1 day ago
Swift News
An Independent MLA has put forward a private member's bill that could make it easier for MLAs to lose their job.
Amelia Boultbee, who represents Penticton-Summerland, introduced a private member's bill earlier this month that would lower the threshold for a successful recall campaign against MLAs.
“I think we've all heard complaints from the public for years … that once a politician is in place, you can't really do much about it if you're not happy with their performance until you get to the ballot box in the next election,” said Boultbee, who left the B.C. Conservative caucus in October after clashing with former leader John Rustad.
“It seems like consensus might be building in the house to actually do something about it.”
If passed, those seeking to recall a petition can start their campaign 12 months after an election, instead of the current 18 months.
Employees in the private sector typically get a performance review after a year and a recall campaign is like a performance review carried out by British Columbians, Boultbee said.
The number of signatures needed for a successful recall would be much lower — equivalent to the number of votes received by the MLA in the last election.
In most ridings, that’s thousands of votes less than the current threshold, which is 40 per cent of eligible voters in the riding.
“You don't want every angry mob running someone out of town every time they're not happy but if you've really lost your mandate, which is reflected by the number of votes you received, we need to give voters a meaningful mechanism to do something about that.”