Summer is here and while I may not be hunkered down in the legislature, my work as an MLA does not end. 

The public engagement work of the Special Committee on Democratic and Electoral Reform (SCDER) is now underway!  Public hearings began in Vancouver on Monday and will take place throughout the week in Prince George, Cranbrook, Kelowna, and Surrey.  Next week, hearings in person and by video link will be held in Victoria.

The all-party SCDER committee includes NDP MLAs, Jessie Sunner (Chair), George Anderson, Deborah Toporowski, and Amna Shah; Conservative MLAs, Ward Stamer (Deputy Chair) and Sheldon Clare; and Green MLA, Rob Botterell (that’s me!).  A big shout out to staff support—it’s no small challenge setting up for full days of hearings in multiple communities, while also contacting and supporting scheduled presenters and herding cats (the MLAs) from location to location.

After two days of hearings from about 40 presenters, I want to thank everyone for making time in their busy lives to share the high-quality, insightful, and wide ranging recommendations the Committee has so far received. Presentations have been limited to 15 minutes for those with considerable expertise or background in democratic and electoral reform and 5 minutes for citizens who wish to highlight a few key points. The time restrictions are in order to hear as many presentations as possible and I am impressed with the ability of presenters to offer such valuable insights within the time allotted.

How to summarize two full days of hearings in a blog post? Also, a challenge!  But, let me recap three emerging themes: 

Lowering the voting age to 16: Some presenters have recommended reducing the voting age to 16.  They highlighted the tie-in to school civics classes, the importance of developing the practice of voting early, and the acknowledgement that 16-year-olds have other adult responsibilities (such as driving) of equal magnitude, or more, to voting. 

Youth engagement: This is a topic on everyone’s mind and presenters canvassed this issue in many helpful ways. The highlight, which blew the Committee away, was 12-year-old Daniel Thiele’s presentation.  I thought back to my 12-year-old self and could not imagine making such a thoughtful and articulate set of recommendations. One of his more compelling points was to make electoral information available in the form of video games, apps, etc. in order to engage youth.  Such an important point – thank you, Daniel!

Changing our electoral system to Proportional Representation: Several presenters have described their personal experience with proportional representation in countries such as Scotland, New Zealand, Germany and Australia. Some presented the pros and cons of holding another referendum on proportional representation, as well as the option of implementing a proportional representation system and subsequently holding a referendum to gauge public support to continue with proportional representation. 

The three themes here are only a sample of the many important democratic and electoral reform issues canvassed in these hearings.  If you would like to learn more, please do check out the audio and Hansard transcripts here.  And as the hearings proceed, I will provide further updates.

It is not too late if you wish to make a written submission to the Committee.  The deadline is July 25th. Check out https://consultation-portal.leg.bc.ca/consultations/43 

Back to the Tour!