Opponents fail to stifle referendum
By Sara Golling
According to a tweet today (Tuesday, August 28) by Keith Fraser of the Vancouver Sun, a bid to stop this fall’s referendum on electoral reform has failed. The Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA) sought an injunction to stop the vote, but in order to obtain an injunction to stop a thing from happening, the applicant must show that the thing would cause irreparable harm. Justice Miriam Gropper refused to grant an injunction, saying that there would be no irreparable harm from the vote proceeding as planned.
Many people look forward to an opportunity to try a proportional representation system for two election cycles before voting in a second referendum to decide whether or not to keep the proportional representation system, or return to what we have now: a first-past-the-post system which often results in government by a party with a majority of seats based on a minority of votes. Others fear losing their favoured party’s ability to obtain a majority of the seats without having to get a majority of the popular vote. When the referendum votes have been counted, BC will either stay with the current system, or go ahead with a proportional representation system — at least until the next referendum, which will be based on two election cycles’ worth of experience rather than arguments and fears.
