The excitement of the municipal election was dying down, and the new Mayor and Council members were getting organized and gearing up for governance. Some good people had been elected, and some good people hadn't. Four of the seven elected had committed to boldly addressing climate change, the issue that could no longer be ignored.
The puppets had raked the fallen leaves and distributed them over the garden beds, which formed two
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| image courtesy of Pixabay |
Time for an afternoon tea break.
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PER: I'll just get the scones out of the oven. There's some home made raspberry jam on the table.
GOOD TIME (bringing the tea pot to the table): I've got the mint tea. The mint from the garden was especially minty this year, don't you think?
NOWCA (pouring tea and putting jam on a scone): I love enjoying the bounty of the garden!
PER: Me too! So, the municipal elections are over with, and a few climate champions have been elected. I guess we can relax for awhile.
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| image courtesy of Pixabay |
GOOD TIME: Seriously?
NOWCA: Ya, we have a chance to reclaim our democracy, at least in this province!
PER: What do you mean? How?
NOWCA: By voting in favour of proportional representation!
PER: I've heard scary things about that! Won't it allow fringe parties to have more power?
NOWCA: Per, those are scare tactics being used by people who benefit from the voting system we have now. In a winner take all system, like the one we have, extreme groups can have all the power even if they get only 40% of the vote. Take a look at this video.
GOOD TIME: I don't know -- why change what we have when it's already working?
NOWCA: But is it working? How many times have people had to vote strategically to keep someone out instead of voting for the person they want in? What about getting a bunch of great policies in place that are undone by a different party when they're elected? That's called 'policy lurch' and it really hinders our progress! Proportional representation means that your vote counts, and that those elected will need to collaborate. It works well in other countries and creates more stable and democratic governance.
PER: Other countries use it?
NOWCA: Yes, Wales, Scotland and New Zealand use pro rep systems that are similar to the ones we're voting on, and they work well.
MR. PIPELINE (coming in with a bag of golf clubs): My golf game was rained out.
NOWCA: Sorry to hear it, Mr. Pipeline.
We're just talking about proportional representation. Let me guess: You hate it, right?
MR. PIPELINE: Of course I hate it! When it comes to our electoral system, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!
GOOD TIME: Change can be scary.
NOWCA: But sometimes we need change. Sometimes we outgrow things, like the first past the post
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| image courtesy of Pixabay |
PER: I'd like to know more about how it's working out for the countries that have it.
MR. PIPELINE: Why? Why even bother voting? Government will keep working and things will keep going whether you vote or not.
NOWCA: Voting is our civic duty, Mr. Pipeline.
Anyways, Per, some good things have happened for the environment in some of these countries, and they seem to have great representation. When everyone's vote counts, we get better decisions. For example, Wales is the first country to pledge to keep fossil fuels in the ground. Under the system we have here in Canada, that's almost unimaginable.
MR. PIPELINE: Shudder the thought! How would life have meaning?
PER: Seriously?! That's incredible! What else, NOWCA? What about New Zealand? And, Mr. Pipeline, with all due respect, maybe your sense of meaning needs an update. Sounds like you need tea and a scone.
NOWCA: New Zealand has a woman Prime Minister from the Labour Party named Jacinda Ardern, and she's the first to have given birth while in office. She recently announced a 12 month wage freeze for politicians, since she says they make enough money. She also took her 3 month old baby to the United Nations General Assembly.
GOOD TIME: Wow! That sure doesn't sound like Canada!
MR. PIPELINE: Yes, I hope Canadian women continue to know their place and, for the most part, stay out of politics.
Her policies? Again, from her Wikipedia page: Sturgeon has campaigned against replacing the Trident nuclear weapons system. She has been a critic of austerity, saying that the UK government's "austerity economics" is "morally unjustifiable and economically unsustainable".
Sturgeon is noted for campaigning for women's rights and gender equality, and is a self-described feminist; she has argued that Scotland's feminist movement is not simply symbolic, but "sends a powerful signal about equality". She has hailed Scottish feminist economist Ailsa McKay as one of her inspirations.
I think Scotland's doing quite well.PER: OK, I want this for Canada, not just BC, but I guess our province is a good place to start.
NOWCA: It's our chance to show the rest of the country how proportional representation works. We were invited to a rally in support of it, but -- you know -- we don't do so well in the rain.
GOOD TIME: Maybe when it clears up we can do something on the streets to show our support for proportional representation.
MR. PIPELINE: Why do you want to be governed by a bunch of radicals?
GOOD TIME: I want at least the chance of a smokeless summer, and we won't get that until we start addressing climate change. And this system isn't doing it.
PER: Let's put our heads together and figure out a way to show our support for proportional representation. If we get it here in BC, maybe the whole country will follow suit.
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The puppets sat silently, watching the rain drops, drinking their tea and eating their scones. Some were considering what they could do to support proportional representation, and one was making very different plans.
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| image courtesy of Pixabay |
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