Ep. 217: Reasons for Saying Yes to Proportional Representation

Guest: Maria Dobrinskaya, Vote PR BC

First Past the Post has been the way we elect governments in Canada from the day we started running elections.

It’s the only democratic part of government we have nationally and provincially. From there on, the party that garnered the most seats wins all of the power.

That’s where democracy ends. From that point onward, neither you nor your elected representative has any real power in government. The power rests solely in the hands of the prime minister nationally and premiers provincially. If they want to pass a bill, it will get passed because their party members are obligated to support the bill.

As an MLA or MP, the best you can do is take the concerns of your constituents to the leader. If the leader is set on their agenda, the MLA can not vote against the bill without consequences.

Maria Dobrinskaya is campaigning to encourage you to vote in favour in the provincial referendum on proportional representation. She points to the inaccurate way First Past the Post represents voters. “Why should a party that gets 40% of the vote get 100% of the power?” Dobrinskaya asks.

We invited Maria Dobrinskaya to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the case for changing how we vote to one of proportional representation.