[fvc-wat-disc] Article: support growing for electoral reform

Thu Mar 15 12:44:22 EDT 2007

 	Derek has been trying to get this article posted to the list for a 
long time, so I am just forwarding it.

- Paul

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Support growing for electoral reform: Poll
Niagara Falls Review (ON)
Mon 12 Mar 2007
Page: A6
Section: Local
Byline: James Wallace
Sources: Osprey News Network - Niagara Falls Review/Sault Star/Sudbury 
Star/Cornwall Standard/Kingston Standard/Belleville Intelligencer
Edition:
Length: 724 words
Illustration:

There's broad public support for government plans to review and possibly 
overhaul Ontario's 215-year-old
electoral system, shows an SES Research/Osprey Media poll.

Six out of every 10 voters surveyed in this province think it's time to 
look at changing the way MPPs are
elected at Queen's Park. "It's a huge number," said SES president Nik 
Nanos. "It's almost twice as many as
who are happy with the status quo."

"That suggests there's a pretty significant appetite among Ontarians to 
see what can be done to make the
system they use to elect politicians better," Nanos said.

The poll showed 61 per cent of voters are open to electoral change, while 
just 34 per cent believe the
system is fine the way it is. Another six per cent were unsure or didn't 
favour either option - change or the
status quo.

Women were more likely than men, by seven percentage points, to support 
change to the electoral system.
The appetite for change has compelling implications. Ontario's voting 
system has been in place for more
than 200 years. In provincial election campaigns to elect MPPs, voters 
cast ballots in ridings across the
province for the candidate of their choice.

The candidate who wins the most votes wins the seat. The party that wins 
the most seats forms the
government, certainly at least when a majority of seats are captured in 
the provincial Legislature. That "first
past the post system" is run much like a horse race.

During the last provincial election campaign, Premier Dalton McGuinty 
promised a review of Ontario's
electoral system. His government created an independent Citizens Assembly 
last year to review this
province's system and possibly to recommend change.

That Assembly is scheduled to reach a decision within two months and to 
issue a report to the Legislature
by mid-May. Indications from recent public meetings suggest the assembly - 
made up of 103 Ontario voters
(one from each riding in the province) and a chairman
  is poised to recommend change.

Nanos said the poll numbers suggest the public may be ripe. "I think what 
this means is that the McGuinty
government is actually on the right track with this citizen's assembly," 
he said. British Columbia has
already made changes to its electoral system and Ontario's Citizen's 
Assembly is considering a range of
alternatives to this province's current voting system.

Some options would see political parties fill some of the seats in the 
Legislature with both locally-elected
MPPs and candidates drawn from party lists. Others would see voters rank 
candidates by order of
preference - systems that could see more fringe parties win seats.

Although the public is currently open to the notion of change, that 
"tentative green light" could turn quickly
once the public sees the details of the proposed change, Nanos said. "The 
numbers show there's potential
but I think they should also be exercising some caution because any kind 
of harebrained ideas would turn
these numbers rather quickly," he said.

"The devil is in the detail," Nanos said. "It's kind of like Senate 
reform," he added. "Canadians in general
are pretty supportive of Senate reform, but when you get into the details 
of how it will work, that's when
there's trouble." "Although the numbers are positive (for electoral 
reform), the government should still be
fairly cautions because depending on what the assembly recommends, it may 
not be in sync with what
Ontarians want," he said.

Nanos also cautioned the strong appetite for change could reflect broader 
voter dissatisfaction with the
political process in general. "This is also a bit of a verdict of people's 
satisfaction with our system writ
large," he said. "Not necessarily a specific government but politicians 
and government in general."

If Ontario's Citizen's Assembly reaches its verdict as anticipated by 
mid-April, a final, official report and
recommendation will follow a month later. At that point, the government is 
expected to launch a massive
public education program followed by a referendum during this October's 
provincial election campaign to
give every Ontarian a chance to vote on the Assembly's recommendations.

The telephone survey of 502 Ontarians was conducted on March 3 and 4. 
Details of the poll are available at
www.sesresearch.com. It is considered accurate to within 4.4 percentage 
points, 19 times out of 20.

James Wallace is Queen's Park bureau chief of Osprey Media. Contact the 
writer at www.ospreymedia.ca.