Greens promise proportional representation, lower voting age

VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – The BC Greens have unveiled their democratic platform, which includes a switch to a proportional representation electoral system and a promise to drop the voting age to 16.

Leader Andrew Weaver was in Victoria this afternoon, where he promised the Greens would introduce proportional representation, establish a public watchdog to oversee government advertising and communications and establish a provincial budget officer to independently analyze the province’s finances.

The Federal Liberals and Alberta’s NDP promised to introduce proportional representation, but both reversed their positions once they were elected.

“I believe the people of BC will trust us. They will trust us because there’s been a track record of doing what we say and being consistent.”

Weaver also wants to drop the voting age to 16.

“We can send people to war. You can get married at 16. You can leave home at 16, You can drive at 16 and you can be taxed at 16. And taxation without representation goes fundamentally against the essence of our democratic principles.”

Weaver has also pledged to:
-block cabinet ministers from engaging in partisan fundraising
-ban corporate, union and out-of-province donations
-and place limits on individual contributions.

“After decades of broken promises, British Columbians have lost trust in their government – and rightfully so,” Weaver says.

The BC Green Party banned corporate and union donations in September. The NDP has promised to ban them if elected, while the Liberals would convene a panel to review campaign financing. The RCMP is currently investigating a series of potentially illegal political contributions made by lobbyists that were uncovered by a recent Globe and Mail investigation.

British Columbians head to the polls on May 9th.

 

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