David Suzuki, arguably the most widely respected intellectual in Canada and a world-recognized authority on sustainability, is vehemently in favour of BC’s proposed Single Transferable Vote. He’s studied it. He understands it. It makes sense to him. Here’s a few interesting facts on the subject that will surprise you.
It’s been in use in Australia for ninety years. It’s the basis of political power in Ireland.
It works.
My post on the subject is here.
Here’s another non-partisan argument. My only complaint is that the authors seem inclined to believe the Liberals are going to win this provincial election because big business wants it that way. They aren’t wrong that big business loves the Liberals, but I don’t think the Liberals are going to win. I think too many people out there are tired of being ignored and are finally willing to take it to the polls.
The authors offer these links: an easy to follow animated explanation of BC-STV and PositiveEffect.ca, self described as, “A group of artists, designers, writers, organizers, event promoters and other concerned BC residents that are shocked at how little promotion the referendum has received in terms of media and comprehensive public education. Instead of being disempowered, we have formed a collective and are using our creative skills, energy and resources to help spread the word. We are a campaign collective whose aim is to create a sustainable BC.”
Works for me.
The bottom line is that pretty much anyone who takes the time to get educated about BC-STV is going to vote for it. The current FPP system doesn’t work. It fails to represent everything democracy is supposed to be about.
Don’t be afraid. Don’t be lazy. Have a look and please show up on May 17. You may not agree with me on who to vote for, but you’ve got to admit this is the smartest move we can make.
*sigh* and now for something completely different:
spidey – the latest father 4 justice
Spiderman!
I watched him chat with the police for 20 minutes or so while sipping my coffee.
On the whole election thing … everyone is definately welcome to their opinion but keep in mind that mortgaging today at the expense of tommorrow is not the way to go.
The Liberals have taken BC from the worst economy to the best economy in Canada during their term (No I did not get that from the fancy commercial, I actually pay attention to what our government does). The NDP government took us from one of the top provinces economically to the bottom during their previous terms.
The NDP may have “treated the people nice” but it was at the cost of doubling the provincial debt.
Look to the long term like you claim in your post not the short. When you are trying to correct the gross mispending of the past it costs and unfortunately social programs make up the vast majority of our cost which means they are going to be affected.
It is easy to say the liberals are not listening to the people, however if they did listen to the people our provincial debt would still be spiraling out of control mortgaging our future for the now.
Did you know that before the NDP managed to obtain power the last time, BC one of the best credit ratings in the world? A mere 7 years later and our province was mortgaged to the hilt and our credit rating had slid into the abyss.
I dearly hope the Liberals win the provincial election. The province is finally in a position economically to begin feeding back to the people without mortgaging our future and I think all that painful effort on the part of the Liberals will be wasted and ruined if the NDP reclaim power.
It is nice to see a government do what needs to be done even at the expense of themselves rather than take the safe road at the expense of our future.
Kevin
COMMENT:
Tell you what- if the Liberals make BC a workers’ paradise – free high quality education and health care, and focus on protecting domestic jobs & products, then I will support them.
If they continue closing schools and hospitals and sending jobs over the border I couldn’t care less what they do for the bottom line. The people that need it aren’t seeing it.
It’s all well and good to say the economy is in great shape but if you’re packing 35 kids into a classroom and people are dying on surgery waiting lists where is all this money going?
People tend to think of the States as having a global powerhouse economy but their kids can’t pick out their own nation’s capitol on a map. They are passed through grade ten without knowing how to read. And the States carries a titanic debt no one expects them to ever even attempt to pay off.
Kevin, I always welcome your opinion and as always it has merit from a certain perspective but you’ve already said you favour private education over public, and to me that means your talking through your wallet. Not everyone gets to be rich no matter how hard they try. If the government’s place is to represent the will of the majority then the majority must rule, and the majority don’t get to go to private school.
You seem to think I’m asking for an increase in provincial debt. I’m demanding the opposite. I want the economy as insulated as possible. Keep the jobs here. Protect our products. Don’t spend beyond our means. Invest wisely for long-term benefit, not short-sighted popularity points. Tear down and rebuild the entire tax structure from scratch. Tear down & rebuild the welfare system to keep people working. Penalize the lazy & reward the industrious at all levels of society.
Elect leaders, not politicians. Vote with the long view. Sustainable industry. Renewable resources. Education. Jobs.
Not some useless bottom line or a convenient set of statistics.
