Opinion

Was the discovery of supremacy posters a sign for things to come?

Everybody poops; a universal human reality.

Did you know that democracies that use a proportional system of representation have higher surpluses and lower levels of government debt than First Past the Post governments? How about that Pro Rep democracies have higher voter turnout and elect representatives that better reflect the cultural and gender diversity of their populations?

In a letter Nov 16 , the writer describes a study by the Fraser Institute which showed lower average government spending as a percent of GDP in countries with first past the post systems compared with countries with proportional representation . The specific study was not referenced, making review by others difficult, if not impossible. Furthermore, government spending as a single indicator does not provide a complete picture of overall government effectiveness.

Some people don’t walk their world with precision. How to keep our feet of the ground? When it comes to paying the bills in many cases, we just have to get our hands dirty and stop depending on taxpayers handouts.

Proportional representation means improved local representation

During the electoral referendum in B.C. , there is a very heavily funded campaign funded by big business and largely by the B.C. liberals to scare citizens into voting against changing from First Past the Post, our current system, to Proportional Representation. The tactics being used are patronizing to citizens, constantly trying to convince us that we are incapable of understanding how Pro Rep works.

We’ve been hearing the pros and cons of proportional representation for a few weeks now. Although it may seem confusing to some, it really boils down to one thing – do you want your vote to count?

In light of Coun. Ben Isitt stating that the city “made a fundamental error” regarding the site selection process for the new Crystal Pool, and that the new pool project is a “pig” that council is trying to put lipstick on by linking it to another project near Royal Athletic Park, it may be an appropriate time to think of a new name for the 69.4 million dollar pool facility.

When the idea of proportional representation was first proposed I thought it appealing and with some merit. Since then, and given the present proposal, I have completely reversed my opinion for several compelling reasons. I list three of them here.