Yesterday, I blogged that the Province's Local Gov't Elections Task Force released its' final report. This Task Force was co-chaired by Bill Bennett (Rural & Community Development Minister) and Harry Nyce (President - Union of BC Municipalities)
I have now gone through all recommendations and I support all of them except 1
Task Force recommends that no restoration of the Corporate Vote
I was disappointed in this recommendation as I felt restoring the corporate vote was the right thing to do. I understand the argument for those who oppose restoration on the grounds that business owners would get two votes - 1 as a resident and 1 as a business owner. However, I think that those business owners who have a legitimate interest in civic affairs and don't reside in the City but don't have a vote needed a solution that works for them.
And this is why I feel a system of a corporate vote for those who don't live in the City and have a legitimate interest in having a direct say in how the local government conducts its' taxation matters was the appropriate way to go. Perhaps if these issues can be worked at in the future, then we'll have a truly democratic system of voting in local governments and ensuring accountability for the elected officials, from all the different tax classes
Coincidentally - Don Cayo (Vancouver Sun Columnist) has something to say on this subject as well. You can read his take on the continuing of the no corporate vote here
No comments:
Post a Comment