[fvc-wat-disc] NDP Leadership Candidates on Proportional Representation

[Anita Nickerson]

Hi everyone.

In terms of "to be expected" that they would answer this way - yes and no.

Up until our FVC campaign, I don't think any of them but Caron were going
to be specific, promise to campaign vocally on PR (which Mulcair did not),
and most important, say PR will be a condition of supporting a Liberal
minority. Every opportunity to say anything other than "I support PR", they
took a *pass*.

Our campaign pushed them - we're not huge, but since we actually asked
people to join the NDP to vote for exactly this reason - we are votes.

On the support for minority question: *Read the candidates answers on that
very closely. *They might sound the same but are different.

*Ashton*: As leader of the NDP, I would ensure that any potential
partnership would include
conditions to institute electoral reform.

*Singh: * In a minority parliament, I would consult with our caucus and
advocate for the inclusion of proportional representation as a condition of
any alliance or support for a minority government.

*Caron*: As part of my policy on electoral reform in the NDP leadership
race, I explicitly made a commitment to make electoral reform a necessary
condition and prerequisite for any potential alliance or support of any
minority government.

*Angus:* Yes. While I did not get into politics to put other parties into
power, I would make proportional representation one of the key demands on
any government supported in Parliament by the NDP.

This is VERY important.

We have one candidate saying PR would be "*one *of the key demands". We
have another saying he'd *consult *with his caucus and advocate for PR, we
have a third saying that a *partnership *would require a commitment to
electoral. Then we have Caron saying basically, this one issue is a deal
breaker. No PR, no support.

Let's suppose it's a minority situation. Which candidates have a list of
important concessions they want, which includes PR, but if they don't get
PR they'll take some other victory and say "well, we asked"? *We've been
here before.* And for the Liberals, any other concession will be preferable
and many other concessions would help the NDP look good to the public -
electoral reform is one of those things that doesn't boost your polling,
and makes you look self-serving. You need a determined will to keep at it
anyway.

There's one candidate who made this *a KEY platform plank months ago* -
Basic Income and PR - Guy Caron. He put out a news release on it. (It is on
his website under news - not a good spot). Guy's platform did not inspire
the others to make any commitments until we signed people up to vote.

Sean says:

*I also have the impression that Guy Caron actually supports PR. I suspect
the other candidates have PR on their checklist. *

Yes, my impression, too.

It is encouraging that Singh has been saying since the beginning that
"electoral reform" is one of "four pillars."

Another thing I like about Singh (a trivial point, but to me it's a point)
is that while they are all saying "MMP with regional open lists" (repeat
policy book - same as last election) Singh said to somebody "probably MMP."
If the NDP are in a situation to negotiate with the Liberals, and the
Liberals don't want MMP, it's good that there is a candidate who might be
clued in that there are other good systems out there. Nathan Cullen and
Alexandre Boulerice did a LOT of work on that end during the ERRE. If they
do their homework in the background, we don't have to go back to square one
on this.

*In the end we're going to have four candidates whose commitments to PR all
SOUND almost the same. Which is exactly what we wanted! Vote for any of
them and it's all good!*

*For those of us following this closely, though, the question is who is
most believable on this issue, has the best understanding, and is most
likely to put this issue first?*

I have my opinion, but who really knows. Things change. Our job is to push
whoever gets elected.

Anita

On Wed, Aug 16, 2017 at 8:37 AM, Dave Arthur <arthurd23 at bell.net> wrote:

> They all gave virtually the same answers – not unexpected.
> Why is there nothing on any of their websites?
>
> *From:* Jennifer Ross
> *Sent:* Tuesday, August 15, 2017 9:43 PM
> *To:* FVC Waterloo Region Discussion
> *Subject:* [fvc-wat-disc] NDP Leadership Candidates on Proportional
> Representation
>
> Please see where each of the four candidates stand on PR, and what they
> will do about it.
>
> http://www.fairvote.ca/asked-ndp-candidates/
>
> (8:58 if anyone was keeping track on timing.)
>
> --
> No other Western democratic country concentrates as much political power in
> the hands of one person as Canada does with her Prime Minister.
>
> ------------------------------
> _______________________________________________
> This is the fvc-wat-disc mailing list
> Post a message: fvc-wat-disc at listserv.thinkers.org
> Unsubscribe: http://listserv.thinkers.org/mailman/listinfo/fvc-wat-disc_
> listserv.thinkers.org
>
>
>
> <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient> Virus-free.
> www.avast.com
> <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient>
> <#m_6558253905364235834_DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
>
> _______________________________________________
> This is the fvc-wat-disc mailing list
> Post a message: fvc-wat-disc at listserv.thinkers.org
> Unsubscribe: http://listserv.thinkers.org/mailman/listinfo/fvc-wat-disc_
> listserv.thinkers.org
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.thinkers.org/pipermail/fvc-wat-disc_listserv.thinkers.org/attachments/20170816/013391e5/attachment-0002.htm>