However Squamish residents vote in the current referendum, they should ask themselves, ‘What would I do if I weren’t afraid?’
Humans are funny creatures, especially when it comes to making political choices such as how to vote in our current referendum.
When voting, often supporters of one political view or another primarily use emotion to guide their beliefs rather than reason, according to a 2006 Emory University study.
In our context, this means many may let fear or other emotions determine how they vote on the electoral reform mail-in ballot.
Fear has been raised by the “No to PR” side who argue that if the province votes in favour of proportional representation, then suddenly extremists will take up seats in our government. That fear is not founded on reason. The election of those with extreme views happens in our first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system, after all — just look east or south to see it playing out in technicolour.
Whatever the result of our upcoming referendum, there is nothing to fear, but there is perhaps something to gain.
In the 2017 provincial election, MLA Jordan Sturdy won with less than 43 per cent of the votes cast. Fifty-six per cent of the voters in our riding picked someone else, in other words. This isn’t to disparage Sturdy or the work he does. He has likely pleased his supporters, but the truth is, most who cast ballots in the Sea to Sky Corridor aren’t represented by the politician they wanted.
Given this disparity, it shouldn’t be a surprise that many eligible voters decide not to vote at all. That is the fact of our current system, and it doesn’t make for a healthy democracy. In 2017, in our riding and B.C., voter turnout was about 60 per cent — and that was seen as not bad. (A little less than half of the registered voters cast ballots in our recent muni election.) But, imagine a classroom of 10 kids where consistently, at least four don’t show up? Would that be considered an excellent educational system? Not likely.
“The more representative the political system, the more citizens will take part in the political process to change it in their favour,” wrote Vicki Birchfield; and Markus M.L. Crepaz in their study published in the European Journal of Political Research.
“Such consensual political institutions make the government more responsive to the demands of a wider range of citizens.”
The best for all citizens of Squamish and B.C. is to vote for whichever form of proportional representation they prefer.
And for those still nervous about voting for change, if the new electoral system isn’t to the liking of the majority, there is a safety valve built into the current plan — there will be another referendum two years after it is installed.
So, there’s nothing to fear.
Referendum ballots have to be in by Nov. 30. Go to elections.bc.ca/referendum/ for more information.
