proportional system which will give us improved local representation and a greater voter voice in provincial elections.
Michael Tilitzky, Executive Director, Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce
I support BC-STV because it means that everyone's vote will count, including mine. Strategic voting will be a thing of the past. The STV is a fair, community-driven, democratic system that will bring greater accountability to the legislature.
Ronnie Phipps, Coordinator, BC Coalition for Health Promotion
I have extensively studied the use of STV in Alberta and Manitoba in the first half of the twentieth century. One of my conclusions is that the STV system more faithfully translates the wishes of voters into representation. In fact, in Alberta, which has a long history of overwhelming majorities, STV was essential to preserving democracy and debate in our legislature during the period it was used. The adoption of STV in British Columbia would enrich the democratic life of the province and put BC on the leading edge of democratic reform in Canada.
Harold Jansen, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Lethbridge
CPJ has supported proportional representation for many years. We believe that the wide range of opinions and values Canadians hold need to find expression within our political institutions. Our legislatures should reflect the true diversity of opinion found in the country.
Citizens for Public Justice
STV will be a real step forward for British Columbia and deserves our support. The system gives citizens more choice in elections, shifts control from parties back to the people and changes the way we make public policy. I think we'd all like to see politicians cooperate to develop laws and spend money rather than continue yelling at one another.
Kennedy Stewart, Associate Professor, SFU Graduate Public Policy Program
I enthusiastically support STV for BC because it gives voters more power to hold individual politicians and political parties accountable, by giving every voter a vote that actually makes a difference. The result will be fairer election results and better representation.
Bill Tracey, President, Systek Engineering Ltd.
No political culture has been as innovative and diverse as British Columbia. That BC would lead the way in making election outcomes more truly democratic and representative is only natural!
Hugh Segal, Senator
Scholars argue that women are likely to be elected in greater numbers under STV because it will encourage parties to change their nominations practices to put forward gender-balanced slates.
Donna Stewart, former southern BC rep, National Action Committee on the Status of Women
Electoral reform is necessary both provincially and federally, and this referendum on STV is a step towards overhauling our electoral system to ensure every vote counts.
Jean Crowder, MP Nanaimo-Cowichan
Let's have BC lead the nation on electoral reform.
Robert Bateman, artist
People want a direct say in democracy, and BC-STV is a good way of being involved. Politicians need to hear directly from constituents in order to know what their electorate is thinking. Otherwise, they will simply carry on with precious little accountability.
Deborah Grey, former Deputy and Interim Leader of the Reform Party and Leader of the Opposition
I initiated a study of democracy at UBC and am still a Director. Unless we get a better system of government than the old British system dating back to the Magna Carta, we will never get the best government in BC or in Canada.
Stephen Jarislowsky, Chairman and CEO, Jarislowsky, Fraser
I think this [STV] is a better system. FPTP is disappearing from the face of the earth.
Michael Phillips, former Canadian Ambassador to Ireland
The bottom line? People say to me - this is the best chance we have to get democratic electoral reform through, now and not in the distant future, especially as the last referendum was so close. This is a good point. Like many, I want change - progressive change - and I want to see the cynicism that people feel about politics and the political process change too. I can't duck it any longer. I'm voting YES to STV. I've come to the conclusion that it's the right thing to do!
Libby Davies, MP, Vancouver East
I think this is one of those important votes that comes along every once in a while where we citizens are given a chance to steer democracy in the right direction again after watching it slowly go off course. And we have obviously gone off course, as a five minute examination of the stv.ca website so easily and quickly shows. Vote to put power back into the hands of people. Make 90% of the wishes of the populace the basis of democracy, not 50%. Bring proportion back to representation. And make politicians remember who elected them so that they have to work for us, not against us. P.S. I trust the 160 random voters from BC, who studied the issue for almost a year with public hearings, to have done their job. I trust them even more than I trust an impartial jury, and I trust those. I do not trust people with power telling me why I shouldn't vote for STV. Why not vote in my interests? Why not vote the way 160 people like me, random voters, determined was the best way of fixing our system.
Roger Haskett, actor, writer, director, teacher, and owner, Actors Unlimited
BC-STV will produce a legislature that is more representative of the voting public, including religious believers. The current system enforces party discipline so much that the dominant ethos is exaggerated, and minority views within the party are silenced. I hope that STV will restore a balance of competing views. This should be good for Christians in B.C., because their views are not being heard.
Sean Murphy, BC representative, Catholic Civil Rights League
BC-STV will allow us to move away from the antiquated party system and vote (as many of us already do) for the person, not the party. It is democracy in its purest form and will ensure that our political representation will be more fair and equitable.
Bruce Lantz, Mayor of Fort St. John
The most important vote in a long time!
David Carr, environmentalist, Vote for Climate
I would like to add my name to your list of political scientists who endorse the adoption of STV in BC in next week's referendum. Though now retired, I spent most of my forty-year career teaching and writing about political representation, electoral systems, elections and voting behavior. In particular, I have written on the old dual electoral system that existed in Alberta from 1924 to 1955, where STV was used quite successfully in the Edmonton and Calgary multi-member ridings, and on its use at the municipal level in western Canada from 1916 through 1974. Throughout that career I have been a strong advocate of adopting STV at all three levels of government in Canada.
