Hot from the press, we have yet another example of how the archaic, undemocratic First Past The Post (FPTP) system of selecting representatives of our Parliament and Legislatures leads to results which rob some people of their votes. The results in the Alberta election demonstrate in spades just how badly
Continue readingTag: proportional representation
Song of the Watermelon: Stephane Dion’s Shiny New Voting System
Did I read that right? Did Stephane Dion, former head of the Liberal Party of Canada, just come out in favour of proportional representation? Better late than never! Well, that’s not entirely fair. Dion has shown a willingness to consider electoral reform in the past, as he did by backing
Continue readingCuriosityCat: The Liberal Party and the role of Quebec in Canada: Bob Rae’s Views
With the possibility that Bob Rae will soon step down as interim leader of the LPC and so trigger the beginning of the race to select the next permanent leader some time towards the end of this year and early next year, we will find the candidates stumping for support.
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ontario NDP’s Horwath misses her chance
The Ontario NDP have the balance of power in that province, with the PCs cancelling themselves out of the equation by refusing to cut a deal with the provinical Liberals. Just before the deadline, both the NDP and Libs reached a deal: The deal-clincher came on Monday when Premier Dalton
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Alberta NDP should bargain for modified proportional representation
As their price for propping up either the Wildrose or PC parties. The race has tightened, with 308indicating neither the PCs nor the Wildroses gaining a majority of seats, and the NDP perhaps ending up with the swing votes the other two parties will need to enable them to govern.
Continue readingPop The Stack: Dion Proposes New Voting System
Monday’s election results in Alberta demonstrate once again the strange outcomes that our First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) voting system can create. A difference in vote percentage between 43% and 34% leads to 61 vs 17 seats for the PCs. Meanwhile the remaining parties which received about 10% of the vote each get
Continue readingPop The Stack: Dion Proposes New Voting System
Monday’s election results in Alberta demonstrate once again the strange outcomes that our First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) voting system can create. A difference in vote percentage between 43% and 34% leads to 61 vs 17 seats for the PCs. Meanwhile the remaining parties which received about 10% of the vote each get
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Liberal blogger CalgaryGrit makes persuasive argument for Cullen as NDP leader
WesternGrit ranks the top NDP leadership candidates through the prism of what is best for the Liberal Party, and, while expressly not endorsing any candidate, outlines a very strong case for Nathan Cullen as the best NDP choice for Canada (my underlining): How would Cullen affect the LPC? Well, if
Continue readingCuriosityCat: NDP Members: You can guarantee that an NDP MP will be our next prime minister IF …
… IF you make your decision to listen to the massive outpouring of views by NDP supporters and Liberal Party supporters, the bulk of whom favour electoral cooperation and post-election cooperation, designed to oust the Harper Tory government and put in place a government more in tune with the 60%
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Will Nathan Cullen have to thank these 2 if he becomes leader on Saturday?
We’ve heard little about the results of the push by these two significant groups, but perhaps by Sunday morning we will all be nodding our heads and saying: Of course! That’s what made it possible! Nathan Cullen – The Uniter Two online advocacy organizations are giving a potentially big boost
Continue readingCuriosityCat: The C-word: Refreshing honesty from NDP’s Nathan Cullen
Remember when Michael Ignatieff turned himself into a pretzel while trying to respond to the simple question whether he would or would not enter into a coalition with other parties if the Tories did not get a majority? It seemed that every day he had another answer, with the latest
Continue readingCuriosityCat: The Most Logical Structure for NDP-LPC Cooperation
Those who favour a merger of the NDP and Liberal Party should not hold their breath. These two parties have values systems that are significantly different at the moment, and each brings to the table baggage which would make a hippopotamus choke. Harper united the right wing parties (with a
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Cooperation: Nathan Cullen on same page as Jack Layton while Mulcair goes his own way
On the single most important issue facing the opposition parties in the next 3 years or so, Thomas Mulcair has come down strongly on one side of the issue, with both Jack Layton and Nathan Cullen clearly on the other. Both Jack and Nathan believed in cooperation to remove a
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Why Thomas Mulcair is not good for Canada
Mulcar: Not good for Canada at this time I have liked Mulcair’s energy, his fighting spirit, his presentation of his arguments, and his willingness to mix it with those who oppose him. However, I do not believe that having Mulcair as the next leader of the NDP is in the
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Why the ‘Two Punch’ plan of Nathan Cullen will unseat the Harper Tory government in 2015
Just been watching the last NDP leadership debate on CBC, and it is blindingly apparent that there is only one person on that stage who really understands the reality of the Canadian political lineup. Cullen has called for a change in thinking by the NDP to allow progressives from both
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
A few days worth of news from the NDP’s leadership campaign… – Niki Ashton appealed to NDP members to consider the need to build among younger voters. – Co-campaign manager Jamey Heath took to the opinion pages in defence of Nathan Cullen’s joint nomination proposal. But I seem to recall
Continue readingCuriosityCat: NDP Leader: Nathan Cullen is the best choice for Canada
The biggest problem facing Canada right now is the apparent contempt for upholding our democratic rights that the current Harper new Tory government has. This contempt is shown in the prorogations of the recent past; the attacks upon the independence of civil servants; the evasion shown in question period in
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
I haven’t done a roundup post in quite some time (having focused instead on candidate analysis and preliminary endorsement posts over the past week). But in advance of today’s Montreal debate, let’s take a look at some of the noteworthy developments from the week. – Niki Ashton spoke to the
Continue readingPop The Stack: Electoral Reform on the NDP Radar
The NDP leadership race is heating up and the most interesting development to me is that there seems to be a competition growing for who can be the most concerned about the sorry state of our democracy and the most committed to fix it. Take Peggy Nash, her website has
Continue readingPop The Stack: Electoral Reform on the NDP Radar
The NDP leadership race is heating up and the most interesting development to me is that there seems to be a competition growing for who can be the most concerned about the sorry state of our democracy and the most committed to fix it. Take Peggy Nash, her website has
Continue reading