How do you like minority government so far? We have a range war with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ottawa over our NDP governmentB次元官网网址檚 theory that it can rewrite the Canadian constitution.
We have record-high gasoline prices, fuelled by an early increase in the carbon tax insisted on by the three-member B.C. Green Party.
And weB次元官网网址檝e got a Green leader who throws tantrums, floats empty threats to bring down the NDP government he put into power, and tries to use most of his time in the legislature to attack the opposition.
If you like that, great, because Premier John Horgan is doing everything he can to make sure fringe parties are elevated permanently, through some formula of proportional representation that wonB次元官网网址檛 be disclosed until a month or so before a mail-in ballot this fall.
Press gallery reporters got one of our brief opportunities to question the premier before the legislature took a break last week. Horgan assured us that while the public will be told nothing until the fall, theyB次元官网网址檒l have more than enough information to answer the still-secret question (or questions) before the November deadline to mail in ballots.
B次元官网网址淲e are months and months away,B次元官网网址� Horgan said. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 fairly certain there wonB次元官网网址檛 be too many summer barbecues where the topic of conversation is proportional representation.B次元官网网址�
HeB次元官网网址檚 made sure of that by keeping the preparations and the ballot question in the hands of Attorney General David Eby and his political staff. ThereB次元官网网址檚 nothing to discuss yet.
For his part, Eby is so enthusiastic about the response to his slanted online survey on the subject that he can hardly stand it. He hasnB次元官网网址檛 said anything about the results or the distribution of responses. TheyB次元官网网址檙e still processing the B次元官网网址渕etadataB次元官网网址� and stuff. But by golly, more than 88,000 people self-selected to respond to the survey, and thatB次元官网网址檚 the biggest consultation ever!
Indeed, 88,000 people is slightly more than the population of Chilliwack. Heck, itB次元官网网址檚 enough people to vote in the referendum to reshape the voting system, since there is no minimum turnout this time.
HereB次元官网网址檚 what the NDPB次元官网网址檚 2017 election platform said: B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檒l hold a referendum on changing our voting system so that every vote counts. WeB次元官网网址檒l ensure B.C.B次元官网网址檚 regions are all represented fairly. And weB次元官网网址檒l campaign for the yes side.B次元官网网址�
I guess they could now argue that two out of three ainB次元官网网址檛 bad. The B次元官网网址渞egionsB次元官网网址� are intentionally not represented fairly, as they were in two previous referendums. This time urban B.C. will decide the outcome, because that favours the NDP and Greens.
The B.C. Liberal opposition pressed the NDP government in the legislature in late April, and after Eby did most of the deflecting in a raucous question period, Horgan rose to mock the oppositionB次元官网网址檚 objections.
B次元官网网址淗ow outrageous of us to join with the Green Party, who also campaigned on that commitment, to make sure that we get proportional representation in this house,B次元官网网址� Horgan said. B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 what we campaigned on; thatB次元官网网址檚 what weB次元官网网址檙e going to deliver.B次元官网网址�
So the fix is in, officially.
The governmentB次元官网网址檚 going to fund a yes and no side, after barbecue season of course. But there are already two B次元官网网址測esB次元官网网址� campaigns. One, VotePRBC, is fundraising. The other, YesPRBC, doesnB次元官网网址檛 seem worried about money, almost as if it expects public funding.
Its directors include retired NDP MP Jean Crowder, a failed Family Coalition Party and B.C. Unity Party candidate, a failed Green candidate, and a former Green leader who resigned from the party in 2000. Oh, and a vice-president of the B.C. Government Employees Union.
Happy barbecuing.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
Like us on and follow us on .
