{"id":4435,"date":"2018-12-05T22:49:08","date_gmt":"2018-12-06T06:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=4435"},"modified":"2018-12-05T22:49:08","modified_gmt":"2018-12-06T06:49:08","slug":"abbotsford-news-re-proportional-representation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=4435","title":{"rendered":"Abbotsford News re: Proportional Representation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>My proportional representation voting package arrived the other day.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I will be voting NO as should everyone, including those who support proportional representation, because the process is so flawed that NO is the only option where there is any certainty as to the electoral process we are voting for.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Roadmap-Understanding-NDP-proposal.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4421 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Roadmap-Understanding-NDP-proposal-150x150.png\" alt=\"Roadmap Understanding NDP proposal\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is rather ironic the NDP\/Greens are selling proportional representation as \u2018improving\u2019, \u2018fixing\u2019 and \u2018making our democracy more democratic\u2019 with a proposal that is inherently undemocratic and that goes with the lowest first past the post standard of 50% + 1 <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Election reform is the most important issue currently in front of citizens, the most important issue citizens have ever had in front of them &#8211; despite the cavalier, feckless behavior of the NDP\/Green collaboration..<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet, ignoring the fact that an overwhelming percentage of Canadians have neither experience with nor a clear understanding of proportional representation there has been no discussion of the effect a change will have on how politicians are elected and governments chosen. No discussion about why we need to change or about the purpose and goals of any change. No discussion about of the mechanics of proportional representation or of the history and experience of proportional representation. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And a notable avoidance of any discussion of side effects and consequences of changing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We are talking about changing the way we choose our governments from the system used since Canada became the Dominion of Canada in 1867 to\u2026.umm\u2026.. whatever it is changed to.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Considering the effects and consequences of changing our electoral system; the profound effect a change will have on the outcome of elections and government behaviour; and the potential for undesired outcomes and consequences one would think that what the government proposes we change to would be explicitly defined. However, instead of clear and explicit we have the bewildering \u2018whatever\u2019 of the NDP\/Green proposal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I suppose, given the involvement of politicians, one should not be surprised that even with a change as significant as how we choose our government it is business as usual &#8211; vague, confusing and misleading.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NDP\/Green collaboration and their supporters have been crusading around BC with the zeal of snake oil salesmen as they seek to sell people on jumping off the proverbial bridge [my mother: \u201cwould you jump off a bridge because \u2018everyone else is doing it\u201d?] \u00a0into the great unknowns of the NDP\/Green proposal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The vagueness and lack of clarity in the proposal is no doubt a benefit in selling voters on voting yes since it allows the meaning of the proposal to be interpreted in numerous different ways thereby making it easier to target the sales pitch to the audience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even if the language was precise you would still be buying \u2018whatever\u2019 should you vote for proportional representation because the vote will not dictate specifics but simply provide \u2018direction\u2019 to whoever writes the legislation. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And although Premier Horgan states the legislation will be written by some unspecified and undefined group of non-politicians there is nothing in the proposal preventing the NDP\/Green collaboration from writing the legislation themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps the most undemocratic aspect of the proposal is that the written legislation setting out the new electoral system does not require approval of even a simple majority of the voters, much less the significant proportion of voters [80 &#8211; 90%] that such a significant change demands.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While politicians and political parties may come and go, the process we use to elect them stays\u2026\u2026.although \u00a0with proportional representation getting rid of a politician, a party or changing the government can be more complicated than with our first past the post system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether the headlong rush of the NDP and Greens is the result of the tactical advantage in holding onto government and power the NDP and Greens see in proportional representation or the result of some other factor, the only way citizens can avoid being stuck with whatever the politicians eventually come up with and can have the final say in how politicians and governments are elected is to vote for No to the slipshop proposal from the NDP\/Green collaboration.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I am not about to buy an undefined electoral system from politicians I wouldn\u2019t buy a used car from.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Caveat emptor<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, let the buyer beware, means choosing certainty over an undefined, uncertain \u2018whatever\u2019 by voting to retain our current system by voting NO to the unsound and delusive NDP\/Green proposal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Any change to our electoral system requires discussion, exploring, understanding NOT unclear, feckless, slipshod, delusive, whatever. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I think, therefore I vote NO.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My proportional representation voting package arrived the other day. I will be voting NO as should everyone, including those who support proportional representation, because the process is so flawed that NO is the only option where there is any certainty as to the electoral process we are voting for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,25,62,21,64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-caveat-emptor","category-point-of-view","category-politics-the-issues","category-provincial","category-the-james-commentary"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Abbotsford News re: Proportional Representation - James W. Breckenridge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=4435\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Abbotsford News re: Proportional Representation - James W. Breckenridge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My proportional representation voting package arrived the other day. I will be voting NO as should everyone, including those who support proportional representation, because the process is so flawed that NO is the only option where there is any certainty as to the electoral process we are voting for.