Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Retirees Association

Retirees Association / Previous Years / 2009 / March / David Huntley, "The British Columbia Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, the B.C. Single Transferable Vote (BC-STV), and the Referendum on May 12, 2009."

seminar

David Huntley, "The British Columbia Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, the B.C. Single Transferable Vote (BC-STV), and the Referendum on May 12, 2009."

March 31, 2009

Time: 12:00PM–1:30PM

In 2004 the B.C. Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform recommended that British Columbia use the B.C. Single Transferable Vote (BC-STV) electoral system for electing MLAs in the future. In the May 2005 referendum 57.7% of voters said yes, just short of the 60% that the legislature had set for its use in 2009. Because of the high acceptance the legislature has mandated a second referendum in May 2009.

I will discuss:

* Why the Citizens' Assembly was formed.
* How it was formed and who its members were.
* What the Citizens' Assembly did for almost all of 2004.
* The BC-STV electoral system that the Citizens' Assembly recommended.
* Why the Citizens' Assembly recommended BC-STV.