Re: “B.C. could be Canadian leader on electoral reform,” comment, Oct. 21.

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The recent government announcement to ask B.C. voters again about electoral reform is an opportunity for all who care about creating and sustaining a successful, truly democratic society.

We must remember the past debacles of our first-past-the-post electoral system. In 1996, the NDP finished second but won a majority government. In the next election, the B.C. Liberals got 57 per cent of the vote but almost 100 per cent of the seats. That’s not democracy and in today’s pluralistic society, all sides need to be heard. Only a system of proportional representation will do this and there are many PR variations, of which a custom-tailored B.C. version will work to remedy the glaring democratic deficiencies of the outdated first-past-the-post system.

Public education was clearly missing before. Even now, few understand our existing electoral process. It is everyone’s responsibility to learn about this in the coming year and to consider if they want a repeat of history and more skewed election results in the future. The government initiative needs to include a vigorous campaign to engage and inform all voters, but we must do our part, too.

In the world of fake news, we must all be vigilant for misinformation or misdirection by self-serving interests who desperately want to keep a flawed system that serves them — for the very reason that it fails to represent all voters. There will be many vocal opponents of any change.

Mark Jeffers

Victoria