Its sometimes hard to see where the parties stand on any particular issue given the hype, bafflegab and spin that issues from almost all of them at times and the ever changing positions taken depending upon their position in the polls or whether they are in power or not. As
Continue readingTag: Electoral Reform
Democracy Under Fire: Electoral Reform – Voting Systems
I have said that simply calling for PR (Proportional Voting) is not sufficient but that we must understand the various systems that are generally promoted as ‘proportional’, and the alternatives. I wrote about the various systems some 3 years ago and will simply re-post part of that article with some
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Electoral Reform – Proportional Representation
Proportional Representation or PR for short has become the buzz word for those who are advocating for Electoral Reform (and that group includes myself) but what exactly do we mean when we say we want PR? The broad definition is “a method of voting by which political parties are given
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Electoral Reform Needed!
In the recent Ontario Election out of every 100 (eligible) citizens approximately 52 voted and one or two of those either declined or (deliberately?) spoiled their ballots We have no means of knowing how many tried to vote but were turned away due to being at the wrong poll or
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Election Stories
With the Ontario election now history and a slight uptick in the voter turn out I will relate a few of the problems various voters have encountered whilst trying to vote in an effort to make both the voters and those that run the system aware of impediments to voting
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ontario Election: A Good Case for Proportional Representation
Premier Wynne led her Liberal Party to a majority government this week, trouncing the anti-statist (drown the government in a bathtub) frothings of the Conservative Party, and shouldering aside the NDP expectation that governmental power was theirs for the taking, like ripe fruit, without any real effort on their part
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Elections Ontario Struggling……
Elections Ontario is struggling to find enough staff to fill the positions required to process your vote, this is not a particular surprise to those who have worked the polls before, it always tough to find responsible folks available for a one day 12 to 1`4hr shift with no breaks!
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Election Act, Election Ont, Election Incentives
So the flawed “fair” Elections Act has now passed final reading with a few amendments that public pressure made the Cons include but without the dozens of amendments proposed by the opposition and without even considering the 75 amendments that the Greens were not permitted to table. The Speaker upheld
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: CPC Lied To Elections Canada On RoboCalls?
The corruption that is the CPC’s actions in the 2011 election continues to fester. The most recent instalment comes to us via Stephen Maher’s latest column. In an email May 1, party lawyer Arthur Hamilton told Elections Canada that Conservative call centre workers were not advising voters that Elections Canada
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: This and That – Distractions and Obfuscations
The ongoing Elections act cluster fk has successfully distracted from the latest omnibus budget from the Harper Regime, hardy a word has been seen about the 350 page “Harper Government Creating Jobs & Growth While Returning to Balanced Budgets With Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1.”. Yep, we are
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Meaningful Changes or Lipstick on the Pig?
In the unholy rush to jam their Unfair Elections Act through before the majority of Canadians realise just how bad and self-serving piece of legislation it is the Harper regieme has asked the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee to “pre-study” it. In short order the Conservative-dominated committee has come
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Stealing Our Democracy: Linda Frum, Talking Points and the Dumbf
*Dumbf = dumbfuckery – a condition that appears to be unique to the creation of Harper Government talking points regarding Bill C-23. On Huffington Post this morning, I read Michael Bolen’s commentary on Bill C-23 which led me to Linda Frum’s more verbose op-ed defending her TWITter position from earlier this
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Stealing Our Democracy: The Senate Takes A Swing
Okay, now the Senate is talking about wanting to see some amendments to the Harper Government’s bill to undermine Canada’s democracy. The interim report recommends: — Removing a provision which would allow political parties to exempt from their election expenses any money spent to raise donations from anyone who has
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Prerequisites for Democratic Legitimacy
Anita Vandenbeld author of an article called ‘Imposing Legitimacy: The Dilemma of International Democratic Development’for LawNow magazine and former director of parliamentary affairs for Jacques Saada, the first minister of Democratic Reform in 2004, recently wrote an article on the legitimacy of bill C23. In it, in contrast to her
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Bill C-23: Accountability for Thee Not For Me
It’s not exactly news that Harper has never liked Elections Canada. In fact, it’s less than news. His outraged utterances about Elections Canada when he was head of the National Citizens Coalition (NCC) in the 1990s set the tone for the content of Bill C-23. “The jackasses at Elections Canada
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Winning at All Costs.
I think we are all sick of the win at all cost mentality of our political parties and their leaders, this mentality is not restricted to just the Harper Regime, although it is certainly most prevalent with that group of oligarchs, but can be seen with very few exceptions in
Continue readingThe "mother of all accountants" flays election bill
Sheila Fraser was once one of Stephen Harper’s favourite people. When she, in her capacity of auditor-general, exposed the Chretien government’s sponsorship scandal, sewing the seeds that would bring down the Liberals, Mr. Harper praised her handsomely as the “mother of all accountants” and in a neat turn of phrase
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Citizens Protest Unfair Election Act
Many of my reader will be aware that last Tuesday a number of citizens gathered in front of Conservative MP’s Offices across the country to show their opposition to the Unfair Elections Act that is being railroaded through the legislative process by the Harper Regime. One such non partisan gathering
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Electoral Integrity of Act Questioned.
When 19 international Scholars from six democracy’s across the world add their voice to the over 150 Canadian scholars and almost universal condemnation of the Harper Regime’s attempt to introduce partisan bias into our election rules and to reduce the powers of the world respected Elections Canada then you know
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Undemocratic Democratic Reform
Are changes to an electoral system in a democracy valid if they are brought in by a less than democratic process, are they in fact valid if the very ‘independent’ body charged with overseeing said electoral system is excluded from the process? Are they valid if recommendations from said body
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