[fvc-wat-disc] Re: [fvc-wat-announce] Larry Gordon talk: Nov 14th, WLU

[David Brohman]

Hi Paul

This was in the Record in January

I will try to be out Tuesday

Take care

David

Second Opinion Column


David Brohman


January 3, 2006

How many times in the last month have you heard someone say, "I'm not going
to vote" or "This election is a waste of time" or "I'm not wasting my time
voting".

There is a malaise in the Canadian electorate which begs the obvious
question, 'Why?'

No doubt there are as many theories to answer this question as there are
pundits to postulate them.

Every political party wants to engage the electorate in their vision of how
Canada should be governed. However, for decades, no political party has put
forward a vision as to how Canada should be governed.

We have been served up a steady diet of pabulum and milquetoast from all the
major political parties. They all say the same things, 'We'll cut taxes',
'We'll listen to the people', 'We'll give you better health care' 'We'll
make the streets safer'.

Unfortunately none of the political parties have a clue how to weave these
promises together because one promise is often contrary another.

So what can be done to reengage Canadian citizens in the political process?

One suggestion put forward by Fair Vote Canada, a non partisan group
proposing electoral reform, is that the electoral system be overhauled. Our
current system of winner take all, riding by riding, be changed so that
every vote counts towards who sits in parliament.

There are many variations of proportional representation and none are as
simple as they might seem. However, we should not be dissuaded by the
details.

There is no doubt that after an election using proportional representation,
governing Canada would be more complicated as it would be difficult for any
one party to achieve an electoral majority. Coalitions of parties would be
necessary.

Coalitions are not as foreign a concept in Canada as many might think.
Politicians already form coalitions. The Liberal Party is the best example
of a tremendously successful permanent coalition. Within the Liberal party
there are many very successful candidates that would feel equally welcome in
other parties. For example, fiscally, Prime Minister Paul Martin would feel
at home in the Conservative Party if not for social policy.

The Conservatives have recently gone through a very public process of
coalition building as the old Alliance/Reform and Progressive Conservative
Parties united. Deputy Conservative Leader Peter MacKay would fit nicely
into a Liberal Party except for the presence of his old flame Belinda
Stronach.

With proportional representation, left-leaning voters could easily support
the NDP without fear of wasting their vote. Stalwarts of the labour movement
such as Buzz Hargrove of the Canadian Autoworkers Union would not feel the
need to recommend to his members the fatally flawed concept of strategic
voting.

The Green Party has the most to gain with proportional representation. Green
candidates currently face the daunting task of being first past the pole in
a riding. Proportional Representation would allow the Greens to be
represented in Parliament without being first in a single riding.

The underlying requirements for proportional representation to be successful
are two fold. First, there is a need to accept more and smaller parties, all
of which would receive seats in parliament based to some extent on the
overall proportion of their share of the national vote.

Not only would the number of small parties increase, the influence of the
separatist Bloc Quebecois would be reduced. With proportional
representation, no Canadian Government would ever have to enlist the
assistance of the Bloc in governing. That is not to say the interests of
Quebec and the Bloc could be ignored.

Secondly, Canadians would have to accept greater discourse about and with
their government and believe that parliamentarians will listen to them. This
is the essence of reengaging the Canadian electorate.

If Canadians want better government, they need to vote for candidates that
support a better electoral system.

On January 23, vote for candidates that support electoral reform and
proportional representation, regardless of party affiliation.

David Brohman is a member of Fair Vote Canada and a student in the Working
Centre's Diploma in Local Democracy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul Nijjar" <pnijjar at utm.utoronto.ca>
To: <fvc-wat-announce at listserv.thinkers.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 12, 2006 6:17 PM
Subject: [fvc-wat-announce] Larry Gordon talk: Nov 14th, WLU


>
> Sean Goebey and LSPIRG have organized Larry Gordon (executive
> director of Fair Vote Canada) to speak at Wilfrid Laurier university this
> coming Tuesday. He'll be speaking at 7:00pm in BA102, in the Bricker
> Academic building.
>
> If you have never heard Larry speak, you should. He presents the
> issues around fair voting very clearly. Maybe you can invite your
> friends/family/neighbours/enemies to come out and learn about the topic as
> well.
>
> Also: We are starting a listing of articles about fair voting and
> the Ontario electoral reform process off of the chapter website:
>
> http://fairvotecanada.org/en/wat_local_media_coverage
>
> If you have clippings we can photocopy and/or know of article
> citations we can add to this list, please post it to the discussion list
> or send me a personal e-mail.
>
> - Paul
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> fvc-wat-announce mailing list
> fvc-wat-announce at listserv.thinkers.org
> http://listserv.thinkers.org/mailman/listinfo/fvc-wat-announce
>

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul Nijjar" <pnijjar at utm.utoronto.ca>
To: <fvc-wat-announce at listserv.thinkers.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 12, 2006 6:17 PM
Subject: [fvc-wat-announce] Larry Gordon talk: Nov 14th, WLU


>
> Sean Goebey and LSPIRG have organized Larry Gordon (executive
> director of Fair Vote Canada) to speak at Wilfrid Laurier university this
> coming Tuesday. He'll be speaking at 7:00pm in BA102, in the Bricker
> Academic building.
>
> If you have never heard Larry speak, you should. He presents the
> issues around fair voting very clearly. Maybe you can invite your
> friends/family/neighbours/enemies to come out and learn about the topic as
> well.
>
> Also: We are starting a listing of articles about fair voting and
> the Ontario electoral reform process off of the chapter website:
>
> http://fairvotecanada.org/en/wat_local_media_coverage
>
> If you have clippings we can photocopy and/or know of article
> citations we can add to this list, please post it to the discussion list
> or send me a personal e-mail.
>
> - Paul
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> fvc-wat-announce mailing list
> fvc-wat-announce at listserv.thinkers.org
> http://listserv.thinkers.org/mailman/listinfo/fvc-wat-announce
>