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Vancouver Sun
26-07-2025
- Politics
- Vancouver Sun
Electoral flashback: B.C. MLAs mull proportional representation despite voters saying no three times
VICTORIA — A B.C. legislature committee recently spent two weeks on a trip down memory lane, revisiting the debate over proportional representation that dominated three referendums over the past 20 years. The committee on democratic and electoral reform — four New Democrats, two Conservatives and one Green — was appointed to review a range of issues after the last provincial election. But in two weeks of public hearings earlier this month, most of the witnesses focused on the committee's specific mandate to examine 'models for electing members of the legislature, including proportional representation.' A daily roundup of Opinion pieces from the Sun and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Informed Opinion will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The switch to a form of proportional representation, or PR, was an option in a referendum during the 2009 provincial election and another in a ballot-by-mail in 2018. Both times voters endorsed the existing first-past-the-post system by a decisive 61 per cent. PR got 58 per cent support in a 2005 referendum but fell short of the 60 per cent threshold set by the then B.C. Liberal government. Yet it is back on the agenda this year at the behest of the Greens. The B.C. party could have won as many as eight seats under PR in the last provincial election as opposed to the two it did win under first-past-the-post. The prospect drew a scornful submission from Bill Tieleman, political consultant, one-time press secretary to NDP Premier Glen Clark, and a leader of the successful fight against PR in the earlier referendums. 'The public has clearly spoken,' said Tieleman. 'Yet here we are again. I regret that the provincial legislature is once more examining an issue that B.C. voters have democratically, decisively, and not once but twice strongly rejected. 'The reason is clear. The B.C. Green party insisted on this committee examining proportional representation as a condition for supporting the B.C. NDP government. I get it. It's political reality. 'But this committee should not be examining electoral systems for the fourth time. It's kind of ridiculous after 20 years, when B.C. voters have heard all the arguments and voted against proportional representation with what should be finality.' Tieleman offered a shorthand take on why voters prefer the status quo to PR. 'The reason why voters strongly supported our current first-past-the-post system is that it is simple, stable and successful,' he argued. 'By comparison, proportional representation is complicated and confusing, and it removes local, accountable elected officials. It is a foreign voting system that has chronic problems where it's used.' Most of those who made submissions — electoral reform advocates, university professors, Green party members and others — disagreed. Many of their arguments for proportional representation were similar to ones mounted in the past two referendums. But I was struck by how some PR advocates have turned against the whole idea of referendums after losing two in a row. Leading the way on that score was the first speaker in the lineup, Adriane Carr, a former Vancouver city councillor and a former leader of the Greens. Referendums are too time consuming, she argued. 'Timeliness is important, so no referendum beforehand,' she argued. Rather, Carr says the government should impose proportional representation by a vote of the legislature before the next election. Then, after a term or two of governments elected under PR, it would submit the system to referendum after the fact. Fair Voting B.C. went further, declaring that 'voting reform is a civil rights issue, and referendums are not an appropriate way to settle such questions.' Rejecting the notion of bypassing referendums was Bob Plecas, a Tieleman ally in the fight against PR and a deputy minister under former Social Credit and NDP governments. 'The legislature should not unilaterally end this relationship with the voters who today directly elect their MLA, especially after 61 per cent of them have just recently rejected the idea of pro rep,' said Plecas. 'If it proceeds, it would be essential to go to a referendum including a supermajority in both vote and constituency.' The committee wrapped up hearings last week and closed the door on written submissions Friday. The members will then get to work crafting recommendations to the legislature. Their final report is due Nov. 26. If the MLAs felt bound by the majority of submissions on electoral reform, they would recommend a shift to proportional representation. But I doubt that will happen. Since dodging the PR bullet in 2018, the B.C. NDP has won back-to-back majorities under first-past-the-post. The party's provincial director, Tania Jarzabek, did propose some electoral reforms in a submission to the committee. Pointedly, she did not take a stand on PR, one way or the other. Nor can I see the Conservatives supporting an electoral system that could empower further splits in their already fractious caucus. Besides, just this past week, Research Co. reported an opinion poll on electoral reform. While respondents showed some interest in other systems for electing governments, 65 per cent said they were satisfied with the existing first-past-the-post system. I expect committee members, apart from the one Green MLA, will reach a similar conclusion in favour of the status quo and avoid a call for proportional representation, with or without a referendum. vpalmer@
CBC
14-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
Vancouver school bus drivers, attendants face pay cut below living wage standards
Social Sharing About 200 bus drivers and attendants contracted by the Vancouver School Board (VSB) have been told their wages will be cut as the VSB will stop being a living wage employer. VSB became a living wage employer in 2022, topping up workers' pay, including contractors, to a living wage — which is calculated based on what two full-time working adults need to earn per hour to meet the basic needs of a family of four, including buying food, paying rent, and other bills. But on April 4, workers were told in an email from their employer First Student Inc. that the school board's living wage supplement had "come to an earlier-than-anticipated close," according to the email viewed by CBC News. "This is terrible news for those workers, who are among the lowest-paid workers at the Vancouver School Board," said Bill Tieleman, spokesperson for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 963. The workers whose wages are being reduced are not unionized, according to Tieleman. "People in the workplace were crying, as we understand it, just wondering how they're going to make ends meet." Metro Vancouver's living wage in 2024 was $27.05 per hour. Drivers have been told that their wages will drop to $23.40 per hour, while attendants will have their wages sink to $19.65 per hour. VSB said the changes will be in effect "no sooner than" July 1. "With significant yearly fluctuations in the Living Wage rate, VSB can no longer certify as a Living Wage [B.C.] employer and will not be providing contractors with supplemental funding to provide their employees with wages that align with Living Wage [B.C.'s] hourly rate," the board said in a statement to CBC News. 'Incredibly disappointed' Advocacy organization Living Wage B.C. said it's "incredibly disappointed" that VSB will stop being a living wage employer. "At a time when all of us need to come together to face unprecedented economic threats, it has never been more important that workers earn a Living Wage," said provincial manager Anastasia French in a statement. "We urge the VSB to change course and work with partners to find a solution which ensures that all of their direct and contracted staff can earn a Living Wage." VSB said the Public Sector Employers' Council Secretariat sets the mandate for compensation and bargaining for all school districts in the province, and has not mandated districts to provide a living wage. "As the VSB has multi-year collective agreements in place that expire on June 30, 2025, VSB does not have the ability at the local level to increase wages at this time," the school board said.
