[fvc-wat-disc] The Record column by Luisa D'Amato

Thu Jun 30 08:22:05 EDT 2016

Sorry Donald, I missed your response. Could you forward it to me?

With thanks,
Sharon

On Thu, Jun 30, 2016 at 7:28 AM, Donald Fraser <donaldafraser at gmail.com>
wrote:

> OK I take it my response does not please our group ... my rationale for
> saying that a referendum would be OK with public education FIRST ... was to
> give the public education
>
> If I didn't respond that such a referendum would be OK then I didn't have
> a reason to exhibit in the letter what we would (and are) presenting to the
> public.
>
> On 29 June 2016 at 21:20, Bob Jonkman <bjonkman at sobac.com> wrote:
>
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>> On 2016-06-29 08:32 PM, Laurel L. Russwurm wrote:
>> > Bob:
>> >
>> > Your response here needs to be posted as an article on the fvcwrc
>> > blog.
>> >
>> > Maybe illustrated with a copy of the FVC postcard picture and an
>> > invitation to people to come pick up a postcard and/or ask
>> > questions at the Fair Vote booth at the upcoming summer festivals.
>>
>> Done!
>>
>>  http://www.fairvotewrc.ca/on-referenda-consultations-and-postcards/
>>
>> The blog is also open for contributions by Fair Vote Waterloo members.
>> Sign up at https://www.fairvotewrc.ca/wp-login.php?action=register and
>> write something!
>>
>> - --Bob.
>>
>>
>> > On 06/29/2016 12:23 AM, Jennifer Ross wrote:
>> >> Yes, very disappointing.  I couldn't believe you guys were
>> >> tweeting it to make people read that piece of rubbish.  I'm sorry
>> >> you had to be the poster-boy for "but I did get a second
>> >> viewpoint" journalism.
>> >>
>> >> On Tue, Jun 28, 2016 at 4:11 PM, Bob Jonkman <bjonkman at sobac.com
>> >> <mailto:bjonkman at sobac.com>> wrote:
>> >>
>> > I get quoted in today's column by Luisa D'Amato:
>> >
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> http://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/6743051-d-amato-despite-brexit-we-need-a-referendum-on-electoral-reform/
>> >
>> >>>
>> >
>> >> D’Amato: Despite Brexit, we need a referendum on electoral
>> >> reform
>> >
>> >> Bob Jonkman, co-chair of the Waterloo Region chapter of Fair
>> >> Vote Canada, says there is barely time to put a new system in
>> >> place, let alone ask people what they think of it
>> >
>> > Ms. D'Amato and I had a 20 minute conversation yesterday and
>> > that's only a brief and under-representative quote of what we spoke
>> > about. Among other things, I expressed my opinion that a referendum
>> > on Electoral Reform isn't necessary because:
>> >
>> > 1) Parliament (and provincial legislatures) may change the
>> > electoral system with a vote in parliament, as they have done for
>> > every other electoral reform issue such as giving the vote to
>> > women
>> >>> (1917-1918) or
>> > First Nations people (1960!)
>> >
>> > 2) A referendum on electoral reform is not a constitutional
>> > requirement. The only issue that affects consitutionality is seat
>> > allocation to the provinces, and that requirement is easily met by
>> >>> not
>> > extending electoral boundaries across provincial lines. (We didn't
>> > discuss it, but there have been many electoral boundary changes,
>> > notably before the 2015 election, which didn't go to a referendum
>> > and were perfectly constitutional)
>> >
>> > 3) That an effective and equal vote is a right, and that the
>> > First-Past-The-Post system violates that right, and rights issues
>> > are never decided by referenda.
>> >
>> > I spoke of the rarity of referenda in Canada, that the only
>> > national referenda have been on issues like prohibition (I thought
>> > that was in the 1930's, but it was in 1898), and the separation of
>> > Quebec (1992). Ms. D'Amato pointed out that we had a municipal
>> > referendum on fluoridation, and pointed out the many provincial
>> > referenda on electoral reform.
>> >
>> > We talked about the 2007 referendum in Ontario -- that example is
>> > a great reason to avoid referenda on these topics. Although the
>> >>> McGuinty
>> > Liberals made it an election promise in 2003, the Citizens'
>> > Assembly wasn't formed until 2006, leaving them only six months to
>> > become experts in voting systems and make a recommendation.
>> > Elections
>> >>> Ontario
>> > did not have enough information documents available; Fair Vote
>> > Waterloo members went door-to-door, and we ran out. Elections
>> > Ontario themselves were prohibited from giving out information on
>> > the
>> >>> proposed
>> > voting system, and when voters went to the polls in October most
>> > didn't even know there was a referendum on.
>> >
>> > I expressed dismay that it took the Federal Liberal government
>> > eight months to form the current All-party Parliamentary Committee,
>> > that
>> >>> the
>> > Committee's proposal is due on 1 December (and consultations need
>> > to wrapped up by 1 October), that the time it would take to move a
>> > bill through parliament could be as much as year, what with
>> > debate, multiple reading, and senate approval, and that Elections
>> > Canada will need a year to re-tool for a new electoral system.
>> >
>> > And that whole conversation was distilled down to the one
>> > sentence.
>> >
>> > --Bob.
>> >
>> >
>> >>
>> >>
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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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