I’m not saying you’re wrong, Kevin. From your perspective (your demographic, your economic situation, your tax bracket) you’re right. I’m just saying we have a very different opinion on what constitutes a long view of sustainability for the good of all. You fill your pocket. I’ll do what I can to keep everyone else’s full.
So. You’re voting for BC-STV?
Yes I am, however I am a little worried about how it will impact our minority government rules. We may find that will require adjusting as well. We will likely see more minority governments as a result of this which does not work well under the Canadian minority government rules.
As for my demographic and “filling my pockets”. I am quite capable of filling my pocket on my own regardless of which government is in power. If money was all that mattered to me I would be living about 50 miles south of here and earning 3x what I do here while paying 1/2 the taxes.
If a particular government were ever able to substantially affect my ability to provide for myself and my family I can leave easily enough (I almost did when the NDP decided that labour protection rules would no longer apply to workers in the technology fields).
I do not vote for own own individual gain … it really is not feasible at this level, I vote to improve the economy because a strong economy is the best way to ensure our populous is taken care of properly and sustainably.
As for my views on education, I believe I mentioned that regardless of how much they improved the public education system, I would still place my children in private school. Because private school by its very nature would have to offer more than public school to be a viable business. I am in a position to give my children a leg up in the world and I will do so without hesitation.
As for the rest, we as a province were spending money faster than we make it. Eventually we had to stop doing that and worse we have to begin paying it back. Just like running up credit card and student loan debt. However, unlike certain individuals that we have known to do this, the province cannot hide from the debt collectors until they give up searching.
There is a cost balancing the monetary burn and since the vast majority of our provincial budget is social programs it is only logical that you will see some impact to these social programs when the belt is tightened. The alternative is to continue spending money faster than we make it, which undoubtably makes the people of the province very happy … but how happy are they going to be in 20 years when the province is bankrupt.
It is so easy to sit here and claim that these social programs could remain in place while simultanously not borrowing money to sustain them. It is even easier to do it while offering no solution to the problem.
The NDP borrowed money to sustain the social programs and they borrowed LOTS of it and they continued to borrow it. Either we continue to borrow money and thus increase our debt sustaining them, or we slash them and balance the budget. Never a popular choice however bankrupcy is an even worse choice.
There is no sudden magical way of stopping the borrowing of money and still sustaining the rate of monetary burn. That is like saying you can live like a king running up debt, max your credit cards, stop running up the debt one day because you have maxed out your credit cards, yet still live the exact same way while simultaneously pay down the debt. It is a pipe dream.
The only real way to do that is to spend someone elses money to buy your things and pay for your vacations and pay for your lifestyle and then refuse to pay them back. A province does not really have this option unfortunately, unlike an individual.
The money has to come from somewhere and that somewhere is either through a strengthened economy or through borrowing.
1. The liberals slashed our social programs to staunch the flow of borrowed money. It had to be done, it was not sustainable. It was done by a corrupt government attempting to purchase the right to power at the expense of our future when the bill collection agency comes knocking.
2. The liberals focused on improving our economy and have done an admirable job of it. Our unemployment is the lowest in the country which decreases the strain on our welfare programs.
It is interesting to see you complain that the liberals are sending our jobs over the border. On one hand you are correct to some degree. The jobs actually remain here, the company managing them is merely across the border. On the other hand under the liberals we have the lowest unemployment rate in Canada.
3. The liberals are starting to grow our social programs again … however they are doing so at a sustainable rate, unlike the NDP.
So lets look at your requirements to support the liberals:
“make BC a workers’ paradise – free high quality education and health care, and focus on protecting domestic jobs & products, then I will support them.”
1. Our economy is the strongest it has been in 10 years under the liberals and we are have the lowest rate of unemployment in the country.
So I guess that means they are focusing on protecting domestic jobs & products.
I mean, how else do you measure it? Almost everyone has work, and the economy is booming. Support for small businesses is the best in the nation and we have the most small businesses per capita in the nation. Which, oddly enough means people are able to take a greater cut of the profits rather than feeding the rich.
2. Free high quality education and health care? Well that one is a little tougher to address, and really has to be more of a relative arguement I think.
This is phrased in such a way that implies that if you do not vote for the liberals the opposition will provide this.
I have to admit education and health care were definately better under the NDP. All it cost us was doubling the provincial debt to sustain it:)
The liberals are now feeding money back into education and health care at a sustainable rate rather than at a high interest loan rate.
