Adam Olsen’s response Bill 6. This legislation provides the ability for the British Columbia government to hold a referendum to ask citizens if they would like to reform our electoral system to get rid of first-past-the-post and adopt a proportional representation.
[Transcript]
I am very pleased to be able to speak in support of this bill, the Electoral Reform Referendum Act.
This bill outlines the basic process through which British Columbians will be asked whether they support switching to a system based on proportional representation.
We’ve heard from members of the official opposition that these democratic reform bills that have been brought forward in this session, and that this government is introducing, are all about power — that everything is about achieving or maintaining a tight grip on power.
This mentality that everything that we do in this place is all about power is exactly what is wrong with our politics today. It’s fostered by a first-past-the-post system that is built on a winner-take-all system, with few incentives for parties to work together.
In our current system, the norm is that parties gain absolute power over this place with the ability to push through their policy agenda without any support outside their ranks. They often get this with just 40 percent or less of the popular vote.
This has many negative consequences. It undermines public trust in the government. If elected representatives don’t even trust each other, who see each other’s every move as grasping for power, how can members of the public trust us? How can the public trust that we are acting with their best interests at heart?
It also makes collaboration across party lines all but impossible. Parties in this place don’t work together. Even issues that should be able to be decisively dealt with get caught up in politics. Rare instances of collaboration on important issues are an exception to business-as-usual in this place. Politics often trumps sound, evidence-based decision-making.
My colleagues and I have said many times that we believe that politics need to be done differently in this province. That does not mean to be done by sound bite. We’re not saying it because it sounds good. In my view, we must do politics differently if we are going to tackle emerging, complex issues across British Columbia.
We need a government that is capable of leading and taking on challenges proactively, not one that is forced to chase polls. I think that what we have seen with the politics of ride-sharing is a particularly good example of the challenges that the first-past-the-post embed in our politics.
Instead of all parties coming together to figure out how we can embrace change, while managing the impacts it will have on existing structures and existing industries, we ignore them — or worse, allow them to get caught up in political brinksmanship.
Ride-sharing has been around in some North American jurisdictions for over seven years. Yet, here we struggle to even get it debated in our House. We must be open to more collaboration and finding new ways for parties to work together to advance these issues.
My concern with this is not restricted to ride-sharing. I actually look forward to working with my colleagues to craft a solution that will work for British Columbia. No, my concern is that our politics seem to put up barriers in places that prevent us from tackling issues that change the status quo. This issue should be a central concern of all of us legislators.
One doesn’t need to look far to see how climate change, technology change and a changing global economy, to just name a few, will force us to confront all manners of challenging policy changes. Rather than being guided by political self-interest, we need to be looking at making decisions based on good, sound public policy.
To bring this issue back to the example of ride-sharing: as we in B.C. finally start to look at what a regulatory environment for this new business model may look like, other jurisdictions across this continent are starting to look at automation. Let that sink in. B.C. is at risk of being an entire technological change behind.
This is unacceptable, and we must do better than this. I want to have a system that incentivizes members on all sides of this chamber to lean in and work together to craft legislation that will work in the best interest of all British Columbians.
Once again, to take up my example, automation will affect the communities across the province in different ways. I want to hear from MLAs from Prince George or Fort St. John about how automation will affect their communities. We lose so much when our Legislature doesn’t provide space for these substantive conversations.
This is why I, personally, am so supportive of proportional representation, and why I’m supportive of this bill. We need to modernize our electoral system and move to a system that incentivizes and creates structures for political parties to work together. This starts with ensuring that the allocation of seats in the House better matches what voters voted for. We have seen the result of the solidified two-party system — divisive politics, distilled into good versus evil, political discourse that serves political parties and special interests and sweet nothing for the rest of the province.
What we have seen over the past 50 or 60 years in this province is politics serving politicians. As a result, we have political calculations — like I highlighted earlier with ride-sharing — determining the course of action, closing doors on opportunity, blocking capital at our borders because of big dam pet projects, and it goes on.
What we have seen over the past decades — as politicians in this place have been locked inside these big stone blocks, locked in the theatre, which is seemingly acceptable to everyone here as part of the pomp, ceremony and ritual of our system of government, shrugged off as a necessary part of the facade of governance — is this system has only served the status quo, and new ideas, creativity and innovation have been muted and unwelcome.
It is time to break up this hegemony and free up the 87 representatives from the 87 ridings to get to work developing good public policy. Changing to proportional representation is about ensuring all regions of our province are better represented and that people are incentivized to vote for what they want rather than against what they don’t.
Ultimately this choice, this change to our electoral system, rests with British Columbians. The government has committed to an extended engagement period so British Columbians can provide their input into what the process and the question should look like. I look forward to seeing more information about what this process will look like and engaging in discussion in the weeks and the months ahead.
You know, as I’ve sat in this place over the past number of days, or at least number of hours, and listened to the debate that’s gone on about this bill, I’ve heard some things that are really quite stretching, I think, some imaginations. As an example, it was pointed out that it’s hard to argue that every vote does not count in our current system.
Well, I happen to represent a party that received 17 percent of the vote and three seats. But if you took a look and we had some type of proportional system, our party would be represented by rounding up, 15 seats, rounding down, 14 seats.
This might quiet some of the complaints that “members with three seats have so much power” or rather “the green tail wagging the orange dog” or we’re “the junior partner.” I’m not sure. At some point the members of the official opposition will figure exactly which analogy they’re going to use. Either we are the weak member in a strong partnership or a strong partner in a weak partnership. At some point, when there’s some leadership there, they will get that sorted out.
But the reality of it is that the number of votes, the percentage of votes that the B.C. Green Party received in the last election is far greater than the number of seats that we are represented by in this…. And it would mute some of the complaints that, in fact, only three seats are wagging a dog or tailing a — whatever it is.
I think that it’s important to note that as we have…. This proportional representation, this opportunity for British Columbians to vote on a referendum…. What they’re seeing in the government, this minority government that currently exists, is that there is an opportunity to break down those barriers, and while we haven’t been entirely successful with all members of this place, that is going to require more work, and it’s work that I, personally, am committed to doing.
There should be a growing confidence in this government as every day passes and as communication increases and as we see public policy being developed in this province in a collaborative way, a way in which members of the government and members of the Greens…. Members are talking to one another, having discussions about one another, not surprising members of this place with legislation that was crafted in the morning and asking whether or not they’ll support it later in the afternoon.
I think that it’s important to point out that there should be a great deal of confidence in this government. We as Greens, as partners in a confidence and supply agreement, have committed right from day one this summer that we were going to be working with a government for a full mandate, because that is the mandate that the people of British Columbia gave all of the members of this place, all 87 members of this place, to work through…
Interjection.
Thank you, Peace River.
…an entire term, an entire mandate, given by the people.
I just wanted to close off with those comments and to reiterate that I will be supporting this. This is an initiative that the B.C. Greens have supported since our inception — to have every vote on election day reflected properly in the House, following that election.
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