Skip to content

Time for ‘PR’ has come says Trail resident

Letter to the Editor from Lily Popoff of Trail
13829085_web1_C2DABBE5-D9D7-4D80-9FF9-0BD24CDE9B5B_ne201810794056994
“Proportional Representation – an idea whose time has come,” writes Lily Popoff.

Many of us are frustrated with the polarization of the political process, with parties entrenched in their positions and often oblivious to other perspectives. We have often heard it said that this may be the reason for some people being discouraged from exercising their right to vote, and possibly leading to dubious results we are beginning to see around the world.

To help remedy this I suggest we pay close attention to the October referendum on proportional representation.

Let us remember that the current “first past the post system” was designed for a time when we had just two parties to represent our views- and many of us agree it has worked fairly well.

But there seems to be a new trend emerging with Millennials looking to new, fresh approaches to governance that include cooperation between the various parties.

I believe that is a healthy move for our democracy and should be encouraged.

While no system is perfect, with pros and cons to each, this proposed method does distribute our democratic voice more equitably in our law making houses of Parliament.

To those of us who think this is too complicated, I submit that working out the most favourable method here, takes less time than it takes most of us to buy a new pair of shoes, and it is time well spent.

Proportional Representation – an idea whose time has come.

Lily Popoff

Trail