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=4435\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"James W. Breckenridge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-06T06:49:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Roadmap-Understanding-NDP-proposal-150x150.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James W. Breckenridge\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James W. Breckenridge\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/?p=4435#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/?p=4435\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"James W. Breckenridge\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5e8aac012477fbd6782de6641b564730\"},\"headline\":\"Abbotsford News re: Proportional Representation\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-06T06:49:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/?p=4435\"},\"wordCount\":759,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/?p=4435#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/Roadmap-Understanding-NDP-proposal-150x150.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Caveat emptor\",\"Consider\",\"Politics\",\"Provincial\",\"The James Commentary\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/?p=4435#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/?p=4435\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/?p=4435\",\"name\":\"Abbotsford News re: Proportional Representation - James W. Breckenridge\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/?p=4435#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/?p=4435#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/Roadmap-Understanding-NDP-proposal-150x150.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-06T06:49:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5e8aac012477fbd6782de6641b564730\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/?p=4435#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/?p=4435\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/?p=4435#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/Roadmap-Understanding-NDP-proposal.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/Roadmap-Understanding-NDP-proposal.png\",\"width\":1048,\"height\":1264},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/?p=4435#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Abbotsford News re: Proportional Representation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/\",\"name\":\"James W. Breckenridge\",\"description\":\"Advocate for the Homeless in Abbotsford, BC\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5e8aac012477fbd6782de6641b564730\",\"name\":\"James W. Breckenridge\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ff6c8deb98ae4c6bdac84466bb69fa996132849ab712df7ee59522caf3872c10?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ff6c8deb98ae4c6bdac84466bb69fa996132849ab712df7ee59522caf3872c10?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ff6c8deb98ae4c6bdac84466bb69fa996132849ab712df7ee59522caf3872c10?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James W. Breckenridge\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Abbotsford News re: Proportional Representation - James W. Breckenridge","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=4435","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Abbotsford News re: Proportional Representation - James W. Breckenridge","og_description":"My proportional representation voting package arrived the other day. I will be voting NO as should everyone, including those who support proportional representation, because the process is so flawed that NO is the only option where there is any certainty as to the electoral process we are voting for.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=4435","og_site_name":"James W. Breckenridge","article_published_time":"2018-12-06T06:49:08+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Roadmap-Understanding-NDP-proposal-150x150.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"James W. Breckenridge","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James W. Breckenridge","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=4435#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=4435"},"author":{"name":"James W. Breckenridge","@id":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/5e8aac012477fbd6782de6641b564730"},"headline":"Abbotsford News re: Proportional Representation","datePublished":"2018-12-06T06:49:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=4435"},"wordCount":759,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=4435#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Roadmap-Understanding-NDP-proposal-150x150.png","articleSection":["Caveat emptor","Consider","Politics","Provincial","The James Commentary"],"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=4435#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=4435","url":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=4435","name":"Abbotsford News re: Proportional Representation - James W. Breckenridge","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=4435#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=4435#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Roadmap-Understanding-NDP-proposal-150x150.png","datePublished":"2018-12-06T06:49:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/5e8aac012477fbd6782de6641b564730"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=4435#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=4435"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=4435#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Roadmap-Understanding-NDP-proposal.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Roadmap-Understanding-NDP-proposal.png","width":1048,"height":1264},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=4435#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Abbotsford News re: Proportional Representation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/","name":"James W. Breckenridge","description":"Advocate for the Homeless in Abbotsford, BC","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/5e8aac012477fbd6782de6641b564730","name":"James W. Breckenridge","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ff6c8deb98ae4c6bdac84466bb69fa996132849ab712df7ee59522caf3872c10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ff6c8deb98ae4c6bdac84466bb69fa996132849ab712df7ee59522caf3872c10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ff6c8deb98ae4c6bdac84466bb69fa996132849ab712df7ee59522caf3872c10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"James W. Breckenridge"},"url":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4435"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4437,"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4435\/revisions\/4437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}