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A political scientist is questioning the B.C. opposition leader’s reasoning against electoral reform.

“The key issue with [proportional representation] is that you lose the ability to directly elect your MLA,” said newly elected BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson , speaking on CKNW’s The Jill Bennett Show.

LISTEN: Andrew Wilkinson’s stance against electoral reform in B.C. ‘a bad argument,’ says political scientist

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“Those rural areas will lose their direct representation. They will not know who to call.”

But Simon Fraser University’s David Moscrop says he’s not buying it.

LISTEN: Newly elected BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson speaks with host Jill Bennett

“It’s a bad argument to say having a single representative is essential because it connects the constituent to the legislature… I mean that relationship is forgotten so many times along the road that it almost becomes meaningless,” said Moscrop.

Moscrop says even with proportional representation, voters will still have a representative to reach out to.

He also says he thinks the party is being lazy, considering it used a preferential voting system in its leadership race, and that the Liberals are trying to protect their base.

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Wilkinson has also said of electoral reform that the mail-in vote is likely to produce a lower turnout, the 50 per cent-plus-one needed for approval will allow Metro Vancouver to outvote rural areas.

The provincial government is holding public consultation on electoral reform in advance of a referendum this fall.