J. Paul Johnston, Associate Professor [retired], Department of Political Science, University of Alberta
The Single Transferable Vote will re-energize our voter system and bring real democracy to the voters. More people will vote when their votes mean true representation, and maybe the funk of apathy that is so prevalent will disappear. Please vote for STV on May 12.
Moralea Milne, Councillor, District of Metchosin
This is one way of trying to take back what I believe democracy is supposed to be.
Karen Longhurst, teacher (retired)
I'm one hundred percent behind the STV. It's a really important issue.
Brendan McLeod, spoken word artist, musician
The Single Transferable Ballot is about reclaiming democracy for our communities and our children. On May 12th, vote for the Single Transferable Vote electoral system proposed by the Citizen's Assembly on Electoral Reform, and urge everyone you know to do the same.
Wendy Holm, P.Ag., Resource Economist, Agrologist, Columnist, Speaker
I think the neutral Citizens Assembly of 80 men and 80 women did a first class job studying other electoral systems around the world, and we would all be well served to vote YES for the BC-STV model they recommended, which has been customized for BC.
David Hunter, Vice-President Engineering (retired), SAP Business Objects
I support BC-STV because I am a firm believer in an accountable democratic process.
Elizabeth James, editor, writer
After looking into the proposed change of how we can democratically elect our Provincial representatives, I believe that the BC-STV option that we can choose will offer all British Columbians the opportunity to ensure that we have the correct representation in Parliament, as we the voters selected. I encourage all residents to be well informed of BC-STV and its merits and support this option on election day, May 12.
Mike Bernier, Mayor of Dawson Creek
If you want strong action to fight climate change, vote YES on STV in May. Under our current winner-take-all electoral system, it's just too tempting for governments to take half measures and opposition parties to promise easy answers to complex problems like global warming. Electoral reform will bring a wider range of voices into government and will encourage political parties to collaborate rather than compete on issues of importance to us all. The coming referendum on STV is the best chance we have to change our electoral system for the better.
Voters Taking Action on Climate Change, an independent, non-partisan voice for British Columbians who want government to take action against the causes of global warming.
The Alberta Taxpayers Federation has endorsed the BC-STV model because it’s one of the few ways of making governments more accountable. It’s important to have groups that are not partisan out talking about these things. The Citizens’ Assembly is the best model to debate reforms outside of politicians' interests. You can’t ask politicians these questions—if they sit in the majority, why would they change?
Scott Hennig, Alberta Director, Canadian Taxpayers Foundation
The 'first-past-the-post' system produces very skewed political control, which the current power brokers are continuing to protect, despite the overwhelming popular support for change.
Derric Gerdes, Editor, BC Seniors Newsletter
I made a submission to the Citizens' Assembly. However, I preferred the proposal that the Assembly made over my own.
Dr. Gordon Hartman, Fisheries Research Scientist, retired
After living in this province for nearly 70 years, we have long since come to the conclusion that a voting system that consistently grants political power to parties that do not represent the majority consistently leads to bad government.
Michael Poole, author, and Carole Poole
Watching politics evolving in Northern Ireland has convinced me we should adopt this voting system. Under STV, which is now used in municipal elections in Northern Ireland and Scotland, too, all points of view are represented at the governing table.
Andy Shadrack, Regional Director, Central Kootenay
I am very much in favour of this endeavour. It will give us a form of proportional representation that will produce a more equitable approach to electing members to the legislature. B.C. is so polarized that voters are choosing not to vote. I am very disappointed with this kind of politics. STV will bring us coalition governments that will move legislation that we really endorse.
Wilma Sotas, former Executive member of UNIFEM Canada, United Nations Development Fund for Women
I think that having multiple-member ridings will make the electoral process into a much more nuanced conversation, even if those ridings are bigger. And in between elections, you’re more likely to have a representative you can talk to under STV than you are now if you didn’t vote with the majority. When it comes to finding someone you can talk to, I don’t actually think I’ve encountered a more receptive and responsive panel than the Citizens’ Assembly itself. The appointing and selection of the Assembly is probably one of the most under-appreciated democratic achievements of the past century. I closed my presentation with the remark that, given a choice between almost any government elected in BC in recent memory and the Citizens’ Assembly itself, most of us would probably prefer to be governed by the Assembly. Unfortunately, that was not an option. Voting for the outcome of their work - BC-STV - is the closest we’re going to get.
Karin Litzcke, writer, freelance education analyst
Modifying the electoral system will provide increased opportunity for a multiplicity of voices in the legislature and multi-party, collaborative solutions to climate change and other environmental challenges.
Conservation Voters of BC,
From long experience and considerable study I believe STV to provide the most trustworthy and proportionate form of representation, and I thus strongly support the Campaign in BC.
Colin Buchanan, Retired Bishop of the Church of England, Honorary President of the Electoral Reform Society of the United Kingdom
I endorse STV because we desperately need a change from what we have; it should be there this election!
Elsie Gerdes, President, BC Old Age Pensioners Organization
Although many voting systems are fairer between parties than first past the post, STV is the best system for the voters because it provides them with the best choice of candidates.
Anthony Tuffin, Editor, STVAction.org, Council Member, UK Electoral Reform Society
Here is one vote where we can all agree.
Richard Hughes, former Regional Director, Cowichan Valley
We can do better.
Gary Wright, Mayor of New Denver