FVAlta: New Brunswick commission recommends electoral reform (19 Jan 2005)
January 19, 2005
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
New Brunswick commission recommends electoral reform
Mixed member proportional representation system advocated for New Brunswick
Edmonton - "The New Brunswick Commission on Legislative Democracy's recommendation for a new mixed member proportional representation (MMP) system is another victory in the nation wide move to fairer voting systems," said Helene Narayana spokesperson for Fair Vote Alberta. "Across Canada, governments are seeking to address the democratic deficits in their provinces. Fair Vote Alberta renews its call for the Government of Alberta to initiate a Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform."
British Columbians will vote on a binding referendum in the May 17th provincial election on whether to change their electoral system to the single transferable vote (STV). Quebec is drafting a bill for a proportional representation voting system and Prince Edward Island has announced a plebiscite in November of this year on whether to adopt the MMP system. Ontario announced in November 2004 that it will initiate a citizens' assembly on electoral reform.
"There can be no more deeply democratic exercise than citizens determining what is the best voting system for their province," said Narayana. "MLAs are elected by the current voting system and have a built in bias to the system that got them elected. Why would they change a system that works for them?
The Citizens' Assembly would assess all possible models for electing the members of the Legislative Assembly. If it recommends changes to the electoral system, that option would be put to a province-wide referendum."
The New Brunswick Commission recommended 36 single-member riding seats and 20 list PR seats elected within four approximately equal size multi-member regional districts. The 36 single member riding seats would continue to be elected by first-past-the-post voting. Voters in each of the four multi-member regional districts would also elect five MLAs from closed party lists on the basis of the party vote received within the region. Parties would be required to reach a minimum five per cent threshold in the separate party vote on a province-wide basis in order to be eligible to win any list PR seats.
Fair Vote Alberta is a campaign of Fair Vote Canada. It is comprised of voters from all parties, all points of view and all walks of life. We are helping Albertans learn about the problems with our voting system and the availability of better alternatives.