BC-STV and the Indo-Canadian vote
Posted by: Frédéric Van Caenegem in British Columbia, Issues & politics, tags: BC, BC-STV, Indo-Canadian, Punjabi, referendum, STVBC-STV and the Indo-Canadian vote
My first of three short articles regarding BC-STV Before the referendum on May 6th.
This article is about electioneering, a discipline that is absolutely despicable but also unfortunately very efficient!
There is a general negative attitude towards BC-STV in the Indo-Canadian community. The reason comes from an association of the BC-STV voting system to the voting system (Block voting) used at the municipal level. While both systems are at-large electoral systems, any similarities between them just stop here. In and all other aspects they completely differ. These two graphics (BC-STV, Block Voting) – thanks Bruce for the illustrations – perfectly illustrates this aspect. BC-STV is a system designed to but forward minorities, Block voting used at the municipal level is designed to silence them!
The crucial difference between those systems comes from the fact that under BC-STV, we rank candidates. If someone wants an Indo-Canadian elected, they can rank Indo-Canadian candidates, among different parties, as their first choices, this process is explained here. Therefore the Indo-Canadians “voter-rich concentration” (the fact that Indo-Canadians tend to be very numerous in certain neighbourhoods) would work very well in BC-STV! I actually believe it would even be better under BC-STV than under the current FPTP system!
So my message to everyone (including the very important Indo-Canadian community) is to study and look closely at the proposed systems and make your mind according to your values whatever it might be, but do not let false perceptions blur your judgement.
If you are more at-ease in Punjabi, there is a brief explanation of the referendum here and also a translation of the Citizens’ Assembly final report here.
Frédéric Van Caenegem
In a few days: STV vs MMP!
Entries (RSS)
