British Columbians are set to go to the polls on May 12th (a fixed election date). In less than 30 days, citizens of this province will have a rare opportunity not only in deciding on which parties and candidates to support in the general election, but also in deciding on structural change to the electoral system. They will be voting in a referendum to decide whether to get rid of the current First Past the Post system (FPTP) and replace it with something called BC-STV.

Why should this matter to the rest of Canada and particularly to members of the CHP? Ever since its inception, the CHP has advocated a form of proportional representation (MMP—Mixed Member Proportional Representation) to replace the existing system (FPTP). We have done this to promote a better way of representing the varied interests and beliefs in a pluralistic society, not just to advance the interests of smaller parties.

For the second election in a row, BC voters have the chance to vote on this. The first time, the proposal which was arrived at by a Citizens' Assembly, was approved by 58% of the electorate, 2% shy of the target set by the government. This was considered too close and hence the reason it's on the ballot once more this time.

How does STV work? Briefly, STV stands for single transferable vote and means that each voter gets one vote to cast for the candidate and party of their choice. You can rank the candidates on the ballot by marking your choices with 1, 2, 3. According to the STV website, "STV allows voters to 'spend' their vote efficiently. If our first choice is least popular and is eliminated, our vote goes to our next choice. If less than our whole vote is needed, then we get 'change' to spend on our next choice." The bottom line is that everyone's vote counts more than under a 'winner takes all' system such as FPTP.

This system (as well as MMP) would get rid of the politics is war mentality that mostly prevails in our political culture and instead require politicians and parties to be more respectful of other opinions and beliefs. It would require the building of bridges rather than moats across which to lobby shots at the opponents. It would create a climate in which the diversity of views within a society such as ours could be more easily represented and would make people less cynical about politics.

How would this benefit supporters of the CHP? If it can be shown that a different electoral system can work in one part of the country, then the chances of it being embraced in other parts (such as Ontario where there has also been discussion on this topic recently) is that much greater. Eventually, it would set the stage for change on the national scene. Members of our party have worked for years with organizations such as Fair Vote Canada to promote changes to our electoral system. For the health of our democratic system and the benefit of all Canadians, lets hope that change will indeed come about on May 12th and that it may signal the beginning of a national debate. As Nick Loenen, a former member of the BC Legislature and co-founder of Fair Voting BC has said, " … the Christian community in BC has a rare opportunity to help redeem politics." Let's encourage CHP members to be a part of that.