Representative Democracy
When A Provincial Election Is Called
1) All 93 MLAs must now give up their seats, and campaign to have themselves re-elected or thrown out, as the case may be.
2) The campaign is held for a period of 38 days, with advance polling beginning 30 days before the provincial election begins.
3) At the end of the 38-day period, the MLA with the most votes is the winner in a first past the post electoral system.
4) The political party with the most MLAs forms the government. With 93 seats up for grabs, it will take 47 + 1 seats to form a narrow majority. That is not the best-case scenario.
The political party with a narrow majority of seats could face a non-confidence vote on any law or bill that it is trying to get passed. Should a non-confidence vote win, then it sets off another provincial election; more costs for the taxpayer.
5) At the present time, there are no free votes in the BC Legislature. Most MLAs are told how to by their party, with little or no input from their constituents.
6) A premier is elected by his or her party, as the lead spokesperson in the BC Legislature. He or she does wield a lot of power.
7) A Bill becomes law after it has been thoroughly discussed through three readings of that Bill in the BC Legislature. However, as we saw with Bill 36, the NDP majority government invoked closure, cut off any further debate, and received royal assent. Bill 36 passed, as they hold more votes than any other party combined. It now becomes law.
8) In order for a Bill, which is now the law to be enforced, the government of the day must pass regulations, at a time of their choosing. Once those regulations are passed, the law becomes enforceable.
9) At every sitting, the government can choose to introduce bills, discuss them, debate them on their merits, or not, and proceed because they have a majority. The people, by virtue of the electoral process, have no say whatsoever, although their MLA can object and vote against the Bill, but faces the consequences that, if he or she should vote against the bill, he or she could be thrown out of the party, and he or she would sit as an Independent MLA.
10) Any MLA can introduce a private members’ Bill that his or her constituents want him or her to bring to the Legislature, and it can be heard. But, the likelihood of it going any further than a little bit of discussion, is very unlikely.
11) The BC Legislature also has a question period, but usually the opposition party gets to ask all the questions, and an Independent has a 15-minute time slot to introduce a private members’ Bill, or question the government on other issues that his or her constituents may want him or her to bring up.
12) MLAs can also be asked to sit on committees or boards, to thoroughly discuss a proposed Bill, and bring it back to the Legislature for further debate. He or she can also ask their constituents for their input and opinion.
“The electoral voting system should be taught in schools,
but as far as I know, that has not ever been the case.”
A) Once a new Premier is elected by the party, he or she has a lot of power with the direction of the party.
He or she can make new rules, laws, bills, hold referendums on issues of major importance, and expenditures for the benefit and betterment of the province and its tax-paying citizens.
The elected MLAs can actually hold town hall meetings every three or four months to discuss current policies, proposals and any changes that will affect the citizenry, as a whole.
OR
They can go in the opposite direction, and not hold any town hall meetings, and strictly rule in the party’s favour.
The MLAs in a party have no say whatsoever. The MLA must vote as the party wants him or her to vote. They are controlled by the party whip.
This is the top-down model of governance, and that’s why we continuously have low voter turn-out. The ruling party pisses us off, and we show our displeasure by not voting at all, which plays right into their hands.
So, in conclusion, the NDP always gets out their core of support. Same goes with the BC United party and the Green party. Those votes comprise half of the voter turn-out. The other half don’t vote at all. That’s a sad state of affairs.
B) An MLA’s entire responsibility lies with his or her constituents, and they get to decide whether or not they approve of the government and the laws they are trying to pass, and must vote accordingly.
C) The last provincial election had an astounding non-voter turn-out of 50% or 1.5 million that never bothered to cast a vote, because, in their minds it was, “What’s the point? What’s the use? They’re all the same. Nothing ever changes. They never ask me for my opinion.”
E) The paradigm of voter apathy continues unabated. Independent BC wants to change that. Be part of the change for the benefit and betterment of all British Columbians. Let’s Make History!!
Conclusion
The Independent BC Initiative wants to, “Bring Power Back to You ~ The Voter”, and build a trust with all the citizens of British Columbia,
no matter what political party with which the people align themselves; especially the 50% that did not vote in the last 2020 provincial election. There is a “New Way to Vote”
Independent Candidates will be educated on the responsibility of holding town hall meetings every three to four months, to give the people a voice, such like they have never had before.
Just imagine… when we are successful in winning 40 + Independent seats in the next provincial election, we would form government. or at the very least, hold the balance of power.