A kinder, gentler future

Our electoral reform referendum – how will you decide? 

I will make my decision based on the straight goods, not on opinion, conjecture or fear-mongering from those who have benefited and will continue to benefit from our current voting system. I will validate such statements with experts on electoral reform, and research. 

More importantly, I will make my decision based on values. I will vote for a system that supports and reinforces fairness, diversity, inclusivity, respect and compromise. 

Arend Lijphart, a world-renowned political scientist, spent his career studying various features of democratic life in first-past-the-post (majoritarian) democracies like ours, and proportional representation democracies, which he called “consensual.”

In his landmark study (2012), he compared 36 democracies over 55 years. He found that countries using proportional representation were “kinder, gentler democracies.” He also found that the majoritarian model of democracy was exclusive, competitive and adversarial, whereas the consensus model was characterized by inclusiveness, bargaining and compromise. 

We are witnessing the demise of our civil society, and our ability to listen, to discuss and to compromise with those with whom we disagree. I am concerned that this threatens our democracy. 

Ultimately, our current voting system, and any of the three proposed proportional systems tell us different stories about ourselves. One is a story of divisiveness, of polarization, of competition, and disdain for those who disagree with us. The other is a story of co-operation, of finding middle ground, of listening to and respecting each others' ideas.

The real referendum question is which story we as British Colombians, as Canadians, choose.

Sue Young, Vernon