Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Andrew Jackson discusses a few of the choices the Trudeau Libs need to get right in order to actually set Canada on a more progressive fiscal path: Progressives who worry about growing income inequality will note two key features of the new government’s
Continue readingTag: proportional representation
PR—an essential first step
Our brand spanking new Liberal government has promised us electoral reform. Specifically, it is “committed to ensuring that 2015 will be the last federal election conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system.” Assuming the new system will provide proportional representation, this would be an essential first step in ensuring that all
Continue readingPR—an essential first step
Our brand spanking new Liberal government has promised us electoral reform. Specifically, it is “committed to ensuring that 2015 will be the last federal election conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system.” Assuming the new system will provide proportional representation, this would be an essential first step in ensuring that all
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Steven Klees notes that there’s no reason at all to think that corporatist policies labeled as “pro-growth” will do anything to help the poor – and indeed ample reason for doubt they actually encourage growth anywhere other than for the already-wealthy. And the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Les Leopold takes a look at the underpinnings of Bernie Sanders’ unexpectedly strong run for the Democratic presidential nomination. And Sean McElwee discusses the type of politics U.S. voters are rightly motivated to change, as big donors have been successful in dictating
Continue readingA minority progressive government would be the best result of the election
I wouldn’t dare to be so bold as to play the prophet and predict the shape of the government that will result from Monday’s federal election. Polls and electorates are much too fickle. I can only observe that if the polls are accurate and the electorate doesn’t suddenly change its
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Don Pittis examines the Cons’ record on jobs and the economy, and reaches the inevitable conclusion that free trade bluster and corporate giveaways have done nothing to help Canadians – which makes it no wonder the Cons are hiding the terms of the
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: The Gloves Are Off- This Will Be A Hardball Fight Until Election Day
Richard Hughes-Political Blogger We now have the stage set for the final 5 weeks of Canada’s second longest election ever. There was a fair amount of chatter and speculation regarding Liberal-NDP and even Green Read more…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On veto points
I’ll follow up on this post by once again discussing another area where individuals’ past comments are being treated as a basis for general exclusion. And the subject is particularly sensitive the midst of an election campaign – particularly in light of the issue where it’s surfacing. As in the
Continue readingPolitics Canada: How can we change the electoral system?
Our system is an absolute farce. 38% of the vote gives you 55% of the seats and absolute, unchecked power. Power that is concentrated in the PMO like never before in our history. When I approach our first past the post (fptp) system I feel the way someone must feel
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Barry Eidlin argues that Canada’s comparatively stronger trade unions have led to a far more equal distribution of income than exists in the U.S., and discusses what we need to do to reinforce that tendency: In a recent article and forthcoming book, I
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Barry Kay of Laurier Institute: Say welcome to Prime Minister Tom Mulcair
Global News graphic of the horse race James Armstrong of Global News has a fascinating article about the findings of the Barry Kay team of the Laurier Institute, with three really illuminating graphics. The three diagrams clearly spell out the problems facing the Liberals and the Conservatives, if either Trudeau
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: The Greens Could Deliver The Upcoming Election To Steve!
Richard Hughes-Your Humble Blogger The conundrum of electing our governments based on a ‘First Past the Post’ system has never been as clear as it is today with an October Federal Election just around Read more…
Continue readingImpolitical: Thoughts on the #LPC electoral reform policy plank
As a party member who has been involved with supporting democratic reform initiatives in the Liberal party, I thought I would add a few thoughts to the discussion today on the Liberal Party of Canada’s electoral reform plank, rolled out earlier today. The pledge to “Make every vote count” is
Continue readingImpolitical: Thoughts on the #LPC electoral reform policy plank
As a party member who has been involved with supporting democratic reform initiatives in the Liberal party, I thought I would add a few thoughts to the discussion today on the Liberal Party of Canada’s electoral reform plank, rolled out earlier today. The pledge to “Make every vote count” is
Continue readingImpolitical: Thoughts on the #LPC electoral reform policy plank
As a party member who has been involved with supporting democratic reform initiatives in the Liberal party, I thought I would add a few thoughts to the discussion today on the Liberal Party of Canada’s electoral reform plank, rolled out earlier today. The pledge to “Make every vote count” is as follows:
We are committed to ensuring that 2015 will be the last federal election conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system.
