[fvc-wat-announce] Discussion Night Wed, 26 June 2019 at 7pm in Bread&Roses Community Room

[Bob Jonkman]

Hi all: It's time for another Discussion Night, since there is much to 
discuss.

First, there's some business from Fair Vote Canada:

* Report from the Fair Vote Canada Annual General Meeing held in Ottawa 
last weekend
* overpass sign
* meeting with Karina Gould
* Citizen's Assembly visits to Liberal MPs. Anita (Fair Vote Canada 
Executive Director) has asked us to ask Bardish Chagger & Raj Saini to 
introduce the idea of a CA as a non-partisan, legitimate way forward for 
electoral reform.  We need to ask for volunteers to make a friendly visit.

And there's some business for the Waterloo Region Chapter:

* door knocking campaign & federal election strategy
* meetings with NDP & Green Party candidates in Waterloo Region
* Volunteers needed to staff info tables for Kultrun (13-14 July) and 
Nonviolence Day In The Park (20 July); perhaps other events


Finally, some discussion: There have been four by-elections in Canada in 
the past few months:

* Three on 25 February 2019, including Burnaby South won by NDP leader 
Jagmeet Singh with 39% of the vote.

* One on 6 May 2019 won by Green Party candidate Paul Manly with 37% of 
the vote.

In total, there have been 21 by-elections since the general election in 
2015.

Provincially, there were two elections:

* Alberta on 16 April 2019, won by the United Conservative Party with 
55% of the vote and 52% of the seats (30/87).

* Prince Edward Island on 23 April 2019, won by the Progressive 
Conservative party with 37% of the vote and 44% of the seats (12/27). 
This election was notable for electing eight Green members, who form the 
Opposition.

* Newfoundland and Labrador on 16 May 2019, won by the Liberals with 44% 
of the vote and 50% of the seats (20/40).


Internationally, there were also some elections of interest:

* 17 April 2019: Indonesian general election, won by the Indonesian 
Democratic Party of Struggle with 19% of the vote and 22% of the seats 
(128/575), using an open-list, multi-member system. There is a threshold 
of 4% for representation. Interestingly, Indonesia has a gender quota 
for 30% female candidates. Wikipedia: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Indonesian_general_election#Electoral_system

* 28 April 2019: Spanish general election, resulting in an upset of the 
previous Congress of Deputies. Spain has a mixture of single member 
ridings, and multi-member ridings with two to four members, elected with 
a full block vote, closed list, proportional system. The election was 
won by the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Worker's Party) with 29% of the vote 
and 35% of the seats (123/350). A total of 64 parties participated in 
the election. There is a threshold of 3% for representation. Electoral 
system details are at 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Spanish_general_election#Overview

* 19 May 2019: Indian general election, won by the Bharatiya Janata 
Party with 37% of the vote and 55% of the seats (303/543). India uses a 
First-Past-The-Post system: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Indian_general_election#Electoral_system

* 26 May 2019: Belgian general election, using a method of party-list 
proportional representation, won by the New Flemish Alliance with 16% of 
the vote and 17% of the seats (25/150). A ruling coalition has not yet 
been formed, with an extension to 1 July from the original date of 6 
June, extended to 17 June. There is a 5% threshold for representation. 
Electoral system details: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Belgian_federal_election#Electoral_system

* 26 May 2019: European Parliament election, won by the European 
People's Party Group with 21% of the vote and 24% of the seats 
(179/751). Voting systems differ in various countries, but all must use 
a proportional system with either Single Transferable Vote or a 
party-list system. Representation thresholds also vary from country to 
country. Wikipedia: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_to_the_European_Parliament#Voting_system

* 5 June 2019: Danish general election, using a party-list proportional 
system, won by the Social Democrats with 26% of the votes and 27% of the 
seats (47/129). The ruling coalition "Red Bloc" gained a total of 49% of 
the vote (slightly more when including Greenland and the Faroe Islands) 
and 52% of the seats (93/179). There is a 2% threshold for 
representation. Electoral system details: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Danish_general_election#Electoral_system


If anyone has lots of spare time, it would be interesting to see the 
Gallagher Index for each of these elections.


*What*: Fair Vote Waterloo Discussion Night
*When*: Wednesday, 26 June 2019 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm
*Where*: Community Room, Bread and Roses Co-op
*Location*: 307 Queen Street South, Kitchener
*Map*: https://osm.org/go/ZXnwTLMg--?m=


As always, if you're driving please park in the north lot, and place a 
note in your window:

*Meeting in Community Room re Apt 107 from 7-9pm*

North Parking Lot Map: https://osm.org/go/ZXnwTL0rw--?m=


See you all on Wednesday!

--Bob Jonkman
Fair Vote Waterloo Secretary and Discussion Night Organizer

Mail to: info at fairvotewrc.ca
Phone: +1–519–279–2990