Give them a chance, they have only been in power for 4 years and you cannot fix all the problems at once. They have made a pretty damn good start on them however.
They have corrected the economy.
They have corrected the unsustainable borrowing.
They have corrected the unemployment rate.
They are currently working on correcting the health care and education issues.
I do not think they will ever get to free healthcare and education because, quite frankly everything has a cost and nothing is free. I think free healthcare and education is a very naive way of looking at things. However I do not think any other government will get there either.
Frankly, it is impressive what they have achieved and I believe that given the chance they will take large steps down the path of correcting health care and education.
Perhaps, they may even regain the position that the NDP gained but at a sustainable rate rather than a borrowing against your future rate.
Kevin
BC-STV = yes
I find it interesting that the above views, in essence seek the same goal, yet practically are coming from two separate angles. Two separate sides. Liberal? NDP? Who cares, I don’t.
To hell with partisan governing. I want someone representing me who can do the job, not someone who happens to be in the political party my parents voted for. Liberals this and NDP that.
I agree with Kevin as far as our last government was flying free and easy doing whatever was whispered in their ear. It is easy to spend money, the hard part is making it.
I too have used the analogy of one person racking up a credit card bill and another one forced to pay it.
I voted for Campbell last time ’round because he is a business man. I hoped he would do what it took to buoy the sinking ship. I even said right then; right after the landslide election. He is going to piss a lot of people off but he is going to get the job done. Even if he doesn’t get re-elected analysts will look back at his term and realize it was a turn around time.
Do I like that schools and hospitals are cut? Hell no. Do I think it is fair to have high tuition rates. Of course not. Where do you think the money comes from for this things though? Do we want free education so… poof … there you go? That money needs to come from somewhere.
My hope of course is that after the gleeful spending and after the penny-pinching, we have returned to a healthy balance. We get all the health care and education we want/need because we have the money to pay for it.
And I don’t care what party is around to give it to me. If I like them, I vote for them – not their party.
Kevin – Again, I’m really glad you take the time to present a contrary opinion in detail here. I appreciate it.
By shipping jobs south (and elsewhere) I’m not talking about foreign ownership. I’m really talking about jobs. The obvious example is the shipping of whole logs to American mills then buying the lumber back. Free trade makes this the cheaper way to go but we clearly lose in the long run.
We sell our fresh water in bulk and buy it back in bottles. Japan imports raw metals and exports cars & electronics. Who’s got the right idea?
Forget the Liberals for a second. A sustainable economy is designed around the long view. Keep the work here from start to finish and export for profit what you don’t sell to your own population. Educate. Keep life affordable and healthy for as many as possible. Tear out the old and hopelessly tangled tax & welfare systems and rebuild them from scratch to keep money in circulation and keep people working.
I’m debt-free, Kevin. No loans, no credit card bills, no mortage. I live within my means and I don’t see why any government should get away with different. You don’t think we should borrow for social programs? Ok, what should we borrow for? Tax incentives for big business? Why? They’ll just leave when the incentives go away.
We’re approaching the same idea from different directions, I think (as gurton pointed out). We both think a stable economy features low unemployment and less strain on the safety net, for example. I just think that a better way to achieve this would be through compulsory work and training programs, where the system supports itself, rather than hand tax breaks to companies that can afford to pay. Subsidize their employment of welfare cases instead. Day cares.
I think education and health care should be prioritized. I think the tax system needs to be overhauled and rethought. I think the long view doesn’t start with making things worse for your population.
For me the ideal place to settle is where the best lifestyle can be had for the best price. I think companies of all sizes with any longevity are more likely to put down roots in populations of highly-educated healthy people, all other factors being equal. So why not plant those seeds now and enjoy not just a boom, but a standing wave of prosperity?
I don’t think I’m communicating this idea well. Build a solid foundation and the rest of the building will stand. For me that foundation is the well-cared for population and the burgeoning economy is what results. After all- markets attract business, not the other way around.
Do I think the NDP will accomplish all this where the Liberals can’t? Not necessarily. But the NDP prioritizes education over corporation, and that’s a good start.
gurton – you’re describing what BC-STV can do for us: free us from Party politics so we can deal with governing and electing strong individuals rather than getting saddled with the entire Party. Kevin’s absolutely right about the minority government difficulties, but I think much of the problem will be sorted out with the fluidity of issue-based (rather than Party-based) alliances.
Thanks to both of you for taking the time to present your opinions.