Dear Editor:
I was a bit alarmed reading the request for electoral reform as put forward by IainMacanulty on June 9 (We need voting reform, Inbox, Burnaby NOW). From the way that reads, that would form of voting system, which would always favour the voters of Vancouver and put the jobs and resources we have throughout the rest of the province at an extreme disadvantage.
The population of British Columbia is 4.6 million. 3.1 million, or 67 per cent of the population, resides in the Greater Vancouver area and Vancouver Island. Yet the total land mass occupied by the Greater Vancouver area and Vancouver Island represents a paltry 0.6 per cent of the province.
As has become increasingly common in recent elections, the British Columbians who reside in the city areas of the southwest corner of the province desire to turn the rest of B.C. into a park, while the people whose livelihoods depend on developing and managing our resources wish to have continued access to jobs that aren’t in the city.
Lest anyone forget, the “21st-century economy” so desired by the Greens and presumably the NDP, relies on our province’s resources – the only reason we have wind power, solar and a growing technology sector is because we are able to mine our resources to provide engineering companies with the raw materials to make wind turbines, solar panels and computers.
We also do it the highest environmental standards in the world. Do we really want to create our 21st-century economy based on resources from parts of the world that have no regard for sustainability? Don’t bring in a electoral system that is not representative of our province, but only of those who live ignorantly and so detached from reality in B.C.’s cities.
Sally Gillies, by email
