Fourth Kootenay West candidate for provincial election from Trail
By Kyra Hoggan
Things are getting interesting – a fourth candidate, independent Glen Byle from Trail, has thrown his hat into the ring for Kootenay West in the upcoming B.C. provincial election.
Byle, a 26-year-old medical equipment repairman at KBRH, is also married and the father of a 10-month-old baby.
“I am a young voter who never found a party that I fully identified with. With only a few major parties in BC, I am sure that many voters feel the same way; that their voice isn’t really heard,” he said. “My goal in running is to give everyone the chance to be properly represented.”
To that end, Byle is forwarding a new system altogether, something he calls Technology Enabled true Democracy (or T.E.D.) and leader-follower representation. Appropriately, he has used technology to lay out his plan and platform in a step-by-step fashion, creating a website to further his campaign goals at http://kowindependent.ca
He spells out his concepts as follows:
“Leader-follower representation is a plan to empower voters and ensure that everyone in Kootenay West can be well represented. While a system like this would have been difficult and expensive to implement 20 years ago, computers and the internet have made it much more practical today. This plan is best described in three steps, so bear with me! If you only read step one there is a good chance you’ll think I’m crazy.
“Step 1: Give every voter in Kootenay West a vote for every single bill brought forward in the legislature. Whatever the majority vote is will be my vote.
“Step 2: Allow interested voters to become “leaders” who chose to make their votes public. Leaders can create profiles describing their political values, ideals, and personal background to help them connect with other voters
“Step 3: Voters who are not interested in being a leader or voting on most bills can choose a leader to represent them. Once they have chosen a leader they will automatically vote the same as that leader on every bill. If a voter feels passionate about a certain bill, they can still place a vote themselves.”
Byle goes on to describe how he envisions his role as MLA, his views on various issues, and more. You can also check out his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GlenByleIndependentCandidate
He said he’ll ba attending All Candidates Forums in Trail, Casltegar, Rossland and Nakusp.
