Our comments to the BC Special Committee on Democratic and Electoral Reform
In July 2025, on behalf of Unlock Democracy Canada, I had an opportunity to speak to and submit written comments to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia’s Special Committee on Democratic and Electoral Reform.
This committee of cross-partisan BC MLAs, exists to make recommendations related to democratic engagement, voter participation, changing BC’s voting system, and improving future provincial elections.
I spoke directly to BC MLAs about the challenges with first-past-the-post (FPTP), the need for BC elections to use proportional representation (PR), and, in the spirit of Unlock Democracy’s Local Choice campaign, called for them to grant BC municipalities the power to choose how they run their own elections, including with a ranked ballot.
You can scroll through the Hansard transcript or just read our written submission here.
I am pleased they seem to be listening to my suggestions along with the many other thoughtful, passionate remarks from so many other individuals and organizations. You can hear Committee Deputy Chair and Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Ward Stamer talk about some exciting voting reform changes being considered.
It seems like BC is on the cusp of some big changes, but only if we organize from the grassroots to broadly support and push for these changes. Unlock Democracy is going to ramp up our work in BC in the months ahead to meet this moment, and we need your help.
First, we need you to update your profile to let us know your province, city, or postal code. Our work to improve democracy depends entirely on location, so letting us know where you are means we can focus on sharing with you the most relevant information where you can make the biggest impact locally, close to home.
What do you have to do? It's simple! Just click this link and update your province, city, and postal code with us in under one minute.
Second, we need you to send this blog post to someone in BC that cares about democracy and that should be on our mailing list. Ask them to sign up with the same link above.
There is something amazing happening in BC, and we have a chance to seize this opportunity. If you’re in BC and want to help, send us an email (info@unlockdemocracy.ca) and we’ll be in touch soon.
Sincerely,
Kevin Rupasinghe
Executive Director
Unlock Democracy Canada