News
Sept
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By
Peter
Ewart
The
ancients
had
a
belief
that,
if
the
stars
in
the
sky
came
together
in
a
particular
pattern,
the
times
would-be1
favourable
for
people
to
seize
the
initiative.
Well,
the
stars
have,
once
again,
come
into!
a
position
that
is
auspicious
for
voters
both
in
the
North
and
in
the
province
of
British
Columbia
as
a
whole
in
the
-
STRONG.
PROUD.
TODAY'S
CANADIAN
FORCES.
Canada
1800
856-8488
www.forces.gc.ca
area
of
electoral
reform.
In
The
Throne
Speech
on
September
12,
the
Liberal
government
announced
that
another
referendum
will
be
held
in
,2008
on
whether,
or
not
to
adopt
the
Single
Transferable
Vote'
electoral
system
(STV).
!
:
f
In
the
last
referendum
in
May
of
this
year,
voters
i
came
within
a
whisker
of
adopting
the
system
proposed
by
:
the
11
Nationa'
Defense
-
V
'KUf-
j
I"!
Defence
nationals!
"
'fsV
A
CAREER
ill
IKE
PRIDE
IN
Want
a
career
that's
more
than
just
a
job?
The
Canadian
Forces
offer
you:
.
a
wide
range
of
careers
in
professional
fields
and
technical
trades
specialized
training
subsidized
education
To
find
out
more
about
our
part-
and
full-time
career
opportunities,
visit
your
local
Canadian
Forces
recruiting
centre.
UNE
CARRIERE
DONT
IE
SERAI
HER
Une
carriers
dans
les
Forces
canadiennes,
c'est
plus
qu'un
simple
emploi.
Nousvousoffrons:
un
vaste
choix
de
carrieres
dans
des
domaines
professionneis
et
techniques
une
formation
specialises
une
aide
financiere
pour
vos
etudes
Pour
en
savoir
plus
sur
les
possibility
de
carrieres
a
temps
partial
ou
a
temps
plein,
rendez-vous
dans
un
centre
de
recrutement
des
Forces
canadiennes
pres
dechezvous.
OECOUVREZ
VOS
FORCES
DANS
LES
FORCES
CANADIENNES,
Citizens'
Assembly
despite
the
high
bar
that
had
been
rather
arbitrarily
set,
requiring
60
of
the
votes
for
approval.
In
that
referendum,
58
of
the
electorate
voted
for
STV,
along
with
77
of
the
79
rid-;
ings.
;
-
'
The
Citizens"
Assembly,
which
i
was
made
up
of
160
ran-V
domly
selected
voters
from
every
riding
in
the
province,
had
proposed
the
adoption
of.
STV
after
deliberating
on
various
electoral
models
for,
over
a
year.;
The
results
of
the
May
vote
clearly
showed
that
a
strong
majority
of
the
voters
were
willing
to
try
STV
and
that
there
was
a
deep
undercurrent
of
discontent
with
the
current
First
Past
The
Post
system
(FPTP).
Yet
an
impasse
had
been
reached.
Despite
the
strong
majority
for
STV,
it
could
not
be
adopted
because
of
the
high
margin
required
for
approval.
.-
In
this
situation,
the
government
had
a
number
of
choic-s
es,
most
of
them
unpalat-,
able.
It
could
have
let
the
issue
die,
but
this;
would
mean
that
voters
would
be
going
to
the
polls
in
2009
using
an
electoral
system
that
most
had
rejected.
It
could
have
instructed
the
Citizens'
Assembly
to
go
back
to
the
drawing
board
and
come
up
with
another
model.
But
this
would
have
invalidated
the,
entire
Citizens'
Assembly
pro-
cess
itself,
which
was
inde-
pendent
of
political
or
party
interference.
-
Likewise,
organizing
a.
referendum
on
the
Mixed
Member
,
Proportional
system,
which1,
some
suggested,
would
also
invalidate
the
Citizens'
Assembly
process
because
the
Citizens'
Assembly
had
rejected
MMP,
in
its
deliberations
by
a
wide
margin.
,'.'"
'
Finally,
it
could
have
simply
bulldozed
through
the
adoption
of
STV
through
a
vote
in
the
Legislature.
