1. Our submission to the Task Force argued against the re-introduction of the corporate vote and we are very pleased that the Task Force agreed with our argument.
2. Our submission urged the Task Force to, in turn, urge the Province to address the matters of the declining rate of municipal voter turnout, stating that we believe that voter apathy is overcome only when citizens believe their vote matters. We deeply regret that the Task Force did not address this matter. We will need to find new ways to remind government of the need to address this.

On another note, we wonder how the Task Force recommendation to change the length of ‘term of office’ to four years might impact the issue of voter turnout. The Task Force didn’t indicate why four years is better than three; rather, the rationale seems to be to have municipal elections conform to provincial and federal practice, and the practice in other provinces.

The idea raises some interesting questions. Will this longer period prompt voters to feel even less engaged if they are called on to vote less frequently? Will elected officials assume that voters will forget promises made four years prior? In other words, how will four-year terms better serve citizens?

In October of last year, the Taskforce was charged with the reviewing issues relating to local government elections and has been gathering input with a view to recommending legislative changes “to improve the electoral process for local government elections across B.C.”

Although there are likely a number of issues that such a review could have focussed on (voter apathy and declining participation in elections being chief among these), the Taskforce was given the task of focusing on a more restricted set of issues first and foremost. These are:

• Campaign finance, including contribution/spending disclosure and limits, and tax credits
• Enforcement processes and outcomes
• Role of the chief electoral officer (B.C.) in local government elections
• Election cycle (term of office)
• Corporate vote
• Other agreed upon matters, (e.g. matters raised in UBCM resolutions such as eligibility of local government volunteers to be candidates)

It was the fifth of these items that promted our letter to the Taskforce. In particular, because there has been a concerted effort on the part of certain business associations to push for an extension of voting rights to for-profit corporations. Under such a change, someone who owned a business in the City of Vancouver would get to vote twice… something that we feel us fundamentally counter to the spirit of democracy and the notion of “one person, one vote.”

Beyond the broader principles of the issue, there are also substantial practical limitations to any rationale in support of the corporate vote.

The text of our letter is excerpted here:

…Our commitment to such community engagement, and our recognition that the per capita rate of municipal voter turnout in Vancouver has declined since 1990 (source: City of Vancouver letter to Task Force, January 27, 2010) prompts us to respond negatively to the proposed reinstatement of the corporate vote in municipal elections in B.C.

Our response is based on several factors:

1. 1. In their argument in favour of the corporate vote, organizations such as the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and the BC Chamber of Commerce suggest that the corporations’ property tax load warrants the right to vote, what they describe as “fairness in representation”. It is our experience, however, that the right to vote has an impact on who is elected but has no obvious influence on how those elected will govern. In other words, reinstating the corporate vote does not appear to be a solution to the problem that business and advocacy organizations have identified.
2. Further, the conclusions stated in the Corporate Vote Discussion Paper on the impact of the corporate vote prior to 1996 indicate that “the effectiveness of the vote on addressing business concerns were arguably minimal.” and “The corporate vote as it formerly existed did not appear to directly impact tax rates on business.” (source: Government Voting Task Force Corporate Vote Discussion Paper, p. 7)
3. There are many municipal services that are of benefit to both residents and businesses (e.g., roads and sidewalks, sewage systems, waterworks, recycling, fire and rescue services, etc.). There are other municipal services that are of compelling need to residents and of little or no interest to corporations (e.g., libraries and parks, animal control, etc.). It is easy to foresee the possibility of residents’ perceiving their needs being set aside because of a perceived greater impact of corporate voters.
4. The right to vote is no longer based on paying taxes but rather, on ones status as an individual citizen. This principle needs to remain intact and unaltered.
5. We believe that it is undemocratic for a voter to have more than one vote. The right to vote should remain an individual right. The (re-)creation of a corporate voting mechanism would negatively compromise this.
6. It is widely recognized that the per capita rate of municipal voter turnout has declined since 1990, and that voter apathy is overcome only when citizens believe their vote matters. Reintroduction of the corporate vote could have the opposite effect, with voters feeling further disenfranchised. This may, in turn, create a greater reduction of public confidence in the electoral system. Rather than focus on the corporate vote, we respectfully suggest that the taskforce recommend to the Province that the important issue at hand is the need to reverse the trend of voter apathy.
7. Finally, it is apparent in Vancouver that the size of Council hasn’t changed even though the population continues to grow. This suggests two areas that we hope you will recommend that the Province explore: a) the size of Councils, and b) expanding the number of voters by instituting non-citizen resident voting rights.

In light of these seven points, we strongly urge you to recommend against the re-introduction of the corporate vote.

:: For more information on the VPSN’s position on this issue, please contact Lyndsay Poaps, Coordinator of our Democratic Spaces Working Group – lyndsay [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca.