B.C. Push for PR Indication of Demand for Reform
August 13, 2002
FAIR VOTE CANADA: NEWS RELEASE
August 13, 2002
Contact: Larry Gordon 416-410-4034
B.C. PUSH FOR PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION ANOTHER INDICATION OF GROWING NATIONAL DEMAND FOR REFORM
The nearly 100,000 signatures presented on August 12 to Elections B.C. by the Free Your Vote campaign are just the latest example of increasing nationwide demands for voting system reform, according to Doris Anderson, President of Fair Vote Canada.
"The only questions at this time are which province will be the first in Canada to introduce some type of proportional voting system," said Anderson, "and how soon we will have a national referendum to change the federal voting system."
The Free Your Vote campaign in B.C. was attempting to force an immediate provincial referendum on proportional representation. Under the B.C. referendum initiative legislation, more than 212,000 signatures, including ten per cent of all registered voters in each constituency, were needed by August 12.
"Even though these requirements for initiating a referendum make it nearly impossible," said Larry Gordon, executive director of Fair Vote Canada, "the Free Your Vote campaign sent a strong message to the B.C. government. People will now be expecting the Campbell government to move quickly on their pledge to convene a citizens' assembly on electoral reform."
Both Anderson and Gordon say recent developments in B.C. are indications of a growing public demand for democratic reform. Similar citizens' campaigns for provincial voting system reform are currently underway in Quebec and Prince Edward Island. This fall, Fair Vote Ontario and Fair Vote Manitoba campaigns will be announced. In addition, Fair Vote Canada will be launching a petition drive calling for a national referendum process, similar to that used in New Zealand in 1993.
Fair Vote Canada was formed in April 2001 to organize a national citizens' campaign for voting system reform. Chapters have been organized in five cities and the campaign has been endorsed by groups as diverse as the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and the Canadian Labour Congress. The FVC National Advisory Board includes 29 prominent Canadians from various backgrounds and political perspectives, including notables such as Pierre Berton, Ed Broadbent, Hugh Segal, Claude Ryan, Karen Kain, Maude Barlow, Walter Robinson, Judy Rebick, Lincoln Alexander and current and former MPs from the Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, Alliance and NDP.
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