Editor:
I admire the people who came out to protest Bill C-51 on March 14.
I was out of town and could not attend, but my real reason for not protesting against that bill may be the total futility of it. We live in a democracy where the party in power represents 38 per cent of the population and has formed a false majorityI government. When Bill C-51 passes, and there is no reasonable hope it will not, there is good reason to believe that this right to protest will even be more eroded. However, when we get electoral reform, specifically proportional representation, we will most likely end up with a coalition government, and then your objections to bills like this will be heard and will have real effect.
In order to effect electoral reform, we will need 170 members of Parliament to pass a bill that will lead to that.
I recently had a discussion with our MP John Weston, a very civilized and intelligent man, dedicated to his job. He understands proportional representation well, as you would expect. I was sure he agreed with me about the advantages it will bring to the function of our Parliament. I wanted him to commit himself to voting for it when elected, but that was where the buck stopped. It became quite clear that despite his personal conviction, he would not or could not ignore the directions from the Prime Minister’s office, and we all know what that is.
We can continue to have noisy and ineffective demonstrations or we can put our efforts in working towards electoral reform. Fair Vote Canada (www.fairvote.ca) is dedicated to this goal. We need your vote.
Goze Vlasblom, Sechelt
