[fvc-wat-disc] Arguing for PR

[Jay Judkowitz]

Fairvote folks,

     As someone new to the area and the country, I am wondering what the
best way is to argue the case for PR and where we should be arguing it.

     I have mailed my MP, Mr. Tabbara, and received a long form letter in
return that I'm sure most of you have seen (they did not even put my name
on it and called me "Diana").  I replied to his mail, but am not
anticipating a personalized engagement.

      Letters to the editor can get some visibility.  What publications
would you suggest I write to?

      What about opposing organizations?  Is there any group in particular
who it would be worthwhile to engage with to try and change their mind
through open and honest discourse?

      As for arguments that would work and would not work, I am trying to
put myself in the position of the Liberals since the Liberals are the ones
with the power to make or break PR right now.  And, in that mindset, there
are three arguments that make sense to me.

   1. Liberals have complete power now which is great, but it was only a
   short time ago when they had no power.  Conservatives ruled for 10 years
   while they waited.  Wouldn't they want some say all the time rather than no
   say for a decade at a time.
   2. PR is a huge benefit to the party in the middle of a system with 3
   relatively popular parties.  Even when they can not just dictate policy,
   they can partner to the left or the right to make policy on any given
   issue.  It would seem that PR would benefit them the most of any party in
   the long term.
   3. It's scary to let a party with 39% of the vote get 100% of the
   power.  Imagine a situation like the US.  Let's say 15% of Canadians (and
   I'm just making up that number) are really fed up with things and
   vehemently support a right wing demagogue like Trump and that demagogue
   manages to become the Conservative Party leader.  Let's say at the same
   time the Liberals and/or NDP falter due to scandal, a bad candidate, an
   economic downturn, a terrorist attack, etc...   In that situation, it's not
   hard to imagine another 24% of Canadians holding their nose and voting for
   the Conservatives led by that demagogue.  They hit the 39% of the votes,
   get the 51% of the seats and 100% of the power.  This does not seem like a
   likely event for any given election, but seems to be a certainty to happen
   eventually (based on the math and probability, not based on any notion I
   have of Canadian preferences).   Wouldn't the Liberals want to do anything
   to prevent this sort of scenario from being even possible?  I know the
   counter argument to this is that the right wing radicals would always be
   represented in a PR scenario, but I'd rather that they always have small
   representation and continually expose themselves than that they can lie in
   wait and eventually win a stunning victory like what happened in the US in
   November.

      Please let me know your thoughts on (a) where we should be making the
case and (b) your thoughts on the case I'm making.

Best regards,
Jay
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