Electoral Reform is probably the most called for item on the democratic reform agenda, and I suspect will be the most difficult to keep from being a very divisive promise given the strong opinions held by various individuals and citizen groups across…
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Accidental Deliberations: On consensus-building
John Ivison is a bit melodramatic on behalf of the Cons in assessing the impact of possible electoral reform. But to the extent the Cons actually accept his argument, it might well lead them toward the best possible outcome in the form of a proportiona…
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Justin Trudeau and the Death of the Harper Cons
It was the most magical throne speech I've ever seen. The new leader stepping forward. the old one rotting in the shadows.The promise to take our Canada back.Justin Trudeau is signalling that his government will make a clean break from the policies…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading.- Paul Edwards discusses the availability of a gradual transition to clean energy while avoiding more than 2 degrees of climate change – but only if we start swapping out fossil fuels for renewable energy now. An…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.- David Ball talks to Joseph Stiglitz about inequality and its causes – including the spread of corporate control through trade agreements:What would you say is the dominant cause [of growing inequality]…
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: A cabinet that looks like Canada, why …. “Because its 2015”
Given the large number of Liberal MPs elected that was one of the easier promises to keep but never the less a damn fine start. Now comes the more difficult stuff so let briefly review the platform promises in regard to our democratic institutions and how “Fair and Open” this
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Andrew Jackson discusses a few of the choices the Trudeau Libs need to get right in order to actually set Canada on a more progressive fiscal path: Progressives who worry about growing income inequality will note two key features of the new government’s
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Electoral Reform: Will it be set up to fail?
So say many commentators, included failed MP candidate Craig Scott. There are three lines of attack on the Liberal Party promise of “electoral reform” during the election.
While it may not seem like one of his more pressing issues, Trudeau has said he would introduce legislation on voting reform within 18 months of forming a government, based on the recommendations of an all-party parliamentary committee to study alternative voting systems, including proportional representation and ranked ballots.
That timeframe may be overly ambitious, suggests David McLaughlin, who was deputy minister to the New Brunswick Commission on Legislative Democracy…
McLaughlin figures it would take at least a year to conduct that kind of a review, with a countrywide referendum possibly following in the second year. And that doesn’t include the time it would take to actually pass the legislation.
But a change to Canada’s voting system does not necessarily require any constitutional considerations — only an amendment to the Canada Elections Act through Parliament.
“I think that would tell us how committed [Trudeau] is to it. Because if he goes the referendum route, it pretty much says he wants it to fail,” said York University political science professor Dennis Pilon, an expert in electoral reform.
Trudeau has indicated his support for a ranked ballot system, where voters pick the candidates on a ballot in order of preference.
In this system, all the No. 1 choices are added up. If a candidate has a majority after the tally, they are declared the winner. If not, the candidate with the lowest vote total is knocked off, and their votes for other candidates transferred based on the ranking preferences. A winner is declared when a candidate finally reaches a majority.
Many political scientists seem keenest on the mixed member proportional (MMP) system, like they have in Germany and New Zealand, which combines proportional representation with single member ridings. Voters would be asked to vote twice: for the candidate and for the party. So if a party won 20 per cent of the vote, but its candidates only won 15 per cent, the party would top up its representation in the House with extra MPs.
There are different ways that could be done, but if the extra MPs are drawn from party lists, some argue it could create a two-class system of representatives — those who were actually voted in by the public and those chosen by the party.
If the Liberals’ official policy for voting reform, Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) were in effect, we would see a very different result — — one that magnified the inequalities of our archaic first-past-the-post (FPTP) system — according to Nanos Research’s polling of voters’ second choices in its final pre-election poll.The Liberal Party would have gained an additional 22 seats, rising to 206 seats; the Conservatives would lose 23 seats, falling to 76; the NDP would do unusually well for a third party, rising to 50, while the Bloc would lose half its caucus, falling to five MPs and the Greens would keep their one seat.Just as IRV magnifies the disproportionality of our current winner-take-all system, converting the Liberals’ 39.5 per cent of the vote into 61 per cent of the seats, instead of the 54 per cent our current system does, it also magnifies regional inequalities.
Not only would IRV insure that the NDP and Conservatives had no Atlantic MPs, it would also reduce these parties’ representation throughout English Canada.
At a minimum, a thorough Parliamentary committee study of the assigned electoral topics would necessarily involve testimony of experts (who can be counted on to offer conflicting advice) and comparative examinations of electoral system proposals or actual changes in other Westminster-model parliamentary countries (the United Kingdom and New Zealand come readily to mind.
Some will argue that only a countrywide referendum will confer “legitimacy” on the move. Others will dispute that claim by asserting that the referendums held by three provinces have set no precedent for Ottawa to follow and that, in the final analysis, Parliament is master of its own electoral rules.
CuriosityCat: Electoral Reform: Will it be set up to fail?
So say many commentators, included failed MP candidate Craig Scott. There are three lines of attack on the Liberal Party promise of “electoral reform” during the election. Critics are rushing to frame the electoral reform debate by setting parameters which will restrict the right of elected MPs to decide on
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Election Revisited
The election has now taken place and for many of us the results may override any concerns that we had with the process however make no mistake this election process was far from flawless. If we are to believe the folks who reported problems at Pollwatchthere were polls that failed
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Lars Osberg discusses the positive effects of raising taxes on Canada’s wealthiest few. And Avram Denburg argues for a speedy end to income splitting due to both its unfairness,and its impact on the public revenue needed to fund a healthier society: (I)ncome splitting
Continue readingPR—an essential first step
Our brand spanking new Liberal government has promised us electoral reform. Specifically, it is “committed to ensuring that 2015 will be the last federal election conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system.” Assuming the new system will provide proportional representation, this would be an essential first step in ensuring that all
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Amy Goodman interviews Joseph Stiglitz about the corporate abuses the Trans-Pacific Partnership will allow to take priority over the public interest. And Stuart Trew and Scott Sinclair offer some suggestions to at least ensure that Canadians have an opportunity for meaningful review
Continue readingMontreal Simon: How We Can Bury the Harper Cons Forever
As you know the Harper Cons have set out on a long journey through the political wilderness to choose a new leader, after the shocking loss of the only one they ever had.And now it seems that journey could be an even longer one.Debate is growing within the leaderless Conservative Party
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Steven Klees notes that there’s no reason at all to think that corporatist policies labeled as “pro-growth” will do anything to help the poor – and indeed ample reason for doubt they actually encourage growth anywhere other than for the already-wealthy. And the
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: In Opening Up the Pandora’s Box of Electoral Reform, Canada Should Look Down Under
Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best. (Otto von Bismarck) I never thought that I would see this day come. We have a newly elected Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who stated publically that this election would be last using the first-past-the-post voting system,
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: In Opening Up the Pandora’s Box of Electoral Reform, Canada Should Look Down Under
Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best. (Otto von Bismarck)I never thought that I would see this day come. We have a newly elected Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who stated publically that…
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: In Opening Up the Pandora’s Box of Electoral Reform, Canada Should Look Down Under
Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best. (Otto von Bismarck) I never though that I would see this day come. We have a newly elected Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who stated publically that this election would be last using the first-past-the-post voting system,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Les Leopold takes a look at the underpinnings of Bernie Sanders’ unexpectedly strong run for the Democratic presidential nomination. And Sean McElwee discusses the type of politics U.S. voters are rightly motivated to change, as big donors have been successful in dictating
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Welcome Back To Canada- The Sun Is Shining Brighter!
It’s a beautiful day in the neighbourhood. This post should write itself. I should be able to rest my fingers on the keyboard and have them automatically write of the defeat of Conservative PM Read more…
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