As many students may be aware, BC will be holding a referendum this fall on changing the electoral system. The system currently in use, first past the post, while simple, is outdated and highly unreflective of the overall choice voters make. In a single riding today, a candidate simply needs to receive the most votes—not a majority of votes—in order to win. This usually leads to most voters wanting someone else, but this is only part of the problem.
Across the entire province is where the disproportionality is really felt. A party often wins a majority government with less than a majority of the vote. For example, from 1952 to 2017, BC had no minority governments. This means that cooperation and collaboration amongst parties is not required to pass legislation, and means that only the interests of a select group get to make decisions for everyone.
And this group is never students. Students simply don’t have the money, political participation, or concentrated numbers to matter under the current system. When elections come down to only a few ridings flipping between parties by slim margins, and with so few voices being represented in the legislature, there is no wonder that students are often disengaged and apathetic about politics.
Students are geographically dispersed, but strongholds for either party are not. Students in the Okanagan will not be represented by the NDP, and students on Vancouver Island won’t be represented by the Liberals. First past the post distills cynicism. Student matters do not carry the weight, in most places, to determine the outcome. We mostly have safe seats and a robust two-party system. Student issues are drowned out at the polls, and ignored because they aren’t crucial to any party winning. Yet, we are the future.
This is why we need to spread the word and do all we can to make BC the first province to abandon our old-fashioned system for a modern one used in most western countries. A system that makes every vote count, everywhere.
So please, I encourage you all to do some research, tell your friends, get involved if you can, and, most importantly, to vote.