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Premier Wade MacLauchlan

Friday, Premier Wade MacLauchlan presented a motion in the legislature that promised two clear options for Islanders to consider on the referendum ballot.

One will be Mixed Member Proportional Representation (MMP), the clear winner in the recent plebiscite. The second one is undetermined and will be decided by the legislature.

Odds heavily favour First-Past-the-Post (FPTP) as the second option. FPTP was the runner-up in the plebiscite and has always been the premier’s favourite.

Proportional Representation (PR) will face a tough battle in the referendum where the attention of voters will be distracted by what party, what MLA or what leader to support. A referendum ballot might get short shrift, and with pro-FPTP party machinery bringing out the vote, the Coalition for Proportional Representation has another major task ahead.

Friday’s motion clarified several things.

Since the premier tabled the motion, the other 16 Liberal MLAs will assuredly support whatever the final option might be. Any change in the current electoral system will be delayed until at least the 2023 provincial election. By that time, the premier and many members of the current legislature could be retired or defeated, and won’t have to deal with long overdue electoral reform.

The motion rejects a democratic vote by Islanders who selected MMP in the plebiscite. No matter how eloquently or forcefully the premier might argue on the floor of the legislature, the motion denies the democratic will of Islanders.

The motion also proves that the plebiscite was nothing more than a very expensive public opinion poll for the Liberal government to assess Islanders’ appetite for change.

It appears the government never had any intention of accepting a plebiscite result it didn’t agree with. What happened over the past 16 months - the White Paper, the all-party committee, the public meetings, the debates, the campaign and the election - were

rendered irrelevant, despite the premier’s argument Friday that, “ . . . we wouldn’t have gotten this far without the plebiscite.”

The premier cautions that such historical change can’t be rushed but we are not breaking new ground. PR is used in over 90 democratic countries around the word. What is so revolutionary?

The premier was also unfair with an attack on Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker, slamming his earlier comments about Liberal filibustering and cowardice for not honouring the plebiscite. No, Mr. Premier, the Green leader was not intemperate and did not display bad manners. He was doing his job by criticizing an injustice and pointing out the obvious – that Islanders expect the plebiscite vote to be honoured and that PR should not delayed another seven years.

If all we had since July 2015 was an expensive and time consuming party public opinion poll, then the bill for the plebiscite should be handed over the Liberal Party and let it pay back the $750,000 to help ease the financial burden and frustration that taxpayers have experienced over the past 16 months.

Friday, Premier Wade MacLauchlan presented a motion in the legislature that promised two clear options for Islanders to consider on the referendum ballot.

One will be Mixed Member Proportional Representation (MMP), the clear winner in the recent plebiscite. The second one is undetermined and will be decided by the legislature.

Odds heavily favour First-Past-the-Post (FPTP) as the second option. FPTP was the runner-up in the plebiscite and has always been the premier’s favourite.

Proportional Representation (PR) will face a tough battle in the referendum where the attention of voters will be distracted by what party, what MLA or what leader to support. A referendum ballot might get short shrift, and with pro-FPTP party machinery bringing out the vote, the Coalition for Proportional Representation has another major task ahead.

Friday’s motion clarified several things.

Since the premier tabled the motion, the other 16 Liberal MLAs will assuredly support whatever the final option might be. Any change in the current electoral system will be delayed until at least the 2023 provincial election. By that time, the premier and many members of the current legislature could be retired or defeated, and won’t have to deal with long overdue electoral reform.

The motion rejects a democratic vote by Islanders who selected MMP in the plebiscite. No matter how eloquently or forcefully the premier might argue on the floor of the legislature, the motion denies the democratic will of Islanders.

The motion also proves that the plebiscite was nothing more than a very expensive public opinion poll for the Liberal government to assess Islanders’ appetite for change.

It appears the government never had any intention of accepting a plebiscite result it didn’t agree with. What happened over the past 16 months - the White Paper, the all-party committee, the public meetings, the debates, the campaign and the election - were

rendered irrelevant, despite the premier’s argument Friday that, “ . . . we wouldn’t have gotten this far without the plebiscite.”

The premier cautions that such historical change can’t be rushed but we are not breaking new ground. PR is used in over 90 democratic countries around the word. What is so revolutionary?

The premier was also unfair with an attack on Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker, slamming his earlier comments about Liberal filibustering and cowardice for not honouring the plebiscite. No, Mr. Premier, the Green leader was not intemperate and did not display bad manners. He was doing his job by criticizing an injustice and pointing out the obvious – that Islanders expect the plebiscite vote to be honoured and that PR should not delayed another seven years.

If all we had since July 2015 was an expensive and time consuming party public opinion poll, then the bill for the plebiscite should be handed over the Liberal Party and let it pay back the $750,000 to help ease the financial burden and frustration that taxpayers have experienced over the past 16 months.