Former members of the BC Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform held a five-year reunion last weekend at the Wosk Centre in Vancouver, the site of their ground-breaking work leading to a recommendation that BC adopt the single transferable vote (STV) system. The assembly alumni were joined by BC-STV campaign activists, organizers and volunteers from across the province.

British Columbians will vote again on the BC-STV proposal in a May 12, 2009 referendum. In the 2005 referendum, nearly 58% voted in favour, but the popular reform was not implemented because the government set and the opposition supported a 60% threshold.

Among the featured speakers at the January 10-11 event were former Assembly chair Jack Blaney, former BC Liberal Party leader Gordon Gibson, Dr. Dennis Pilon, author of The Politics of Voting, former assembly research director Dr. Ken Carty, and political scientist Dr. Fred Cutler. Participants took part in workshops on campaign communications and community organizing and were introduced to newly-hired BC-STV campaign manager Susan Anderson Behn.

For more details on the BC-STV campaign, visit stv.ca.