BC Election: Yes & No On All Counts

Were I in BC, I would vote Green if my riding wasn't in play, unless there was some candidate I found outstanding. Were it a swing riding, I'd vote on the basis of the candidates. But like many I suppose, I'm torn. I can't stand Campbell & Co., but he's right on the carbon tax, James is shamefully wrong & were the NDP to win they would simply have to repeal it as victory would imply some crucial pickups in the Interior, quite apart from losing all credibility after having campaigned against it for so long and so hard. If the Liberals are perceived to have lost in part because of the carbon tax, after the last Federal Election, that would be a terrible, terrible setback for one crucial tool in changing habits as part of fighting climate change. Probably the definitive death knell for it. Absolutely terrible for Canadian politics coast to coast to coast. I can't see any good result from this election, so I'm hoping for a 1996 repeat, whoever wins: the party with a majority of seats winning less votes than its main rival. I hope that this might oblige the winner, lacking legitimacy, to pay more heed to the opposition and adapt its policies accordingly. Since the carbon tax seems to have gone from popular to generally unpopular and for reasons cited James would probably axe it no matter what, I am astonished to find myself hoping for a Campbell government with the NDP winning more votes. That is of course the analysis of someone more concerned with the election's pan-Canadian impact, rather than all the local issues. But it's a pretty big consideration, killing off the carbon tax for good in Canadian politics all the same.

I'm in favour of electoral reform, but the STV can't be simply explained to the masses. Any electoral system should be explainable in a couple of sentences. Otherwise the electorate doesn't know what's what and that leads to the sort of antidemocratic consocianalist politics (or "elite accomodation") one sees in various European countries. And this eventually leads to extreme protest parties whose subtext is "Simplify everything!" emerging & even winning, normally with extreme right-wing, not to say fascistic, tendencies. I'm in favour of a simplified preferential voting system or a mixed member proportional, either of which is easily explainable. But were STV to pass, its bias in favour of the creation and entrenchment of small parties means it would never be changed. So I think those who say "pass it now and get a better proportional system later" are misguided. Once STV's in, it's in for good. So I'd vote no to STV, however much this election highlights the need for reform. But politically, the carbon tax issue will be decided for good in this election, so it's no use hoping an NDP government's repeal could be eventually countered by a future STV coalition next time. Four years hence, the carbon tax storyline established, it would remain gone for good.

PR won't die, given repeated distortions of FPTP in Canadian politics. Carbon tax can, and will, if NDP wins. So in conclusion, hope NDP wins most votes, Liberals most seats, and STV fails

These thoughts were inspired by a couple of articles, one with which I agree, Harcourt throws support behind provincial carbon tax,
one I don't, STV is a voting system worth supporting.