To the Editor,
With three of the four parties calling for a proportional voting system, and all four calling for Senate reform, it seems we have an opportunity. We could elect a new Senate this fall using the single transferable vote recommended by the B.C. Citizens’ Assembly.
Each province could present a slate of say 20 candidates and the voters could rate them from 1 to 10. Candidates with 50 per cent or more who poll first-choice votes would become senators. Candidates with less than 50 per cent of the first-choice votes would have their second-choice votes tallied in at a reduced value, and so on. Each province would send 10 senators to Ottawa, for a total of 100, reducing the size to a more manageable number.
This system allows the voter to have their second and third choices considered for office. The end result is a proportional Senate, a sea change from the present dysfunctional system with only Liberals and Conservatives running that body.
Such an opportunity may not come again.
Jim ErkiletianNanaimo