Why I Dislike Ranked Ballot Voting & Why I Support It
After four years studying Political Science at Laurentian University and over thirty years working for the House of Commons I tended to approach electoral reform more as a political scientist…
Electoral Reform
Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week.- Melissa Hanson writes about life as a climate refugee from what was billed as a relatively safe area - making for a particularly painful…
Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Anthony Leonardi writes about the reality that COVID-19 is intrinsically more harmful than “ordinary” respiratory viruses due to its continuing effect on the…
MPs reject democratic upgrade
Canada is a very free country, but unfortunately not a very democratic one. Not when our electoral system consistently gives us governments that most of us don’t choose. For example,…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Cordell Jacks writes about the need for an economic model which evolves beyond the short-term exploitation of people and the planet. And…
Electoral reform—to be or not to be?
Once again our hopes rise. Or do they? At their recent national policy convention the Liberals voted to back a citizens’ assembly on electoral reform. Specifically, the convention resolved that…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Stephanie Desmon interviews Ziyad Al-Aly about the reality that anybody infected with COVID-19 faces a substantial risk of heart problems as a…
Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – David Wallace-Wells examines a few of the false narratives which are limiting our response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Sarah Wulf Hanson and…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Andrew Nikiforuk examines what we know about – and what we should be doing in response to – the Kraken COVID-19 variant…
Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Tracey Harrington McCoy reports on still more research showing significant brain changes caused by long COVID. Joseph Oliver writes that sick kids…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Melody Schreiber writes about the perfectly awful timing of Joe Biden’s wrong-headed declaration that the COVID-19 pandemic is “over” even as a particularly…
Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Emily Henderson discusses new research showing the harm COVID-19 does to the central nervous system. And Stuart Layt reports on a new study…
National Post Letter
Electoral reform opponents are once again pulling out the old Israel canard. I’ve responded with a letter attempting to set the record straight in today’s National Post: Electoral reform Re:…
Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Farah Hancock offers an informative look at the circumstances where people are most likely to share air in ways that results in COVID…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Nathalie Schwab et al. study the results of autopsies, and find that COVID-19 appears to be the actual cause of death even for…
Can Proportional Representation Save Our Parliamentary Democracy
Parliament – Etymology The English term is derived from Anglo-Norman and dates to the 14th century, coming from the 11th century Old French parlement, “discussion, discourse”, from parler, meaning “to…
Now Comes The Necessary Part Ontario Edition
Nevertheless, and irrregardless of and notwithstanding that federal-provincial jurisdiction exists the actions that are necessary for the next Ontario government to take are the same as those the newly elected…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Gary Mason writes that Saskatchewan and Alberta are tragically showing the rest of the country what a COVID-19 disaster looks like. CBC…
Post Election Calls For Electoral Reform
In the wake of voting for our 44th Parliament, there are numerous calls out there to move Canada to some form of Proportional Representation (PR). I am sympathetic to these…
#Elxn44 Roundup
News and notes from Canada’s federal election campaign. – Dru Oja Jay discusses how activist movements can maximize their impact in a second consecutive minority Parliament by demanding meaningful and…