I partly agree with what you say, Nick, but in this case there are other considerations, firstly Christy Clark pretty well won the election in May single handedly against what was seen by the pollsters as insurmountable odds. She has to be given credit for that. She lost her own seat (which by the way WASN'T in her home riding to begin with) where SHE spent virtually no time campaigning. She has followed the rules which are the same for all politicians be they Liberal, Cons or N.D.P. etc. so the playing field is level. Of course when she in the West Kelowna riding she didn't own property there at the time but she is planning to buy a house and live there, but you might appreciate that could take a few months. Had she have won Vancouver - Point Grey would YOU really have accepted that as she didn't live there? As far as run off elections are concerned it's been proven that over the long haul the results wouldn't be any better than "first past the post" and the expense would be intolerable. Right now to have a provincial election costs several $million, do you really want to double or triple that, when at the "end of the day" the results aren't going to be much different in most cases? In any case I think we have a strong politician to run the province, which is the way it should be. With Adrian Dix we'd have just ended up with more bureaucrats serving more minorities. We want a balanced situation of employment, prosperity and a safe and healthy environment and I believe with Christy that is achievable. And she's not going to bow for the Union "heavies".
JLM...I don't believe in people running outside the riding where they reside at all. No for Krusty, not for anyone. I am a staunch supporter of radical election and political reform because this farce that is perpetrated upon the people every so often does nothing to actually represent the will of the majority of people.
Just a few changes would make a huge difference in how politicians did their job and how the system would quickly favor individuals over corporations and parties.....
1- Outlaw parties, everyone has to run as an independent. That is how it is formatted in the constitution and how it should be. It is far better to elect someone whose only loyalty is to the people who vote for them.
2- You must run where you live. That means on election day and during the campaign. If you can't win there but think you can win elsewhere then move before you start or take your loss and move before the next election.
3- Require an actual majority of votes to win a seat. I know you rail against the cost but really in this day & age we could easily all vote from home. An initial investment in software and security and after that it is extremely cheap.
4- Give the people more powers for recall. The laws surrounding this right now make it all but impossible to recall any elected official. This needs to change. If they have no fear of losing their job they have no reason to listen to their constituents.
5- Most important of all enact a law or constitutional amendment requiring them to adhere to the will of their constituents rather than follow the party line. Of course if there are no parties and they face the possibility of being fired all the time they will most likely not have to worry about this type of law because they will be beholden to the people who vote for them and nobody else.
6- Finance reform. Make corporate donations and sponsorship illegal. The elected are supposed to represent the citizens. A corporation is a fictional legal entity and has no worth or standing in an election but the politicians, through their party affiliations, become under the sway of these legal fictions through money. It needs to go and it is where we should start if we as citizens want a govt that represents us instead of corporate CEOs.
These are just a few common sense suggestions to get started but easily define some of the glaring problems in our system.
