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
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Democracy 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 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: Its Silly Season in Ontario
With advanced polls opening for the Ontario Election today its definitely silly season in Ontario, we are inundated with totally meaningless TV ads from 3 of the Partys telling us how bad the other guys are and failing to give us any real idea of what their plan is. There
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 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 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
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: The Fair Elections Act
The Conservative government will introduce changes to the Elections Act this week that caucus members expect to restructure the office in charge of investigating violations. “It’s the Fair Elections Act,” Poilievre said.Given the Conservatives penchant for naming bills in an Orwellian fashion we had best keep an eye on this
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Voting for a New Voting System.
Of late there seems to be an increased interest in bringing forward a new way of electing our ‘representatives’ in the House of Commons no doubt brought on by the possibility of the Harper regime winning another majority with a minority vote in 2015. Given their expertise in spinning the
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Save Democracy from Politics
The title says it all, our very democracy is in danger of being totally subverted by partisan actions which are aimed at keeping or gaining power with little regard to the well being of Canadian peoples or our country. Elizabeth May is correct when she says there is no consensus
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Electoral Fraud Occurred!
But no results overturned……… Just hours ago the long-awaited Federal Court ruling on election fraud was released…In a clear and bold statement, Judge Richard Mosley wrote: “I find that electoral fraud occurred during the 41st General Election.” While his ruling stopped short of annulling election results, this is a powerful
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: An exercise in futility?
I am increasingly coming to the conclusion that my efforts in these pages to shed some light upon the various attacks upon our democracy, the ever increasing centralization of power in the hands of a few, our right to details of government spending and decisions, and our right to express
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Democracy ‘Satisfaction’ dropped 20%
Its been a while since I gave Samara the democracy measurement folks a plug but a recent visit to their web site encouraged me to have another look around and you should too. Their most recent report titled‘Who’s the Boss?’ once again reinforces what many of us firmly believe in
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Stand on Guard
At this time of year as we look back over the previous year and forward to the coming year is also a good time to look at the broader picture of where we are both personally and as a country. When compared with so many other countries around the world
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Elections Canada slow to investigate robocalls.
Perhaps that should read `Elections Canada fails to protect our voting system` or better yet EC protects wrong doers! Either way its pretty clear by now that they have been completely ineffective in investigating the many complaints from across the country regarding the 2011 election both before and after that
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: A Week of Unaccountability
I make no effort in these pages to opinionate on things as they happen, even when limited to just attacks upon democracy it would be more than a full time job, I do try and shed some light upon such issues after the fact and highlight areas where future actions
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Maintaining Trust and Engagement in Canadian Elections
Extracts from a Speech of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada at the the Economic Club of Canada on September 25, 2012 (my bold) According to any international democracy index you look at, Canada’s democracy is consistently ranked among the top 10 in the world. On standard indicators of democratic
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