Re: 鈥淚鈥檒l never vote again. Here鈥檚 why,鈥� column, Jan. 20.
Upon reading Iain Hunter鈥檚 column, I felt angry. It was not so much his repudiation of proportional representation, but his assertion that he didn鈥檛 want to ruin things for future generations by changing the voting system.
Initially, I found his comments appalling, but quickly realized they were typical of the bulk of the commentariat. The establishment was totally against us.
Who are 鈥渨e鈥�? We are the various people all over British Columbia who worked hard and donated money to bring in a much fairer electoral system for us and for our children and grandchildren. I am probably about the same age as Hunter (75), and I have loathed first-past-the-post all my life.
I have resented having so little choice at the ballot box. I have resented having to vote strategically. I have resented the stifling of new ideas that is a result of our outdated voting system.
I am angry that in general, a party gaining fewer than 50 per cent of the votes gains all the power.
I, too, have considered not voting again simply because the exercise of voting under first-past-the-post is largely meaningless. However, not voting is a cop-out and so I will either vote for parties in whose programs I believe, but that have no chance, or perhaps I will just write in a vote for my dead cat. It won鈥檛 make any difference.
David Pearce
Victoria
