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Is pro rep in fact ‘lit’? Horgan’s debate comment prompts online groans

Premier, BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson went head-to-head in a TV debate on electoral reform
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B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson and B.C. Premier John Horgan. (Black Press Media files)

“If you were woke, you’d know that pro rep is lit.”

It’s the 11-word sentence that has turned heads of all ages since it was uttered by Premier John Horgan during Thursday night’s electoral reform debate with BC Liberal Party leader Andrew Wilkinson.

Social media users were quick to judge what they saw as a cringe-worthy comment, which Horgan defended on Twitter shortly after the 30-minute debate.

If you’re one of the many people who don’t know what those words mean, “woke” means to understand what’s really going on in a situation, while “lit” often means being intoxicated at parties, but anything fun.

Even New Democrat Bowinn Ma, B.C.’s youngest MLA at 33 years old, said she didn’t know the two words until Thursday night.

Meanwhile, the catchphrase caught the attention of many online.

Wilkinson and Horgan mostly talked over each other during the debate, staying on familiar talking points.

“Let’s get modern, let’s get hip,” Horgan said, in a bid to emphasize how the current First Past the Post system gives a majority to parties who did not get more than half the votes, and that B.C. needs to modernize.

Wilkinson hammered the point that many ballots are being “thrown in the trash” because people haven’t had the time or information to assess the options.

Mail-in ballots are due on Nov. 30 at Elections BC.

– With files from Tom Fletcher


@ashwadhwani
ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca

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About the Author: Ashley Wadhwani-Smith

I began my journalistic journey at Black Press Media as a community reporter in my hometown of Maple Ridge, B.C.
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