[fvc-wat-disc] All Candidate Meetings

[Bob Jonkman]

If anyone wants to attend some All Candidate Meetings to question 
the candidates on electoral reform, there is now a list of the 
meetings on the Waterloo Region Chapter web site:

http://www.fairvote.ca/en/WaterlooRegion


If you know of any other All Candidate Meetings that should be added 
please let me know!

--Bob.
bjonkman at sobac.com

On 21 Sep 2008 at 20:50, Angela Yenssen wrote:

>FAIR VOTE CANADA WATERLOO REGION CHAPTER NEWSLETTER
>
>ISSUE #3, 2008
>
>
>
>CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS - FEDERAL ELECTION FAIR VOTING CAMPAIGN
>
>      Another federal election is upon us and the executive members of
>      the
>Waterloo Region Fair Vote Canada Chapter have developed an activity
>plan to raise awareness about the need for electoral reform during the
>campaign.  We are focusing on two tasks:
>
>
>
>1)        Sending letters to local newspapers linking electoral reform
>to the federal election
>
>2)        Attending all candidates' debates to ask questions about
>electoral reform and to distribute literature
>
>
>
> Please feel free to use some of the talking points listed below to
> write
>letters to the newspapers or attend all candidates' meetings to raise
>awareness about the need for electoral reform.  Each of the Waterloo
>Region Chapter executive members is taking responsibility for
>providing leadership to promote electoral reform in one of the four
>ridings in Waterloo Region during the election.  Please contact the
>executive member providing leadership in your riding if you would like
>to collaborate to prepare letters or attend meetings beyond the
>talking points listed below.  
>
>
>
>Kitchener-Waterloo Riding:  Angela Yenssen (ayenssen at rogers.com)
>
>Kitchener Centre Riding:  John Milne (jdmilne at gmail.com)
>
>Kitchener-Conestoga Riding:  Neil Dietrich (neildietrich at gmail.com)
>
>Cambridge Riding:  Donna Reid (donna-reid at sympatico.ca) or Shannon
>Adshade (sadshade at lutherwood.ca)
>
>
>
>            John Milne has ordered flyers from the Fair Vote Canada
>            head
>office that can be distributed at all candidates' meetings.  Please
>contact John to obtain some flyers at jdmilne at gmail.com.  Thanks to
>all of you who are able to assist with raising the profile of the fair
>voting campaign during the federal election.  Together we can
>ultimately win this fight and bring proportional representation to
>Canada!
>
>
>
>Angela Yenssen
>
>Co-Chair, Fair Vote Canada Waterloo Region Chapter
>
>ayenssen at rogers.com
>
>519-747-3825   
>
>
>
>
>
>TALKING POINTS FOR LETTERS AND CANDIDATES' DEBATES
>
>1. Emphasis should be on "ELECTORAL REFORM", not MMP. - What will
>parties/candidates do about the issue? 2. Facts:   A) In the 2006
>federal election, more than 650,000 Green Party voters across the
>country elected no one. Meanwhile, fewer than a half-million Liberal
>voters in Atlantic Canada alone elected 20 MPs. B) In the prairie
>provinces, Conservatives won three times as many votes as the
>Liberals, but were given nearly ten times as many seats. C) more than
>400,000 Conservative voters in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver
>couldn't elect a single MP. D) The NDP attracted a million more votes
>than the Bloc, but the voting system gave the Bloc 51 seats and the
>NDP 29. E) A majority Government does not need the support of the
>majority of Canadians.  The last true majority (where a party received
>more than 50% of the vote) was with Brian Mulroney in 1984 with 50.03%
>of the vote.  Jean Chretien's Liberals won a Majority in 1997 with 39%
>of the vote. F) The First-Past-The-Post system used in Canada today
>was developed in the 12th century.  Most European countries utilize
>voting systems developed in the 19th or 20th century, such as Single
>Transferable Vote used in Ireland.
>
>
>GOVERNMENT POSITION ON ELECTORAL REFORM (Possible Debate question)
>
>The Conservative Party of Canada's March 19, 2005 Policy statement
>reads as follows on the question of electoral reform: i) A
>Conservative Government will consider changes to electoral systems,
>including proportional representation, the single transferable ballot,
>fixed election dates, and the use of referendums. ii) In reviewing
>options for electoral reform, a Conservative Government will not
>endorse any new electoral system that will weaken the link between
>Members of Parliament and their constituents, that will create
>unmanageably large ridings, or that will strengthen the control of the
>party machinery over individual Members of Parliament. A national
>referendum will be held prior to implementing any electoral reform
>proposal. Therefore, possible question: To the Conservative Candidate
>- The Conservative Party said they will consider changes to the
>electoral system and promised a National Referendum on the issue in
>2005.  What happened?  To other Candidates - Would you consider a
>national referendum to propose a new electoral system, such as a form
>of proportional representation?  If so, by when?


-- -- -- --
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