As part of a national engagement process, we will ensure that electoral reform measures – such as ranked ballots, proportional representation, mandatory voting, and online voting – are fully and fairly studied and considered.
This will be carried out by a special all-party parliamentary committee, which will bring recommendations to Parliament on the way forward, to allow for action before the succeeding federal election. Within 18 months of forming government, we will bring forward legislation to enact electoral reform.
This is member supported LPC policy. The key electoral reform aspects are not new, save for the additions of the extra measures to be studied such as mandatory and online voting. Indeed, it is very similar to the party resolution that was passed at the Liberal Biennial in Montreal in early 2014, which included this element:
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 to Parliament within 12 months with recommendations for electoral reforms including, without limitation, a preferential ballot and/or a form of proportional representation, to represent Canadians more fairly and serve Canada better.
A “national engagement process” and and all-party parliamentary committee are important aspects to bringing this reform about. Any major reform to our electoral laws, foundational game-changers, should be demonstrably supported and multi-partisan. The multi-partisan aspect in particular has been lacking from Conservative changes to electoral laws over their tenure.
So a newly constituted Parliament will look at this issue in a multi-partisan way after receiving a mandate to do so. That is needed as there is no existing consensus in the electorate for a particular type of electoral reform. It’s difficult to see how this election, just a few months away without that conversation presently taking place, could possibly lead to such a conclusion.
This is why I do not understand the NDP’s position which seems to be to choose one form – mixed member proportional (MMP) – without laying a proper foundation for it. There is no consensus that MMP is the preferred electoral reform option for Canada. The NDP’s December 2014 one-off motion, which they have pointed to today, brought quickly and with little national debate is not a basis for choosing. A 2004 Law Reform Commission report is also not a basis for choosing, today, what electoral reform we might want in 2015, 2016 or 2017. It will help and probably weigh heavily but on its own, it is not determinative.
Simply put, there are differing views on what type of electoral reform is the consensus choice for the country and a consensus choice is where the country needs to get to before one form is chosen.
Fair Vote Canada recognizes this and their Declaration of Voters’ Rights calls for the House of Commons to undertake a public consultation.
Today’s announcement also helpfully expands the conversation beyond the Senate as the dominant focus of a national discussion on democratic reform. While the Senate has clearly become a problem in need of many fixes, it is not the most important aspect of our conversation about improving democracy in Canada and should not be the part that is the driving force of the conversation. Improving the democratic legitimacy of our government, the House of Commons, should be the focus. Enhancing that institution’s capacity to listen and represent Canadians’ concerns well, that should be the focus.
The good news is that there seems to be much support for modernizing our democratic system. And that conversation will be a key part of the 2015 campaign.
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Justin Trudeau’s legacy will equal that of his father
Just when Tom Mulcair was starting to measure the curtains in Harper’s home so that he could replace them when he became Prime Minister; when the polls showed a surge of votes for the NDP after the dramatic events in the recent Alberta election; and when pundits have started writing
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ranked ballots in 2018: Democracy is coming to Canada!
Politician with Courage And not a moment too soon! The Liberal Party government of the province of Ontario deserves the congratulations of every Canadian for their bold step in dragging democracy into the 21st century with this step: The provincial government will change the Municipal Elections Act to allow cities
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On proportionality
Among the other possibilities raised by the Alberta NDP’s election victory, plenty of voices have chimed in on a shift to proportional representation. And while there may be limited scope to make a move immediately, electoral reform could well become both good policy and good politics for Rachel Notley. Let’s
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Brad Delong discusses the two strains of neoliberalism which dominate far too much political discussion – and the reason why the left-oriented version doesn’t offer any plausible analysis of where we stand: (Bill) Clintonian left-neoliberalism makes two twin arguments. The first is
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