Last spring, an editorial under the headline "B.C. keeps gerrymandering out of elections" appeared in The Citizen.
So much for that sentiment.
Gerrymandering is a 200-year-old word used to describe the weird drawing of electoral boundaries to help an incumbent keep his or her seat by retaining areas of support and drawing around areas that don't support that candidate.
Thanks to the B.C. Electoral Boundaries Commission, that kind of nonsense has been kept to a minimum in this province.
Until now.
John Horgan's NDP has gerrymandered every step of the proportional representation referendum process so far.
That gerrymandering continued Wednesday when attorney general David Eby revealed his preferred ballot format.
If Eby's suggestion is approved by cabinet, voters will first be asked if they want to switch from the current first-past-the-post system to proportional representation. If yes, they will be given three options and asked to rank them in order of preference. If the majority support the switch, the top preference would be the form of proportional representation implemented.
Well, isn't that clear as the Nechako in early May?
Just a few questions:
If an individual voter rejects proportional representation, can he or she still rank the PR options on their ballot? Call it a "no, but if you must, this is my choice" ballot.
Will the NDP stick to the preferred option if the yes vote wins or will it simply use it as a basis to create its own "made in B.C." proportional representation?
In the description of the three versions of proportional representation, will there be detailed information on how or if riding boundaries will be changed as a result?
The first question will presumably be answered at some point.
The second question is a wait-and-see and as for that last one, Eby is saying that won't be decided until after the vote, should proportional representation be approved.
In other words, nobody knows how this is all going to look on the ground and voters will have to place their trust in the NDP government that when the 2021 provincial election rolls around and proportional representation is in place, rural ridings aren't suddenly double the size of what they were before.
Funny how the NDP complained bitterly for years and campaigned on having the B.C. Utilities Commission review the Site C project but the Horgan government can't hold off on the referendum until the B.C. Electoral Boundaries Commission delivers a report on what the riding boundaries could look like under the three PR scenarios that will be on the ballot.
God forbid that voters actually have all the information on proportional representation before making their decision. If they did, the NDP wouldn't be allowed to write the rules as they see fit afterwards.
This whole process has been classic gerrymandering from the very beginning. British Columbians have rejected proportional representation twice at the ballot box in the last 15 years but PR proponents are like Quebec separatists - they won't stop asking for a vote until they get the outcome they want.
In the B.C. NDP's case, that means changing the rules of this referendum in comparison to the others. Instead of approval from 60 per cent of voters in a majority of the ridings in the province, the first question will be decided as simply a 50 per cent plus one, giving Greater Vancouver residents the numbers to decide on behalf of the entire province, regardless of what anyone on Vancouver Island or northeast of Abbotsford might feel.
The irony is rich.
PR proponents moan endlessly about the wasted votes under the first-past-the-post system but could care less about the wasted votes cast everywhere outside of the 0.3 per cent of the province the Metro Vancouver Regional District occupies.
Worst of all, PR supporters who argue loudly that the first-past-the-post system undermines democracy are the same ones defending the B.C. NDP's undermining of the democratic process through the manipulation of this referendum.
In their world, apparently, the ends justify the means.
-- Editor-in-chief Neil Godbout
