The Surrey Board of Trade is concerned that the BC Government is moving ahead with the Elections Reform Referendum. BILL 40 – 2018 ELECTORAL REFORM REFERENDUM 2018 AMENDMENT ACT, 2018, tabled today in the BC legislature.
“Our members who participated in our survey on electoral reform, made it very clear that they would prefer to have more time to study the various options,” said CEO Anita Huberman. “We also implemented a survey of those who participated in a very informative Surrey Board of Trade Surrey Hot Topic Dialogue, and they are still asking for more time. Simply put, many don’t understand the various options and their implications or economic benefits.”
Members who responded to both surveys and participated in the dialogue strongly asked to postpone the referendum. Their request is to have clear examples of what each option would look like. Being told that an option will have so many MLAs or another option will transfer votes does not provide a concise or tangible example that would be useful for those trying to figure it all out.
As one member commented: The exact process should be determined before the referendum, and scenarios to show how the systems would affect outcomes should be provided. SBOT should advocate for a delay until the exact mechanism is determined.
All other comments were variations on this theme and all, without exception, asked SBOT to advocate for delay.
“We represent over 6,000 business contacts represented by 2,600 business members,” said Huberman. “They have a vested interest in how a governing system will impact how they are able to engage in the BC economy. Changing governing systems without clearly identifying impacts is very concerning. We cannot stress enough the need to delay until people know exactly what it is that they are voting for.”
(From Surrey Board of Trade Release)