Chilliwack/Bridal Falls – On Friday afternoon, as many people were heading out of town for the Long Weekend, or stating their back to school shopping, a new political organization sprung up in Bridal Falls.
No Pro-Rep Fraser Valley East organized by a handful of people including spokesperson Deb McPherson, wants to bring awareness to the idea of Proportional Representation. That would replace the long standing first-to-the-post election counting procedure.
Fair Vote Canada explains: PR voting system elects several representatives at once for a given geographic region so that most voters in that region have a voice in Parliament. However, this also means that your vote may be transferred to someone that you didn’t want to vote for.
The BC referendum on electoral reform will take place by postal ballot between October 22 and November 30.
No Pro-Rep Fraser Valley East wants to stop this movement in its tracks. This mission statement from their Facebook page is We believe in first past the post. That means we believe in stronger economies, stable governments, and an electoral system that works for all BC residents.
There will be three concepts presented to voters with the argument that this works in Europe or the Middle East. Although Prop-Rep does have the critics howling that all this does is constantly creates minority governments and does not produce any stability for the electorate.
Some 30 people showed up for this initial meeting.
As for local high profile politicians, Chilliwack MLA John Martin was there as well as Harrison Mayor Leo Facio. Also in attendance, Chilliwack-Hope MLA Laurie Throness who posted to Twitter:
No Pro-Rep Fraser Valley East group has officially registered and launched to fight proportional representation in the Valley – like and share their Facebook site! pic.twitter.com/OuzlZTE0XI
— Laurie Throness (@LaurieThroness) September 1, 2018
The detailed report on Prop Rep from the province can be found here.