Sonia Furstenau has accused the BC NDP of using its first-past-the-post majority in the House to "run roughshod" over democratic processes and shut down debate.The BC Green Party leader claimed the governing party's behaviour over the past four years was evidence that the province needed to seriously consider electoral reform.."We had the 2020 outcome where the NDP got just under 50% of the vote from around 50% of the voters," Furstenau said, lamenting the fact that half of voters didn't even show up. "That delivered a two-thirds majority in the House to the NDP, and they used that to run roughshod over democratic and legislative processes for four years."She noted that this often resulted in the party "shutting down debate, refusing to listen to not only the MLAs, but ... stakeholders and people affected by their legislation, and refusing to listen to criticism.""Then they had the courts again and again and again tell them, 'You can't go forward with this legislation; it's not gonna pass a constitutional challenge, or it's not gonna pass a court challenge," Furstenau continued, suggesting that the party's actions should cause British Columbians to wonder whether systematic change is necessary."Is this system gonna start delivering different outcomes?" she asked. "Or do we insist on a healthier form of democracy that we see in countries around the world where in proportional representation systems, parties and people who are elected have to learn how to work with each other, have to learn how to work across party lines, across jurisdictional lines."Furstenau urged politicians to "stop spending all their time pointing at the other side and saying how terrible they are, and start focusing on their responsibility and duty to serve the people of BC.""We're not gonna get there in this first-past-the-post system," she declared. "We need electoral reform in this province, and we need to have the courage to say that and find a way to get that done."The Greens' platform includes the creation of a "Citizens' Assembly," which could, if it wanted, determine which electoral system would "work best for British Columbia." After two electoral cycles with the new system, a referendum would be held to see how people felt about making the change long-term.
Sonia Furstenau has accused the BC NDP of using its first-past-the-post majority in the House to "run roughshod" over democratic processes and shut down debate.The BC Green Party leader claimed the governing party's behaviour over the past four years was evidence that the province needed to seriously consider electoral reform.."We had the 2020 outcome where the NDP got just under 50% of the vote from around 50% of the voters," Furstenau said, lamenting the fact that half of voters didn't even show up. "That delivered a two-thirds majority in the House to the NDP, and they used that to run roughshod over democratic and legislative processes for four years."She noted that this often resulted in the party "shutting down debate, refusing to listen to not only the MLAs, but ... stakeholders and people affected by their legislation, and refusing to listen to criticism.""Then they had the courts again and again and again tell them, 'You can't go forward with this legislation; it's not gonna pass a constitutional challenge, or it's not gonna pass a court challenge," Furstenau continued, suggesting that the party's actions should cause British Columbians to wonder whether systematic change is necessary."Is this system gonna start delivering different outcomes?" she asked. "Or do we insist on a healthier form of democracy that we see in countries around the world where in proportional representation systems, parties and people who are elected have to learn how to work with each other, have to learn how to work across party lines, across jurisdictional lines."Furstenau urged politicians to "stop spending all their time pointing at the other side and saying how terrible they are, and start focusing on their responsibility and duty to serve the people of BC.""We're not gonna get there in this first-past-the-post system," she declared. "We need electoral reform in this province, and we need to have the courage to say that and find a way to get that done."The Greens' platform includes the creation of a "Citizens' Assembly," which could, if it wanted, determine which electoral system would "work best for British Columbia." After two electoral cycles with the new system, a referendum would be held to see how people felt about making the change long-term.
