Our current form of democracy (Representational Democracy) is in need of an overhaul since it can be manipulated into an elected dictatorship.
Every election we, the people, give our power away to politicians who are supposed to act on our behalf. More often than not, the ruling elite make backroom deals with corporations and special interest groups.
Decisions are forced upon us against our will.
The people of the Alberni Valley do not want our community transformed into a coal port. We do not want to breathe poisonous air and drink contaminated water. Yet, our local and appointed politicians in collusion with corporations have decided to dredge our harbour and turn our port into a major, shipping terminal for Asia.
The time has come for the citizens of the Alberni Valley to reclaim our power and tell government, “No, not in our name!”
The Swiss have been doing this for almost 200 years with their system of Direct Democracy combined with a refined version of Proportional Voting. Thus, Swiss people are invested with more powers to express their political will more precisely.
In Switzerland, local people are engaged in governance with a mechanism known as ‘citizen-initiated referendum.’ These referendums are BINDING and elected officials must do what the people want whether or not ‘they’ like the outcome of a particular referendum.
Direct Democracy in Switzerland
To find out more about proportional voting in Switzerland, follow this link: www.democracy-building.info or Google search “Switzerland’s Refined Proportional Representation System.”
*Historical Note….Here in British Columbia, we were ‘allowed’ to vote on two, ‘proportional voting’ referendums to reform our election system. However, the Gordon Campbell government made sure these referendums would fail at the onset…a simple majority of votes in favour of electoral reform was not sufficient. 60% of ALL votes provincially and 50+% in EVERY riding had to be tallied in favour of the change. It was never the intention of ‘his’ government to transfer power to British Columbians.