You'd be welcome to call it the Twigg Formula - a system that would put the peoples' interests First

Through-out the province of BC recently, there has been much talk about electoral reform --- what it should look like, how it will be achieved, how we as

BC Attorney General David Eby (right), campaigning

in May 2017. The BC NDP promised to hold a

referendum on a new voting system for the province

voters will have input to the process, what a referendum question(s) should look like, what kind of majority would be required to have a change made.  These, just to name a few, are the questions being asked.

For many, the name John Twigg will be familiar.  He recently submitted his thoughts to the BC governments Citizen Engagement, as well as forwarding those thoughts to me, Bob Makin, Bill Tieleman (co-chair of the No B.C. Proportional Representation Society), the BC Pundit, and BC NDP Attorney General David Eby.

Here are those thoughts:

The NDP does have "democratic" in its name but its past and present practices too often have shown that that can be a misnomer.

I want a reformed electoral system that will still tend to elect majority governments composed mainly of people of all races, creeds, genders etc representing clearly distinct regions geographically, with very little if any gerrymandering such as Gracie's notorious finger.

The current range of population per riding needs to adjusted because there are too many big ridings with too-few people; they need to be consolidated and the MLAs and candidates specially assisted with travel costs.

I'd like to see a Legislature of up to 99 or 100 seats and no more (at least for a few elections), which would include about 90 people elected in territories as now (except with the above-mentioned population adjustments) and about 10 people chosen in one or more processes to reflect smaller parties, ethnic groups, regional interests, maybe gender balance, maybe talent and/or popularity (eg someone who lost a seat by 10 votes or so). Perhaps some could be chosen by an independent panel chaired by the chief electoral officer. Perhaps some could be selected in a subsequent election off of a list.

These 10 "proportional" MLAs would have full voice in the Legislature and powers to sit on committees and have offices and staff, etc., but their voting powers in the Legislature would be limited so they could not defeat a government or defeat a budget - but they could have a positive impact, especially if Question Period was extended and this group was given a rotating turn. And if there was a tied count on a confidence vote THEN they could break the tie.

The idea that (for example) the Green Party should have 15% of the seats and votes because their candidates collectively pulled 15% of the popular vote is NOT a good idea and in fact is a very bad idea and is NOT "democratic" but instead over-weighs minority special interests. This has proven to be a disaster in several European countries. Likewise any gender quotas or orientation, ethnic or religion quotas - NO!

The idea that the BC Conservative Party should get 7% of the seats because its candidates pulled in 7% of the vote is even more ludicrous. Perhaps the threshold for such seats should be 10% of the provincial popular vote.

The British Parliamentary System that the BC Legislature follows and imitates has proven to be an efficient way for governments to govern with a balance of both pragmatic practicality and intellectual and political diversity. It should be retained but augmented to better reflect B.C.'s diverse population and geography.

And then there is the elephant in the room: new voting technologies. Maybe even instant universal referendums on issues of the day or week.

So I favour an evolution to be revisited as soon as practicable after it has had a chance to work, or not.

I'm not sure what label that formula fits best under. You'd be welcome to call it the Twigg Formula - a system that would put the peoples' interests First.

John Twigg