Editor,

MLA Jackie Tegart’s opinion piece (Merritt Herald, Nov. 1, 2017) concerning proportional representation (PR) misrepresents the facts. She believes it’s not a good idea to give every B.C. citizen a voice in government. She would rather we stick with the anti-democratic first past the post system (FPTP). FPTP was fine when there were only two parties to choose from. Now Canadians have a choice of several different parties, so FPTP has outlived its relevance.

Typically governments in Canada are elected with much less than 50 per cent of the vote. This means the majority of people who vote are not represented in the legislature. Furthermore, the issue of unheard voices is much more complex than simply rural vs. urban, or right-wing vs. left-wing. Many sub-groups are under-represented, these include women, First Nations, seniors, the homeless, the working poor, and young people to name a few. It’s time to give the majority of people in B.C. a voice in government regardless of who they are, where they live, their economic situation, or who they voted for in the past.

Ms. Tegart has cherry-picked two instances where PR was awkward, but history shows it works well in countries that have it — more importantly, their citizens feel their vote counts regardless of who wins, and as a result, these countries have higher voter turn-out, which is good for democracy. This is not the case in Canada. Today many eligible voters simply have given up hope and don’t vote. We need a better system that gives voice to the majority instead of the minority and encourages participation. That is the true hallmark of democracy.

Loch Eddy

Merritt