Write a Letter to the Editor About Proportional Representation

It’s starting already. The ‘No’ side in the upcoming referendum on proportional representation is starting to roll out a campaign to sabotage our chances of winning.

They’re publishing opinion pieces in BC’s biggest newspapers and reaching thousands of BC voters with a misleading social media campaign -- hoping to turn voters against electoral reform before pro-PR campaigns have time to get off the ground.[1, 2, 3]

Unless we counter the misleading messages from the ‘No’ side now, we could lose this referendum before it even starts. A steady stream of letters in support of PR in local newspapers around the province will help to push back and ensure a balance of coverage on this issue. 

Will you write a letter to your local newspaper in support of PR today?  Enter your info to get started, and use our talking points to help you with your letter. 

Remember: Engaging, personal letters are more likely to get published, so remember to write from the heart and talk about why this matters to you. 

Talking points:
  • Proportional representation is fair. BC has a history of incredibly unfair election results, with parties often winning far more seats than they deserve. PR would mean that seat count more closely matches popular vote, and will ensure that fewer votes are wasted and the diverse views of British Columbians are better represented. 
  • PR will enable more diversity in our legislatures. Evidence shows that countries with PR elect more women.
  • PR will ensure more collaboration between political parties - which will ensure more representative policy and less divisiveness. 
Myths you can bust in your letter:

Myth #1: Our current voting system is just fine as is

BC has a long history of extremely skewed electoral results.
  • In 1999, there was a ‘wrong winner’ election - the BC NDP won a majority of the seats despite getting less of the popular vote than the BC Liberals. 
  • In 2001, the BC Liberals won 97% (77/79) seats in the legislature despite only winning 57% of the vote. 
  • The BC Liberals went on to win every election until 2017, each time winning massive majority governments with less than half the popular vote. 
The result of this has been 16 years of the same political party running the province, with little to no need to compromise with other political parties. 

Myth #2: Proportional representation is uncommon.
Over 90 countries around the world use a proportional voting system, including 85% of OECD countries such as Germany, New Zealand, Sweden, and Denmark. [1] In fact, among the Top 10 countries in the Economist’s Intelligence Unit rankings, eight have built proportionality into their voting systems for their main legislative chambers.

Myth #3: PR would mean that we won’t have local representation
No one is seriously considering a system for BC that doesn’t involve local representation. Three possible options for systems include Mixed-Member Proportional, Single Transferable Vote and Rural-Urban PR, which all involve local districts.

Myth #4: PR would lead to instability - just look at Italy and Israel!
Research shows the countries using proportional systems have elections no more frequently than Canada. Since 1945, the average amount of time between elections in Canada has been 3.2 years. Compare that to countries with PR (Germany - 3.56 years, Israel, 3.35 years, and Sweden, 3.43 years) and you see there’s not much difference. 

Many politically stable and economically strong countries such as Germany, Sweden and New Zealand use a type of PR. PR would likely mean more coalition governments, which gives politicians an incentive to work together and cooperate.

PR would require parties to cooperate ‘up front’, ensuring policy that sticks over the long term. 

Extra sources: