By Stephen Kronstein

I'm a former Green politician who lost faith in our Canadian electoral systems, having retired from the playing field nearly a decade ago because of the hopelessness of FPTP— first-past-the-post. I needed to protect myself by spending my energy more wisely than on an insane political process.

The 2018 referendum on electoral reform includes a few different options, and I warn you that MMP—mixed-member proportional—is only slightly better than FPTP, and really not that much different. It still concentrates power in the hands of the party leadership, perhaps even more so than FPTP, which is to say that it does not deliver significantly more power to the voter.

MMP was the favourite of the Green leadership back in the day, and I was a critical voice against it when then Green leader Adriane Carr was pushing hard for this option.

It would have made her one of the most powerful people in the country, even if she was never elected by the public, and critical voices like mine would have become the weakest.

That's because MMP effectively eliminates dissenting voices within a party. Had MMP been in use, I would have needed to keep my mouth shut if I ever hoped to stay in the leader's good books and make the list put forward by the "party" (read "leader"). This kind of so-called democratic power is not ethical, nor what British Columbians are seeking in this referendum.

While MMP will certainly provide us more proportional results, which is key, it will also concentrate power. The leader will be allowed to select the ranking of candidate lists of their proportional take, insomuch that party candidates must kiss their party leader's butt if they ever hope to be ranked high enough to make the cut to become an MLA. This serves to reduce the democratic power of voters and candidates.

DMP—dual-member proportional—is far superior in terms of promoting a democratic voice, as is RUP—rural-urban proportional. The STV nature of the RUP option is my favourite as it maintains a strong independent voice in our democracy.

When you cast your ballot, I recommend selecting RUP for a true democracy.

This is coming from a four-time electoral candidate who never ran with the illusion or desire of being elected, or grabbing power.

It was always my sole purpose to educate the public about the pending doom of our plastic society and globalized food security, and any chance for my election was purely incidental. If I was able to deliver that message to the public, I was a winner every time despite the realities of FPTP.

Help all British Columbians be winners by voting for RUP in B.C.'s referendum.