With respect to the referendum on changing the voting system in B.C. to a version of Proportional Representation or of retaining First Past the Post, the main force rejecting PR has been desperately spending millions of dollars on fear mongering advertisements.
Their reason for this is that there is a desperation to retain the system that has allowed major parties (particularly the Liberals) to continue having 100 per cent of the power with less than 50 per cent of the vote. There are vested interests in the private sector that are only interested in lobbying the parties in power for their own financial benefits regardless of what we the B.C. voting public want.
Furthermore, they are willing to fork out millions of dollars in false advertising to promote fear among B.C. voters to prevent them from voting for proportional representation. We’ve seen it in the news – old school politicians and their lobbyist and big donor friends for one example are saying proportional representation threatens our democracy. We know very well that the opposite is true. We see this in the recent election in Ontario and what’s transpired in the United States by following the FPTP voting system.
They are operating on the very principle the Nazis used for spreading lies. They know if you do it long enough and forcefully enough eventually people begin to believe it.
This is an insidious way of promoting ones cause and not one we should be promoting in a democratic country.
William Trotter
Victoria
