At the Montreal convention, the Liberal Party overwhelmingly agreed to Priority Resolution 31, Restoring Trust in Canada’s Democracy. An important part of that resolution is this: AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT immediately after the next election, an all-Party process be instituted, involving expert assistance and citizen participation, to report
Continue readingTag: proportional representation
CuriosityCat: Liberal Party Convention: The Most Important Policy Resolution
In my view, the single most important policy resolution at this week’s convention in Montreal is the prioritized number 31, which should significantly reduce our democratic deficits. That resolutionreads: 31. Priority Resolution: Restoring Trust in Canada’s Democracy* BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Liberal Party pursue political reforms which promote: Open,
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ontario Byelections: The change that really counts
It seems that the leaders of all three poltical parties in the province of Ontario sense that voters want change. Premier Wynne, leading a minority Liberal government, was rejected by voters in the two byelections, but says change is wanted: Real Change Wynne? After writing off the byelections as “skirmishes”
Continue readingElectoral reform—PR is not a voting system
Observing debates about electoral reform online and elsewhere, I notice one error cropping up consistently: the notion that proportional representation, like first-past-the-post, is a voting system. It isn’t, of course. It is a goal, something you try to achieve with your voting system. They are two different things and the
Continue readingThe Conservatives turn on PR
It’s not that all Conservatives are opposed to proportional representation. Senator Hugh Segal is onside and Conservative MPs Peter Braid, Stephen Woodworth and Scott Reid have presented Fair Vote Canada petitions to the House of Commons on behalf of their constituents. Even Stephen Harper complained about our electoral system in
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Canada, want a good Deputy Prime Minister? Look for the man with the hardball in his office
Two of these men could be PM in the next 18 months Thomas Mulcair says he and his NDP have learned from the disasterous provincial NDP election: “It’s not enough to look at the electorate and say, ‘vote for me, I m good.’ You have to say, ‘vote for me,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Michael Katz looks back at how the U.S. abandoned its poor – and how that choice continues to affect people across the income spectrum today. And Michael Valpy discusses how Canada can and should avoid travelling any further down the same path –
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Why Stephen Harper will call an early election in spring 2014
George S. Patton I expect the Throne Speech in late January 2014 to be the timing for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to dissolve Parliament and call for an election in the spring of 2014, rather than wait for the legislated October 2015 date. The Liberal Party under Justin Trudeau are
Continue readingPop The Stack: Conservative Party Does Not Believe in Equality of Voters
This fascinating and scary post just showed up on the FairVote Canada Facebook page: The Conservative version of equality. Bigger picture below. A couple of things to notice here and I’ll just leave it at that. They’re Worried The Conservative party is worried about what the NDP and Green Party
Continue readingPop The Stack: Conservative Party Does Not Believe in Equality of Voters
This fascinating and scary post just showed up on the FairVote Canada Facebook page: The Conservative version of equality. Bigger picture below. A couple of things to notice here and I’ll just leave it at that. They’re Worried The Conservative party is worried about what the NDP and Green Party
Continue readingCuriosityCat: 2015: The ballot question in Canada’s next election?
Methinks John Ivison has hit the nail right on its head with this: If the Auditor-General’s report does suggest a systemic problem of corruption and abuse, who would bet against the Conservatives using the Senate as a classic wedge issue, pointing out that the Liberals are in favour of preserving
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Andrew Coyne sees the disproportionate influence wielded by the representatives elected by a minority of voters in Canada and the U.S. as evidence that both countries should move toward proportional representation: Two systems, both dysfunctional, in opposing ways. Is there nevertheless a common
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Wrestling with Democracy
Wrestling with Democracy is an ambitious, historical examination of the changes in voting systems across a large number of Western liberal democracies over the course of the twentieth century that argues that ‘most major voting system reforms in the twentieth-century west have been intimately linked to larger social struggles over
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Vancouver Sun Letter
A letter of mine found its way into the Vancouver Sun today. This one comes in response to a piece last week by Senator Mobina Jaffer about the role of Canada’s Senate in protecting minority rights. In my letter, I argue in favour of abolishing the Senate and ensuring fair
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Stéphane Dion: Let our MPs take a pocketful of votes to Parliament
A pocketful of votes Dion gave an interesting talk at Joyce Murray’s meeting in Vancouver this morning, dealing with the different kinds of electoral reform that we could adopt. One new idea that he dropped on the table is interesting, and, I believe, novel: that our MPs votes in Parliament
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Mixed Member Proportional Representation (MMP) An Idea Whose Time Has Come
Richard ‘Hub’ Hughes- Political Blogger Here is a snapshot of opinion from Cowichan Conversations readers who voted in the poll in response to changing our electoral system from ‘First Past the Post’ to a ‘Proportional Representation’ system that is used in many countries throughout the world today. There is a
Continue readingLeftist Jab: Justin Trudeau’s Message to Elizabeth May: Not Running A Candidate in Labrador Is Patronizing
Why does the Green Party want to cooperate with the Liberals again? Consider Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May who’s fought for progressives to cooperate in elections. To that effect, the Green Party has not fielded a candidate in the Labrador by-election as she explains in this statement: The
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: NDP Convention 2013: Resolution on Electoral Reform
By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive: 5-02-13 Resolution on Electoral Reform, submitted by Craig Scott, the MP for Toronto-Danforth. WHEREAS the current federal electoral system contains major shortcomings generating a significant democratic deficit; WHEREAS the decline in voter turnout in federal elections in the last twenty years in Canada is worrying; WHEREAS any electoral reform
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: People Aren’t Smart Enough for Democracy to Flourish, Scientists Say
People Aren’t Smart Enough For Democracy To Flourish, Scientists SayThis article touches on a core problem for democracy. But add to this the fact that the corporate media and the corporate parties (Conservatives and Liberals in Canada) prey on this we…
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: People Aren’t Smart Enough for Democracy to Flourish, Scientists Say
People Aren’t Smart Enough For Democracy To Flourish, Scientists Say This article touches on a core problem for democracy. But add to this the fact that the corporate media and the corporate parties (Conservatives and Liberals in Canada) prey on this weakness of the populace in order to sway the
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