David Eby has just called a snap election in British Columbia, just two years after voters last went to the polls.
This opportunistic gamble is only happening because of first-past-the-post.
With all the challenges facing British Columbia and democracy, it’s never been more important to fight for proportional representation!
BC voters don’t want a polarized, two party system. But first-past-the-post can’t handle real voter choice.
Our archaic, winner-take-all voting system could hand 100% of the power to any party with far less than a majority of the vote.
In the last UK election, with multiple competitive parties, a “majority” government was formed with 33% of the vote.
To make matters worse, winner-take-all voting systems mean that an extremist can take over a big tent party, and that party can end up with all of the power.
When we look at what’s ahead―managing our economy during the Trump threats, a healthcare system under stress, worsening climate change, the housing crisis ―one thing is crystal clear: more winner-take-all politics will not get us where we need to go.
It’s time for a proportional electoral system where parties must work together to solve the problems that matter to us all. It’s time to make every vote count.
In 2025, BC’s all-party Committee on Electoral Reform came to a unanimous recommendation for a BC Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform, with the first principle for the Assembly to consider being proportional representation.
Visit FairVote.ca for more information.