Dear Editor:
Re: Voting system isn't working, Letter to the Editor, Burnaby NOW, Oct. 14.
The voting system in Burnaby is more than adequate for citizens to choose their representatives for mayor, council and school board despite Mr. Huntley's continued drive for a preferential ballot
Burnaby at the civic level elects its representatives on an individual basis, not on a partisan basis, as is done federally and provincially.
The collection of candidates under the Conservative/Liberal originating civic party, and the collective of candidates that exist from the NDP affiliated civic party is a slate rather than a specific requirement to vote for one civic group over another. Many locations in B.C. (including North Vancouver City and District) do not have civic groups. At the provincial and federal level, one is selecting one candidate from a specific party, with the objective of having that party's leader become the premier or prime minister, as the case may be, a product of winning the most available seats in a parliament.
There is no obligation for myself or anyone to vote BCA or brand "T" party, in any volume of candidate selection. Mr. Hunter presents facts on representation, but those statistics are based on civic group collective representation. The reasons why the NDP-affiliated civic group ended up with all seats on council, plus the mayor's chair, are many: good, effective organization effort by that party, but also as a product of poor organization from alternative choices in the past and also more than one instance of political cannibalism internally.
The current situation of lopsidedness has nothing to do with the voting and balloting environment. If the citizens want to diffuse the socialist totalitarian regime on council, a few alternative choices by voting good quality candidates on the ballot will quickly change it.
A voter such as myself has no obligation to vote for all eight positions on council or the entire seven positions on school board, or even for the mayor. Nor am I am obligated to vote for a slate.
There is no need to ask my local MLA to change a voting system that is already effective, fair and simple to use.
All a person needs to do is just choose which ones of the 38 or so candidates throwing themselves out for a council seat, and which of the four candidates for mayor is best for our city. Easy. Simple. Vote for 16, vote for five of the better ones, or even just one.
This begins by one step. Get out there and vote. Low voter turnouts are a perpetual problem in civic elections.
But even better, if a person is adamant about effective change in Burnaby, get out there and volunteer for the alternative candidates that are running.
P.A. (Paul) Keenleyside, Burnaby
