After British Columbia’s snap election delivered the B.C. Conservatives a majority of seats with less than half of the popular vote, electoral reform advocates are once again questioning the fairness of the province’s first-past-the-post voting system. — After British Columbia’s snap election delivered the B.C. Conservatives a majority of seats with less than half of the popular vote, electoral reform advocates are once again questioning the fairness of the province’s first-past-the-post voting system. On Saturday, the B.C. Conservatives secured a majority government with 69 per cent of the seats in the legislature, despite only receiving 48 per cent of the vote. Meanwhile, the B.C. NDP won 38 per cent of the vote but 29 per cent of seats, while the B.C. Greens received 11 per cent of the vote but secured only two seats. CentreBC, despite earning 1.6 per cent of the vote, was shut out of the legislature entirely. Ryan Campbell, a spokesperson for Fair Vote Canada, says the results are not a strong endorsement of B.C.’s democracy, as they continue a trend of regional distortions in representation. “Right now, there’s effectively no opposition representation south of the Fraser River and, typically, there aren’t many Conservatives from urban areas,” Campbell said Monday in an interview with CTV News Vancouver. “So ultimately, urban Conservatives, rural progressives and Greens in much of the province get shut out of the decision-making.” He argues that while those groups may be minorities within individual ridings, collectively they represent a substantial portion of the electorate. “Health care, education, infrastructure and taxation are all decided by the people in the legislature,” Campbell said. “Our system excludes large numbers of people from that decision-making.” How proportional representation works Under a proportional representation voting system, parties would receive a share of seats that more closely matches their share of the popular vote. Campbell argues B.C. should adopt a system with multiple winners in larger electoral districts, so several parties could represent the same area. He says that kind of system could provide voters with more choice within parties, particularly in what he described as modern “big tent” political parties. “You’re not just picking your Conservative or your NDP. You can choose between multiple representatives and different perspectives within parties.” Over 80 per cent of western democracies use proportional representation, according to Fair Vote Canada, including most of the top-ranked democracies. Campbell said those countries also see higher voter turnout, whereas less than half of voters participated in B.C.’s recent snap election. “Part of that is a lack of options. People weren’t happy,” Campbell said, noting that the Green Party was the only major party to gain vote share in the election. Fair Vote Canada argues the first-past-the-post system gave former Premier David Eby the incentive to call the election two years early, in the middle of a municipal election campaign. “While the political right was temporarily split into several competitive parties, Eby saw an opportunity to sail to another majority government with a minority of the vote,” the group said in a statement Monday. “With proportional representation, the incentive to roll the dice for all the power is eliminated,” the statement continues. “No single party would have had all the power and parties would have had to compromise, creating longer-lasting solutions.” B.C.’s history with voting reform B.C. has a long history of electoral reform debates. The province used alternative voting for two elections in the early 1950s before adopting the modern first-past-the-post system in 1953, according to Elections B.C. Since then, the province has largely used the first-past-the-post system. B.C. voters considered electoral reform in referendums held in 2005, 2009 and 2018. In the most recent vote, held under the NDP government, 61.3 per cent of voters chose to retain first-past-the-post, while 38.7 per cent supported proportional representation. Momentum for another look at electoral reform may already be building. In November 2025, B.C.’s all-party committee on democratic and electoral reform unanimously recommended establishing a citizens’ assembly on electoral reform, beginning with proportional representation. The recommendation followed a provincewide consultation that Fair Vote Canada says found 93 per cent of participants, including 46 organizations, supported some form of proportional representation. Campbell says recent Fair Vote Canada polling found 75 per cent of British Columbians, including 73 per cent of Conservative voters, support proportional representation. Premier-designate Lorne Doerkson suggested he’s open to electoral reform when asked about it earlier this month. “The conversation about proportional representation still continues to happen. I’ve had people approach me about it and I’m all ears,” he said. Fair Vote Canada says a Conservative leader with “a longer-term perspective and a goal of a thriving and competitive democracy in B.C.” would have reason to support proportional representation.
