I never thought I’d live long enough to see the day, but here it is. The NDP have been elected to the government of Alberta. I am ecstatic. Nonetheless, while my emotions soar, my logical self reminds me that they won a majority only because of our corrupt first past
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CuriosityCat: Four Unusual Men & The UK Election
The Mayor waits patiently … The political fate of four men might be determined by this week’s UK general election. Two of the men have fluffed their campaigning in parts, while one man has a chance to rise, Lazarus-like, and change the rules of future elections; the fourth man is
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Why the UK needs proportional representation
The Damsel is in distress The Telegraph has this introduction to the article on safe seats: Has your constituency already been won in the 2015 general election? Find out here. Does your vote really count? New research shows that more than half of MPs are in safe seats. Find your
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Scott Sinclair studies the effect of NAFTA on government policies, and finds that it’s been used primarily (and all too frequently) to attack Canadian policy choices: A study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) finds over 70% of
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Coalition Redux
Never ones to shy away from expressing strong opinions, Toronto Star readers weigh in again on the best way to try to defeat Mr. Harper in the next election: Re: Pondering a union of moderates, Letters Jan. 10 Federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau must get
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Now Is The Time, Justin
http://theeyeopener.com/ Talk of proportional representation has been around for a long time. Linda McQuaig writes: The most widely-supported version of PR for Canada —
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Emma Woolley discusses how homelessness developed into a social problem in Canada in large part through public neglect. Judy Haiven is the latest to emphasize that charity is no substitute for a functional society when it comes to meeting people’s basic needs. And
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Michael Den Tandt is wrong: Mulcair knows what a mess of pottage is
Den Tandt: Muclair cannot count So, what will our next federal government look like? Today is the last day of the year 2014, and most commentators have hidden their heads in the sand rather than venture a public guess. Michael Den Tandt is one of the braver ones. In an
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Mulcair leads the way to a more democratic Canada
Mulcair: The man who would bring democracy to Canada Thomas Mulcair, that very capable MP who is leader of the NDP, has publicly committed himself to remedy our democratic deficit, as this post indicates. Mulcair is to be commended for two things. First, for signing the Fair Vote Canada declaration
Continue readingCuriosityCat: 2015 election: Coalition gains favour
Which one, or two, of these men will lead Canada? The end of the Harper government is clear from this latest poll, which shows that the Harper scare tactics of the past have run their course: Liberal and NDP supporters, meanwhile, have expressed a tepid willingness to consider each other,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, taking a quick look at Canada’s options for electoral reform while arguing that an MMP system would create far better incentives for our political leaders than the alternatives. For further reading…– Alison wrote about our options in advance of yesterday’s vote on the NDP’s electoral reform proposal. – Eric
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: NDP Introduces Mixed-member Proportional Representation Motion
New Democrats introduce in the House of Commons a motion for a mixed-member proportional representation electoral system at the federal level. The post NDP Introduces Mixed-member Proportional Representation Motion appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingThus Prate the Pundit » Social Critique: “Strategic” Voting Weakens Democracy
“Strategic” voting is a bad idea. Organized “strategic” voting improves nothing. Worse, “strategic” voting creates an illusion of trust where there are no possible checks and balances. It’s a scheme just asking to be gamed. Participants in “strategic” voting schemes will get taken advantage of and lose their voices. The
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Star Readers And Mandatory Voting
In response to a recent column by Susan Delacourt discussing mandatory voting, Star readers weigh in with their usual perspicacious observations, the majority in favour of a less radical solution to the problem of low voter turnout. Here is a small sampling of the responses: Re: It’s time for mandatory
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: NDP MP Craig Scott proposes an “adapted-for-Canada” system of proportional representation
NDP MP Craig Scott proposes an “adapted-for-Canada” system of proportional representation as a route to parliamentary reform and democratic renewal. The post NDP MP Craig Scott proposes an “adapted-for-Canada” system of proportional representation appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Byelections: Thomas Mulcair’s NDP In Denial Phase
Mulcair in denial Four byelections, and a thumping for the NDP, but that party is still refusingto face up to reality (my bolding): Mulcair said the NDP needs to run campaigns that go beyond strictly local matters and focus on broader “kitchen table” issues, such as gas prices, ATM fees
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 readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Richard Shillington studies the Cons’ income-splitting scheme for the Broadbent Institute, and finds that it’s even more biased toward the wealthy than previously advertised: • The average benefit of income splitting across all households is only $185, though nine out of 10
Continue readingwmtc: why i’m voting liberal on june 12 and why i feel so crappy about it
Need it even be said? The rightward shift of the NDP is a colossal disappointment for me. I’m part of the NDP’s natural constituency. The NDP has historically been a social democrat party, a party of the working class, a party not tied to corporate interests. The existence of the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Buttonwood weighs in on the disproportionate influence of the ultra-rich when it comes to making policy choices which affect all of us: But the analysis backs up earlier work by Larry Bartels of Princeton, author of a book called “Unequal Democracy”, and the
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