BC's referendum

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Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00

Written by editor

On Friday, BC’s new NDP government kicked off a new session of the legislature with a Throne Speech that promised to deliver on many of their campaign promises, including holding a referendum on proportional representation in fall 2018.

This could be our chance. Winning electoral reform in BC would be a game changer. It would make this province the first place anywhere in Canada to switch to a proportional system, and help make reform politically possible in other places across the country.

Over the summer, we’ve been laying a foundation for the work to come over the next year, and preparing for the fall, when we’ll finally learn more about the timing, rules and format of the referendum.

Here’s a quick rundown of what we’ve been working on this summer:

Sending recommendations to the government for running a fair referendum
We know that how the referendum is designed could have a big impact on its outcome, so over the summer we focused on making recommendations to the BC government on referendum process. We surveyed the BC Leadnow community, talked to allies and experts, and delivered recommendations directly to the NDP and Green parties.

See a full list of our recommendations to government here.

Talking with allies so that we can build a strong movement for proportional representation
Winning this referendum is going to take all of us - so we’ve been in conversation with many allies to begin discussions about how we could work together to make sure we get proportional representation for BC.

Canvassing at farmers markets
Face to face conversations are a key component of engaging the public on electoral reform. Our Vancouver field team has already been out in the streets, talking to voters about the upcoming referendum and electoral reform, and starting to build the movement for proportional representation.

Setting up meetings with MLAs
We’ve already met with MLA Sonia Fursternau who is in charge of this file for the Green Party, and have a meeting set up with Attorney General David Eby, who is responsible for this file, to discuss our recommendations in more detail.

More will be revealed about referendum timing, format and rules when the new government introduces legislation in September to kick start the referendum process.[1-2]

In any case, rest assured we’ll be in touch with more information as soon as we have it. We’ll be asking the Leadnow community for input on a strategy to win the referendum and make electoral reform history in Canada.

We know you’re ready to campaign hard to get PR for BC - so stay tuned to find out how we’re going to work together to win this thing.

With thanks,

Rachel and Katelynn on behalf of the Leadnow team

Sources:

[1] B.C. NDP to form government, ending 16 years of Liberal rule (Globe and Mail): https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/confidence-vote-brings-down-bc-liberals/article35508261/

[2] Q & A with B.C.'s new attorney general David Eby (Vancouver Sun): http://vancouversun.com/news/politics/questions-and-answers-with-b-c-attorney-general-david-eby

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