How do you like minority government so far? We have a range war with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ottawa over our NDP government鈥檚 theory that it can rewrite the Canadian constitution.
We have record-high gasoline prices, fuelled by an early increase in the carbon tax insisted on by the three-member B.C. Green Party.
And we鈥檝e got a Green leader who throws tantrums, floats empty threats to bring down the NDP government he put into power, and tries to use most of his time in the legislature to attack the opposition.
If you like that, great, because Premier John Horgan is doing everything he can to make sure fringe parties are elevated permanently, through some formula of proportional representation that won鈥檛 be disclosed until a month or so before a mail-in ballot this fall.
Press gallery reporters got one of our brief opportunities to question the premier before the legislature took a break last week. Horgan assured us that while the public will be told nothing until the fall, they鈥檒l have more than enough information to answer the still-secret question (or questions) before the November deadline to mail in ballots.
鈥淲e are months and months away,鈥� Horgan said. 鈥淚鈥檓 fairly certain there won鈥檛 be too many summer barbecues where the topic of conversation is proportional representation.鈥�
He鈥檚 made sure of that by keeping the preparations and the ballot question in the hands of Attorney General David Eby and his political staff. There鈥檚 nothing to discuss yet.
For his part, Eby is so enthusiastic about the response to his slanted online survey on the subject that he can hardly stand it. He hasn鈥檛 said anything about the results or the distribution of responses. They鈥檙e still processing the 鈥渕etadata鈥� and stuff. But by golly, more than 88,000 people self-selected to respond to the survey, and that鈥檚 the biggest consultation ever!
Indeed, 88,000 people is slightly more than the population of Chilliwack. Heck, it鈥檚 enough people to vote in the referendum to reshape the voting system, since there is no minimum turnout this time.
Here鈥檚 what the NDP鈥檚 2017 election platform said: 鈥淲e鈥檒l hold a referendum on changing our voting system so that every vote counts. We鈥檒l ensure B.C.鈥檚 regions are all represented fairly. And we鈥檒l campaign for the yes side.鈥�
I guess they could now argue that two out of three ain鈥檛 bad. The 鈥渞egions鈥� are intentionally not represented fairly, as they were in two previous referendums. This time urban B.C. will decide the outcome, because that favours the NDP and Greens.
The B.C. Liberal opposition pressed the NDP government in the legislature in late April, and after Eby did most of the deflecting in a raucous question period, Horgan rose to mock the opposition鈥檚 objections.
鈥淗ow outrageous of us to join with the Green Party, who also campaigned on that commitment, to make sure that we get proportional representation in this house,鈥� Horgan said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we campaigned on; that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e going to deliver.鈥�
So the fix is in, officially.
The government鈥檚 going to fund a yes and no side, after barbecue season of course. But there are already two 鈥測es鈥� campaigns. One, VotePRBC, is fundraising. The other, YesPRBC, doesn鈥檛 seem worried about money, almost as if it expects public funding.
Its directors include retired NDP MP Jean Crowder, a failed Family Coalition Party and B.C. Unity Party candidate, a failed Green candidate, and a former Green leader who resigned from the party in 2000. Oh, and a vice-president of the B.C. Government Employees Union.
Happy barbecuing.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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