[fvc-wat-disc] The Record Op-Ed by Brian Tanguay

[Paul Nijjar]

On Sun, 20 May 2007, Bob Jonkman wrote:

> I'm a quidnunc (in the 1910 sense
> of the word), but haven't heard anything on the CBC about this (yet).
 	There has been some local coverage (linked off our chapter's 
homepage) but it has largely gone unnoticed.

http://www.fairvotecanada.org/en/wat_local_media_coverage

 	I think the CBC has given us no coverage yet (which is worrying). 
However, TVO has been good to us: 
http://www.tvo.org/cfmx/tvoorg/citizensassembly/

> It will not actually USE a fair vote system.   Does
> anyone know the proposed wording of the referendum question?
 	I think at this point *nobody* knows the wording, but I could be 
wrong.

> Is there a (brief) explanation of the proposed system online?
> Is there a nice chart comparing MMP to STV to Winner-Take-All?

 	There are some reasonable explanations on the Citizens' Assembly 
website:
http://www.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca/en/the_recommendation/the_system_at_a_glance/default.asp

 	The old "Billy the Ballot" animation gives a little bit of 
information comparing different ballot types, but I can't think of a brief 
head-to-head comparison of these systems off the top of my head.


>
> Finally, this week in the Woolwich Observer there's a letter to the 
> Editor saying "Vote 'no' to the Ontario Citizen's Assembly or give up 
> your right to representative democracy" (Robert White, Waterloo).  What 
> sort of rebuttal can we present to show the fallacy of this argument?
 	Not seeing the article, I can't say for sure. (If you could get a 
citation or clipping to us we can put it in the archives.)

 	There are some rebuttal materials here:
http://www.fairvotecanada.org/fair_vote_ontario_publications_and_materials

         If the fear is that coalition governments are decided by
back-party hacks (like was done in the first New Zealand election under
MMP) then you might point out that voters can punish parties that make
bad coalition choices (as happened in the first New Zealand election).

         If the fear is that list seats will be decided by "party hacks"
you might point out that the selection process will need to be disclosed
to Elections Ontario and made public information.

         If the fear is that list members will not need to listen to the
electorate, you might point out that under MMP (unlike other list-based
systems) list seats are not safe seats. (That does not make for a good
soundbite, though.) There is some statistic that says most MPs under MMP
run both in ridings and on lists when they can.

 	I don't know whether that helps. Maybe you could list the main 
points White makes in his letter?

--
Paul Nijjar - http://www.fairvotecanada.org/WaterlooRegion
Next electoral reform info night: Tuesday June 12, 7pm