B.C.'s move to longer election terms draws scrutiny

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      B.C.'s plan to extend election cycles to four years is drawing mixed reaction following the government’s announcement of the move this week.

      Some local politicians, such as Vision Vancouver councillor Andrea Reimer, are pleased to see the province moving ahead with the change. She noted the step is among a series of recommended electoral reforms Vancouver city council has been pushing for since 2010.

      “It’s been a long-standing issue of debate at the Union of B.C. Municipalities, and it’s good to see them moving to some resolution on it,” Reimer told the Straight by phone. “We’d be the last province in Canada to go to four-year terms at the municipal level.”

      Others are concerned that longer cycles between municipal elections will lead to less accountability.

      “The more frequently politicians elected to office are held accountable for what they did do, or for what they failed to do during their term, the more democratic those elections,” Coalition of Progressive Electors spokesperson Tim Louis said in a phone interview.

      “If this change goes ahead, I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that there will come a point in time when the elites argue that the term should be expanded from four years to five years.”

      Patrick Smith, director of the Institute of Governance Studies at Simon Fraser University, said the move is “only a small piece of the puzzle” when it comes to electoral reform.

      “I think generally it’s a reasonably positive thing to do, but it’s probably not the most important thing that this so-called municipal legislation might have looked at,” Smith told the Straight by phone.

      “We have huge problems in the area of election financing, we have problems around conflict of interest and lobbying and all of those kinds of things that probably need more attention in terms of transparency and accountability.”

      The need for campaign finance reforms also has the support of local councillors of various political stripes.

      In March 2010, Vision Vancouver, NPA, and COPE councillors endorsed recommendations to a provincial task force on local government elections.

      In addition to extending municipal terms of office to four years, the measures also included setting annual contribution and spending limits, banning campaign contributions from sources outside of Canada, and appointing the provincial chief election officer to oversee municipal elections in B.C.

      “Oh boy do I wish that they had moved for this particular civic election on deep electoral financing reforms, so that means including the election spending limits, and restrictions on donations,” Green councillor Adriane Carr told the Straight by phone.

      Carr said she’s been hearing from residents who are “very worried” about the election cycle extension from three to four years.

      The consensus she’s heard is that “the closer you are to an election, the greater the accountability”.

      “And so if the gap is bigger, the chances are that there’s a greater period of time when a party, if it has a majority, just pushes through its agenda,” she stated.

      Reimer said arguments she’s heard in favour of the four-year election cycles include fewer costs to taxpayers, and more time for elected officials to implement a legislative agenda.

      “If the public’s going to pay for an election, giving the people they elect the time that they need to do what they said they were going to do…would make a fair amount of difference,” she said.

      But she noted that in her view, campaign finance reform is the measure that "has a high level of urgency".

      According to Smith, making B.C. consistent with other provinces is one of the pros of the longer election cycle. He noted longer terms could also translate to “less high politics and more governing”.

      “I’m not an objector on politics, but continual high politics can sometimes be more than is required,” he said.

      “So I think that will be positive, and the idea that you’ll have time to run on an idea, and see it through, which also means in electoral terms that you can then be held more accountable for it—you know, you promised to do this, we gave you enough time, did you do it?”

      Community, Sport and Cultural Development Minister Coralee Oakes announced on February 25 that legislation to extend the election cycle will be introduced this session.

      According to the B.C. government, the change to four-year terms is planned as part of a “package of local election reforms”.

      Comments

      4 Comments

      jacko

      Feb 27, 2014 at 11:19pm

      Hopefully this also means the provincial and civic elections will be held on the same day as well. That will instantly bring up the average turnout from 20-25 percent to 60 or more and will save money. It's a win win.

      G

      Feb 27, 2014 at 11:29pm

      They will sell this to us as being a "money saving" move, and nobody wants more property tax increases to pay for elections. We should have civic elections every 2 years rather than 3 or 4. Why not go for the whole hog and just designate the current mix on council as permanent and hold party races for the spots? Rather than having a vote they can simply compare who raised the most money and assign seats accordingly.

      Vision will likely win in November and we will have four more years of meaningless public "consultations" when decisions have already been made behind closed doors. Four more years of increases in the number of bureaucrats creating PR at our expense. Four more years of sweetheart deals for companies affiliated with Vision donors. Four more years of cycling & social justice being used as distractions in the media when dirty deals are made or discovered. Do you think it is a coincidence that the bike path through Kits Park was cancelled after Point Grey Road was closed to traffic?

      Somehow Vision has kept some major stories out of most media. Have you heard about their plan to subsidize a private company, owned by a prominent Vision donor, in converting to using biomass supplied by another company of which the same donor is sole director? If the story does get more coverage, the two pieces I saw were earlier in the week and quickly fell off the "city" page, Vision will spin it as being about the environment. Unfortunately too many voters will fall for it because they are so "green," just as there are too many people who will vote Vision because of bike lanes.

      Vision have plans for the city that will make profits their developer friends never dreamed of under the NPA. Some of that money will be funnelled back into the coffers of Vision but mostly their candidates. After giving developers city-wide zoning changes they have agitated for every Vision pol will have her/his future secured. The Vision propaganda machine will be at full steam from now until the election, spinning the bad stories and emphasizing "green" & "social justice" issues. The Mayor has already begun to get ahead of the homeless problem by saying how much better it is since he promised to end the scourge. We won't hear much about Hootsuite or the parking garage greenhouse or the DES police station gift to a California company or about development, at least from Vision.

      Provincial control

      Feb 28, 2014 at 10:00am

      Why does the Province get any say over this at all? Surely each municipality should decide for itself? I recall several referendums about a ward system which actually passed, but the bright lights in Victoria decided the 'majority wasn't large enough'.

      Jean W.

      Feb 28, 2014 at 2:39pm

      I'd like to see municipal elections two years. Four years of putting up with a council I don't want representing me is a very long time.
      With many councillors in their senior years, how can he or she predictthat health will allow the four term to be fulfilled? ust think of all of the by elections that will take place. Voters are apathetic at municipal elections as it is, and few turn out at by elections.
      Why wasn't this decided as part of a referendum at municipal elections so those who care enough to come out and vote would have a say!