P.E.I. Green and NDP Parties want voters electoral reform input

The leaders of P.E.I.'s Green Party and New Democratic Party say the government has to listen to Islanders before a plebiscite on electoral reform can be held.

Electoral reform has been an issue for discussion and debate since the May election.

The NDP and the Green Party received a combined 22 per cent of the popular vote in the spring election but won just a single seat between them.

As a result, a white paper on electoral reform called White Paper on Democratic Renewal came from government and a commitment to consider change.

Premier Wade MacLauchlan said in the provincial legislature that Islanders will vote in a plebiscite next spring. They will have two options to change the electoral system, or a third option to maintain the status quo.

Green Party leader and MLA Peter Bevan-Baker said it looked like government had fleshed out too much of the process before consulting with Islanders.

"My hope is that what we read in the paper that came from government is just a starting point for discussion and it's not going to limit the discussion on what the possibilities might be," he said.

"Because when you read that it certainly sounds as if there are some preferred options already laid forward. And I hope that's not the case, I hope this is a truly democratic process."

'They want to have their vote count'

The electoral model put forward in the white paper would return P.E.I. to dual member districts, 24 smaller districts organized into four larger areas based on the four federal ridings.

It would use a preferential ballot, so voters would rank their choices and increase the number of MLAs by one to 28.

NDP leader Mike Redmond said this wouldn't address the issue from the election that votes for smaller parties didn't translate into many seats.

"People want to be heard and they want to have their vote count. They now see that, you know what? When we formulated our democracy in this country it was based on a two-party system," he said.

"That's no longer the case. There is as many as four or five parties in this province. So we need to make sure that all those voices are heard."

Both leaders support the government's efforts to bring electoral reform to voters on P.E.I. but think the white paper lays out too much of the path.

Bevan-Baker is one of five MLAS on the committee looking into electoral reform.

"I hope government will take step back, and consider all options, before moving onto another plebiscite on electoral reform."