Election Day + 1

Good Morning....a new day.

First, I have to say this.......I ache for all the Citizens' Assembly folks who believe passionately in the BC-STV.
Bruce Halsor made excellent comments on the CBC Vancouver Island radio show this morning. He commended the 7000 BC-STV volunteers around the province. We all ran a positive campaign and we KNOW when we could speak face to face that the voters understood and were supportive.
I am not a political analyst so will not presume to understand what happened. I do know that there are 44% of voters in the Cowichan Valley who really "get it" and, as has been our motto, they are willing to "do politics differently".

We connected with amazing people.

With gratitude to all of you who showed your support by putting up a sign, handing out pamphlets, participating in "waving Wednesdays" and believing in electoral reform.

Sandy

UPDATE - Watch, Learn, Distribute Widely

UPDATE: Last night, I sent the link to this video to ALL my contacts on Gmail. Didn't bother with filtering, so it would have gone to Staples, the Upton Tea Co in the US, etc. etc. Just got this response from someone I've not been in touch with in years: "Hello Ocean. Thank-you for sending this my way. I have listened to it and am passing it onto family."

Makes it worth my likely being removed from some people's contact list.

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If you haven't seen this video yet and you're still unconvinced that this province needs the democratic reform which BC-STV would start, then watch it now. It's of former Deputy Premier Christy Clark speaking on CKNW last week. She openly confesses why she voted against BC-STV in 2005: her personal interests as a politician were best served by first-past-the-post.

CTV last night reported that the tide is turning in favour of the reform, with online polls showing over 60 percent support of BC-STV. We CAN win this. Let's do it.

Please distribute the video, or forward a link to this post, to everybody you know, regardless of whether they live in BC - their friends may know people in BC... This really IS a small world.

Other must-see videos: The Choice, Fair Results, BC-STV in Action.

Read ASL (Sign Language)? BC-STV Explained in Two Minutes

Yet defenders of the status quo - almost all of them politicians or political wannabes - say the system is "confusing," even "baffling."

MUST SEE VIDEO

It's of former Deputy Premier Christy Clark speaking on CKNW yesterday. She says that the referendum on electoral reform is the most important vote British Columbians will cast and she is open about why she voted against BC-STV in the last referendum: for reasons of personal interest as a politician who benefited from FPTP.



Please distribute the video, or forward a link to this post, to everybody you know.

Second GREAT Ad: Donate to Get It On Air!

Only $50,000 more is needed to get both ads on air. Please donate if you can: $10, $20, any amount helps.

Farley Mowat Requests a Moment of Your Time

One of Canada’s most-loved authors is asking his thousands of fans across British Columbia for a birthday present. Farley Mowat, whose books have been translated into 20 languages and sold in the millions around the world, turns 88 on May 12. He has one wish on our election day: vote yes for BC-STV.

The author of such time-honoured books as Never Cry Wolf (1963) and Sea of Slaughter (1984) says British Columbians have the opportunity to finally retire our current outdated voting system and set the standard for democracy right across the country.

On May 12, in a province wide referendum on electoral reform, voters will have a chance to make history and change the way politicians are elected. British Columbians will choose between the current “first-past-the-post” system and the STV system that was recommended overwhelmingly by the Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform. In the last election, BC-STV received more votes than any political party, nearly 58 per cent. However, the referendum requires 60 per cent approval to be adopted by the government.

British Columbians for BC-STV is the official proponent of the single transferable vote (STV) system, as proposed by the BC Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform in 2004. More information about the STV system and how British Columbians can get involved in the campaign is available at www.stv.ca or by calling 1-866-835-7612. Voters can also join the online discussion about electoral reform through the Facebook group “Yes for BC-STV” and www.twitter.com/BCSTV.

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Environmentalists Endorse BC-STV

Another big endorsement.

Prominent environmentalists are coming out in favour of a yes vote for the proposed single-transferable-vote system, commonly referred to as BC-STV.

Vancouver's David Suzuki, green crusader Tzeporah Berman, climate-change specialist Mark Jaccard, Greenpeace Canada executive director Bruce Cox and resource economist Wendy Holm all support a switch to the new system, according to a news release from the BC-STV yes campaign.