Dear Editor:
I’m writing in support of last week’s NDP budget. I liked it because of the priority on making life a bit easier for people, particularly with the proposed spending on child care and housing.
I’m also writing because I think this budget was a clear demonstration of how important voting is.
This was a very different budget from any we’ve seen from the B.C. Liberals. Well, of course it’s different, you may be thinking – it’s a different party in power. But that’s my point. It’s a different party in power because of how we voted. The budget is different because we voted for it. That’s why voting is important.
Quite a lot of people don’t agree with this. They think that all politicians are the same; one’s as bad as the other; it doesn’t matter which party gets in or who we get to represent us locally, and therefore there’s no real point in voting. All you’re doing by voting is legitimizing the powers that be. But this budget shows that who you vote for makes a difference.
That’s why I hope we’ll get proportional representation in the upcoming referendum. That would make sure our legislature is a better reflection of how we vote and would eliminate the kinds of distortion we usually get with our current system, where a party with a minority of the vote can form a majority government.
The budgets and the legislation that we get are decided by who we elect. We should use a voting system that elects who we vote for.
Iain Macanulty, Burnaby
