[fvc-wat-disc] So, what happened today with ERRE ?

Fri Dec 2 12:52:25 EST 2016

Here's my assessment that I put on facebook last night:

I understand why Maryam Monsef was frustrated today.

It doesn't excuse her behaviour. And yes, she lied. Technically, the
committee fulfilled their mandate. They presented alternatives to FPTP in a
paper that describes them thoroughly.

They even did what else Monsef requested - produced a majority report.

The problem is that there are already textbooks and textbooks written about
the options for Canada aside from FPTP. This expertise is not lacking and
this conversation is not new.

What Monsef was really looking for, and no, it wasn't in the mandate, was
to find out what the Liberals were actually willing to do. What kind of
system they could get behind, based on what evidence and values. That
recommendation would have given her a springboard. Something to point to
and stand behind.

Instead she got a phony majority report - a majority that was manufactured
by an awful deal between the Cons, Greens and NDP for a referendum that
only the Cons want. Because otherwise, there would have been five reports,
a "failure" and no way to move forward (even if a referendum moves us
backward).

The problem is that the majority was so obviously manufactured and it left
out the governing party. Who then made sure everybody knew it in their
supplemental report.

A majority want PR - oh, except the Liberals don't want it, because they
didn't hear consensus, it's "radical", and they recommend breaking the
promise.

A majority want a referendum - oh, except the NDP and Greens don't want
one, they just said that so there would be a majority report and the whole
thing wasn't dead.

I am not impressed with Monsef's performance today - blaming the committee
because she is angry was the wrong thing to do, mocking them was the wrong
thing to do - what embarrassing behaviour.

But I do understand one of the reasons why she is frustrated because it's
the exact same reason I am frustrated: The Liberals on ERRE may have worked
hard but in the end they endorsed nothing, are willing to do nothing, and
just recommended the gov't kill the promise Monsef has been charged with
finding a way to fulfill.

Essentially, they just made her job harder.

She's finding out what people who have been involved in this for decades
have always known: That MPs will never willingly recommend themselves into
an electoral system which may put them out a job by a simple act of
legislation, no matter how much evidence you put in front of them and no
matter how passionate you are.

It would be really nice if they would. This last committee was a really
sincere effort to get there. We all tried hard.

Now Monsef and Trudeau will have to lead. It's not going to be much fun for
them. If they follow through without a referendum they're going to get
screamed at not just by the Conservatives (who cares) but by most of their
Liberal colleagues who mildly to viciously oppose what they want to do.

But first-past-the-post is not much fun for us. And this change is long
overdue.

If they can tolerate the short term pain from the current group of MPs and
implement PR, one day Canadians will look back on this and know which
individuals had the courage and fortitude to get us there.

On Fri, Dec 2, 2016 at 10:05 AM, Donald Fraser <donaldafraser at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I was puzzled  ...  NOW I'm thoroughly confused
>
> the minister chastises the committee under her own jurisdiction ...
>
> her government got elected partly on a promise to consult on everything, a
> new style of governing  ... that's what a committee is for ... it consulted
> and reported its findings and recommendations
>
> I can understand the Party's reasons for not wanting PR now; that
> is,disagreeing with the result
>
> BUT what you say publicly is a big thank you and we'll take the
> recommendations under consideration
>
> Berating the committee in Parliament just announces that
>
> (a) we didn't really want to consult
> (b) we wanted our sham consultation to agree with us
> (c) it didn't ... damn those little !@#$%^&* committee members!
>
> On 2 December 2016 at 08:03, Jon Bathmaker <jon.bathmaker at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> S'truth Jenn.
>>
>> This is precisely why Big Tent parties are problematic.  Which of course
>> leads to internal contradictions such as one faction of the Libs being big
>> on the climate and native rights, both of which have to be sacrificed if
>> you want to support the Alberta Oil/pipeline Bidniz.  You vote for them and
>> then the 99 internal groups in the "big tent" fight it out for whose
>> position gets implemented.
>>
>> OTOH, if we put up a ton of pressure/demonstrations/actions then the
>> climate/native faction will have a lot of ammo to fire at the tar
>> sands/Alberta faction.  And we can just sit back and watch the knives come
>> out.  :-)
>>
>> Best,
>> Jon
>> *The Climate is no longer just a Crisis  . . .  it's a FREAKING EMERGENCY*
>>
>>
>> On 12/1/2016 11:27 PM, Jennifer Ross wrote:
>>
>> You couldn't plan anything to make your own party look this bad if you
>> tried.
>>
>> Platform promises are just a means of engagement?  A public, written
>> mandate letter that DOESN'T say what you, the author, says it says?  The
>> only ones not on board are the ones that campaigned to get elected on it?
>> A party that prides itself on evidence-based decision making (also, that
>> was a campaign promise but they mean nothing now) making fun of MATH?  How
>> shall they ever defend Climate Change is a thing if math is off the table?
>> Or unmuzzling scientists?  Kind of hard to be both unmuzzled and unable to
>> use math in your scientific arguments.
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 1, 2016 at 9:47 PM, Eleanor Grant <eleanor7000 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> What a day!
>>>
>>> The 333-page report from ERRE came out around noon Dec 1:
>>> https://t.co/3dXxV2FMLi
>>>
>>> The key pages are:
>>> - 95, where PR is clearly recommended (tho in kind of obscure
>>> terminology),
>>> - 319 (in which govt response is urged), and
>>> - 321 to the end: the "Supplemental Reports" by Lib members of ERRE and
>>> NDP & Green members.
>>>
>>> It feels (to me anyway) like a team of horses pulling in opposite
>>> directions. The Liberal mbrs' report denies that a consensus on PR was
>>> reached, that Cdns were engaged, and that there is enough time to put a new
>>> system in place and familiarize the population with the issues by 2019.
>>>
>>> All afternoon, in the House and in media scrums, Minister Monsef
>>> repeated the same misrepresentations, in the very same words - plus
>>> insulting the committee and claiming they hadn't carried out their mandate.
>>> (Their mandate never had been to call for a specific voting system.)
>>>
>>> So a day of elation mixed with shock that the governing party would
>>> twist themselves into such pretzels to deny the obvious and doable
>>> recommendation of the committee.
>>>
>>> Anyone else get the feeling that this was planned all along, from the
>>> day they agreed to add members to ERRE to make it proportional?  Cdns have
>>> been taken for a big ride.
>>>
>>> Eleanor
>>>
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>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> No other Western democratic country concentrates as much political power in
>> the hands of one person as Canada does with her Prime Minister.
>>
>>
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