[fvc-wat-disc] Fwd: Negative article on MMP, needs responses

[Paul Nijjar]

This letter is a few days old but it is local, so I thought 
I would pass it on. 

- Paul

--- Jacqueline Sharp <jacqueline_sharp at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2007 19:55:13 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Jacqueline Sharp <jacqueline_sharp at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Negative article on MMP, needs responses
> To: jacqueline.sharp at fairvote.ca
> 
> Dear letter writers,
> If you can take a few minutes tonight of tomorrow,
> please write to the New Hamburg Independent to let
> them know why you disagree with Mr. Knowles article. 
> Remember to also point out what is wrong with the
> CURRENT system...no system will be perfect, but MMP
> will be better.  Also, he insists that no one is
> voting for those on the list...in fact, the millions
> of Ontarians whose votes don't elect anyone under the
> FPTP system will finally be having a vote that matters
> - someone who will defend their policy viewpoints in
> the government.
> 
> Letters can be submitted via their online form at
> https://secure.therecord.com/NASApp/CFORMApp/letter_nhi.jsp
> 
> If you can copy the text of the letter from the online
> form and paste it into an email and forward it to me,
> I would appreciate it, as I am keeping the tally of
> all of the letters that are sent in.
> 
> thanks again to all of you for your letter-writing
> efforts - you are truly making a huge difference in
> public awareness and support for MMP.
> Jacqueline
> 
>
http://www.newhamburgindependent.ca/nhi/viewpoint/viewpoint_865480.html
> 
> The dangers of proportional representation
> From the Backroom
> Paul Knowles, New Hamburg
> (Aug 29, 2007) 
> Once upon a time, not all that long ago, I fell into
> conversation with a woman on an airplane. The plane
> was bound for Amsterdam; the woman was a Member of
> Parliament in the Netherlands, representing the Green
> Party.
> 
> Here is how she became an M.P.: as an active member of
> the Greens, she campaigned, exclusively within the
> party, to be put on their official "list". I don't
> recall the exact numbers, but let's say she earned the
> 14th place on that list.
> 
> The Netherlands has proportional representation - a
> similar system to one that is being proposed here in
> Ontario, and on which we will vote in a referendum in
> October.
> 
> So when the votes were counted in the previous Dutch
> election, the Greens had earned a percentage of the
> popular vote that meant they could sit 13 MPs.
> Thirteen law-makers who had never, personally,
> received the affirmation of the electors. They simply
> were the ones chosen by a party that then received a
> percentage of the public votes cast.
> 
> My new acquaintance had missed the cut by one. But
> subsequently, one of the higher 13 died, and that left
> an empty Green seat in the Parliament.
> 
> There was no by-election, no vote of any kind - she
> simply moved up to 13th spot on the party list, and
> took her place as a duly elected M.P.
> 
> Let me be clear - I found this person to be bright,
> thoughtful, insightful and compassionate. What she is
> not, however, is democratically elected, not in any
> way familiar to those of us accustomed to the
> Parliamentary system that has its modern roots in the
> United Kingdom. Nobody outside the Green Party ever
> voted for this person.
> 
> Here in Ontario, a duly appointed group of citizens
> from across the province - including New Hamburg
> resident Bill Ritz - has spent a lot of time studying
> our electoral system. That group has become a
> proponent of the province adopting a system of
> proportional representation.
> 
> That's a valid point of few. I just happen to think it
> is not the right thing for Ontario, or for Canada.
> 
> Proportional representation exists elsewhere in the
> world. Where it is in place, it has both its fans and
> its critics. The fans tend to be people from minority
> parties who cannot gain access to Parliamentary seats
> through our present first-past-the-post system. People
> like those in the Green Party in the Netherlands.
> 
> The critics tend to be people who understand that in
> creating a system that includes proportional
> representation, we would be creating significant
> problems. For instance, we would have two kinds of
> Members, who would none the less have equal say in the
> government of the land.
> 
> There would still be the MPPs representing traditional
> ridings - like the admirable Ted Arnott, who we are
> sadly losing through redistribution this fall. And
> then there would be MPPs like my friend on the plane.
> 
> The regular MPPs would have all the current
> responsibilities at both Queen's Park and in their
> ridings. The new-style MPPs would have no constituency
> to care about - and no voters to call them personally
> to account.
> 
> A system adding proportional representation would
> also, by the way, almost guarantee perpetual minority
> governments. Is this a good idea? In Canada, we only
> know minority government as one option, usually the
> result of discontented voters who don't want to give
> unchecked power to any party, just now.
> 
> But never-ending minority government is a recipe for
> never-ending gridlock, with little or nothing really
> being accomplished.
> 
> First past the post is not perfect. It just happens to
> be, in the long tradition of Parliamentary democracy,
> far superior to the other proposals suggested by
> people trying to fix something that ain't broke.
> 
> Which is why, from now until the provincial election,
> I will be arguing against the proposed change with
> anyone who cares to listen.
> 
> 
> Live in Ontario? Vote for MMP on Oct 10th
> http://www.VoteForMMP.ca
> 
> Jacqueline Sharp, MRM
> Research Associate
> M.K. Jaccard and Associates
> Toronto, Ontario
> jacquelinesharp at gmail.com
> 416-901-2140 (home/office) / 647-893-8910 (cell)
> 
> 
>        
>
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