Thoughts on BC Politics and More

There are sides in the BC Legislature. This side and that side. Our side and their side. The left side and the right side. Apparently, two sides. Like binary code, either a 1, or a 0. I've heard it even when Members introduce visitors to the House they say something like, "on behalf of the Members on this side of the House I welcome so-and-so to the Legislature." Not on behalf of the Members on the other side of the House? Apparently, the sides are really important. The good side and the bad side. Or maybe the good side and the evil side. Sometimes I wonder whose side the people are on? Who determines if we are on the right or wrong side of history? Set in tradition Our democracy is fuelled by confrontation.  Our desks are neatly organized into two sides, facing each other and "spaced two sword lengths apart. Historically, this was to ensure that no harm could be inflicted upon a member during a heated debate in the H...

The basic premise of democracy is governance of the people, by the people for the people. It was conceived to avoid rule by armies, cabals, churches, gentry or kings. From October 22 to November 30, British Columbia residents will be asked to mail in a ballot in a Referendum on Proportional Representation. They will either vote to maintain the current First-Past-The-Post system or change to one of three proportional systems offered by the government. Unfortunately, the only proportional systems on the ballot are ‘Party Systems’ in which parties choose some of the MLAs. There are proportional systems in which voters choose all the MLAs. Unfortunately, none of these will be on the ballot. In 2004, the Citizen's Assembly, a randomly chosen group of voters, looked at all forms of proportional representation. They rejected the systems in which parties choose some of the MLAs and recommended a system called STV in which citizens vote for all their MLAs. The governme...