In B.C., most of us feel warm and fuzzy when we think of Swedes. It’s the Canuck effect: Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Markus Naslund, Alex Edler, Matthias Ohlund, Thomas Gradin, Patrick Sundstrom, Lars Lindgren and now Elias Petterson and Jonathan Dahlen.
But while our hockey community welcomes Swedish imports, our political system should not.
Swedish governance is a mess right now, and it’s because of its proportional representation electoral system.
The far-right, anti-immigration Swedish Democrats – a party that has more than flirted with outright Nazism – won 17.6% of the vote in this month’s Swedish elections. This puts them in position to determine who gets power in Sweden, where two other parties essentially tied at 40% each.
Think the broader parties should cut them out? Good luck. “This party has increased and made the biggest gains. Everything is about us,” Democrat leader Jimmie Akesson said on election night.
This is a quirk of prop rep, and one we see in democracies all over Europe: fringe parties growing in power. Do you really want that in B.C.?
We don’t. Send us more hockey stars, Sweden. But keep your crazy fringe parties and dangerous prop rep system away from us.
Yet another reason to Stop Prop Rep! www.icba.ca/stopproprep
Pass this post on to your friends and family – David Eby’s draconian, anti-free speech rules won’t allow us to advertise it, but individuals can spread it as much as they like. Let’s make sure every British Columbian sees it.
And stay tuned for more “Tales of Prop Rep Horror”…
Tales of Prop Rep Horror #7 – “Rise of the Dictators”
Tales of Prop Rep Horror #6 – “Indonesian Indecency”
Tales of Prop Rep Horror #5 – “Beware the Greeks!”
Tales of Prop Rep Horror #4 – “Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! NO! NO! NO!”
Tales of Prop Rep Horror #3 – “From Russia With Blood”
Tales of Prop Rep Horror #2 – “The Pain in Spain”
Tales of Prop Rep Horror #1 – “The Puzzle of Brussels”