There was a time when the right side of the spectrum had some of the strongest supporters for electoral reform. People like Saanich Gulf Islands MP Gary Lunn and former Reform party leader Preston Manning supported BCSTV both in 2005 a 2009.
The people behind this leaflet want strong stable Conservative governments which is the most honest expression of opposition to electoral reform that I have seen. There are people within the NDP in BC that took much a similar view in 2005 and 2009 in their opposition to electoral reform. The people in politics that want power for their partisan view like an electoral system that makes it easier to gain all the power. Few people in politics are willing to surrender power in return for a fairer system.
More and more the Conservatives feel like a embattled minority defending their political space with everything possible. This leaflet fits with the actions in parliament by the government to hold on to all power for themselves.
I dislike the representation of equality of ridings versus proportional representation. Proportional representation is possible with equality of ridings, the two are not mutually exclusive. STV keeps the riding equality the same as now, not that we have equality at the moment.
When these people call for equality of ridings, they are defacto calling for all ridings in the country to have the same populations. This means reducing the number of seats in some provinces like PEI to one or two, in New Brunswick to seven, or in Saskatchewan to 11. The inequity of the current ridings in Canada means the only proportional representation system that could be realistically be implemented is STV.
I have little or no faith that if the NDP become government after 2015 they will make any great strides to improve things. If the Liberals were through some miracle to win government I am 100% the party would do nothing to improve the status quo.
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