Stop this nonsense

I received the referendum mail-in ballot, and it is interesting to say the least.

Particularly when read with the brochure Elections BC sent out last month with unintelligible Information on what the forms are of proportional representation. Total confusion lies within the government explanations. 

With all forms of PR, the rules and processes are only defined by the government after the referendum. Unbelievable they cannot lay out clear rules before the referendum. Voters are being asked to have faith in a fair, non-partisan, open, transparent, collaborative procedure developed by the party in power.

“I am from the government, trust me,” they say.

Why was the referendum not combined with the recent provincewide civic election, a simple vote where every voter is vetted in person before casting a vote? 

Is it because the separate format favours the PR advocates?

Why do we have ballots in open mail boxes around the province, subject to theft and illegal voting?

There is no way Elections BC can certify that every ballot was prepared and signed by the person named on it.
Ballot Box stuffing can easily happen, despite Election BC’s independence and good people.

Why were the districts, regions, rules and processes not clarified before the referendum? 

Why do the many countries with PR around the world have so many government changes in short times? 

• Greece six elections in five years 
• Italy 65 elections since 1947 (in 71 years)
• Belgium has not had an elected government for 589 days 

Most other countries with PR are changing political direction on broken coalitions, resulting in constant political upheavals and uncertainty in the economy and in political policy – i.e. Germany on immigration.

First past the post has stood the test of time in Canada. We are a leading member of the G7, G20, world leaders in economic growth, financial stability, national security and the envy of every Third World country.

Most of the countries using PR emerged from the Second World War without the political stability shattered. They started with the hope of avoiding the dictatorships of Italy, Germany, Russia or Spain. Then, in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Eastern European countries with no history of democracy experimented, choosing various PR models as modern and safe from governments falling back into the hands of dictators. They simply had no experience with FPTP like Canada does.

This referendum smacks of gerrymandering.

PR has resulted in unstable governments, economic collapse, diminished personal wealth and emigration out of those jurisdictions to secure, safe, steady places like Canada, and yes B.C.

Vote yes to FPTP, and stop this nonsense.

Doug Waines, West Kelowna