But
this
would
not
have
sat
well
with
many
in
Premier
Campbell's
own
caucus
and
would
have
violated
the
government's
own
rules
of
process
regarding
the
referendum.
So
what
has
been
laid
out
in
the
September
12
Throne
Speech
to
get
beyond
this
impasse?
First
of
all,
the
government
has
proposed
that,
given
the
circumstances,
-voters
should
have
another
chance
to
vote
on
the
issue;
but
this
time
funding
will
be
provided
for
both
the
"Yes"
and
"No"
sides
to
educate
voters.
In
the
May,
referendum,
virtually
no
money
was
set
aside
for
voter
education.
It
is
interesting
to
note
that,
despite
this
lack
of;
fund-;
ing,
the
Yes
to
STV
forces
;
mounted
a
strong
campaign
"that
gathered
broad
support
and
caught
the
party
insiders
and
pundits
(who
vehemently
opposed
STV)
off
guard.
In
any
case,
for
theupcoming
referendum,
more
funding
and
more
time
wilt
be
available
for
the
electorate
to
consider
the
two
electoral
systems.
Second
of
all,
the
government
has
proposed
that
an
Electoral
Boundaries
Commission
be
appointed
that
will
lay
out
what
the
provincial
electoral
map
will
look,
like
under,
the
,
existing
First
Past
the
Post
system
as
well
as
the
proposed
STV
system.
The
;
government
acknowledged
that
there
was
"a
design
,
flaw"
in
its
original
terms
of
reference
to
the
Citizens'
Assembly,
which
was
that
the
Assembly
was
;
not
assigned
the
task
of
showing
precisely
"how
the
proposed
STV
model
might
apply
on
an
electoral
map."
a
.
.'--.
.
V'
'."
1
-'
-''"'"
"-r
This
resulted
in
some
confusion
among
voters
'about
the
size
of
ridings
under
STV,
as
well
as
the
number
of
MLAs
in
each
particular
riding,
and
"may
have
impacted
how
people
voted
in
the
referendum."
-
Another
problem
with
the
original
terms
of
reference
was
that
the
Citizens'
Assembly
was
not
allowed
to
deliberate
on
how
many
MLAs
there
should
be
in
the
Legislature,
i.e.,
the
number
was
fixed
at
79.
In
the
Throne
Speech,
an
amendment
has
been
made
that
will
allow
the
Electoral
Boundaries
"
Commission
"
to
'
increase
the
number
of
MLAs
up
to
85
members,
if
nee-
essary
"to
protect
,
northern
residents".
In
the
May
refer-'
endum,
this
was
a
big
issue
for
Northerners,
who
though
FfNEE
POM
.
-.
i?
:j
',-
-.
-r.
.
-
-
---:
-
r
m
j
-
.j
-
they
favoured
STV,
were
(
cerned
that
their
repres
tion
could
be
diluted
Legislature
with
the
expa
riding
boundaries.
In
the
Throne
speech,
was
an
interesting
se
that
received
little
press
tion,
but
is
quite,
signifies
In
the
speech,
the
goyi
ment
says
that
"it
doesl
accept
that
the
79
mems
of
the
Legislature
are
better
qualified
than
theJ
members
of
the
Citiza
Assembly
were"
to
the
best
:
electoral
mo
In
essence,
this
means
I
the
Citizens'
Assembly
cess
-
ordinary
voters
i
the
rules
for
the
politic
rather
than
politicians
ing
the
rules
for
thems
-
continues
;
to
be
valid
by
the
Legislature.
Witt
formation
of
the
Assembly,
a
precedent
been
established
on
conduct
electoral
refon
way
that
gives
voters
control
over
the
proce
the
future,
governmen
political
parties
will
igno
precedent
at
their
own
The
2008
referendum!
allows
voters
througho
province
to
put
aside
pa
differences
and
become
informed
and
engaged
i
the
pros
and
cons
of
STV
and
the
existing
toral
system.
We
should
advantage
of
this
opp
nity.
The
stars
may
not!
favourably
configured
long
time
to
come.
Peter
Ewart
is
an
instruc
CNC,
community
activis
.writer.
The
preceding
was
previously
publis
Opinion250,
a
website
I
in
Northern
British
Colu
that
can
be
fourid
at
'
opinion250.com.