[fvc-wat-disc] Cohn column in today's Star

[Dave Arthur]

Martin Reg Cohn had a column in today’s Star.
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/01/11/a-short-surprising-history-of-democratic-reform-cohn.html
I sent him an e-mail rather than a letter to the ed since they have so far refused to publish my rebuttal to Bob Hepburn’s piece a few weeks ago.
Do they shy away from letters about their writers errors?
Anyway, here’s my e-mail to Martin and the submission about Hepburn’s piece.

Hello Martin
Just read your column today.
Too bad many in the media can’t seem to get their information correct.
I sent a letter to the editor about the errors in Bob Hepburn’s piece a few weeks ago.
It was Changing our voting system a bad idea: Trudeau is smart to back away from ill-conceived election promise
Your paper has so far refused to publish it.
I’ve included it below if you’re interested.
You and others point to the failed attempts to get PR in Canada.
The fact is that BC voted 58% for STV but the government, who didn’t really want it, required 60%.
That in spite of the fact that 37% can give a government 100% power.
In the recent referendum in PEI the voters who were paying attention and cared about their electoral system voted for MMP but there were too many who were not paying attention or didn’t care and didn’t vote.
The Ontario referendum was a sham in that the government made no effort to publicize the issue or the work of the  Citizens’ Assembly.
Polls showed that 50% of Ontarians had no clue about the issue and 70% didn’t know what MMP was.
Duh, it’s a two sided ballot where you vote for your choice of local candidate and vote for your choice of party and a portion of the seats are top-ups to achieve PR. Duh!
Yes, the UK (i.e. England) uses FPTP and voted down AV (not a PR system).
But when Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland created their own parliaments in 1998 they gave the boot to FPTP in favour of PR and without referendums. How dare they?
90% of EU and OECD countries use PR.
Friends in Sweden, New Zealand, and Scotland can’t understand why Canada is so stuck on an unfair and unrepresentative system.
I talk to a lot of Canadians about electoral reform.
Too many of them ask what’s that about, what’s wrong with what we have, or why would I want to see parties other than the Conservatives and Liberals get representation at my expense.
When I explain the issue, the distortions, the unequal votes, etc., etc., many of them come onside.
What is needed is education, education, education.
It would be nice if the media would help.
Dave Arthur, Kitchener


Hepburn’s Arguments Ill-Conceived

Bob Hepburn says changing our voting system is a bad idea.  But 88% of the witnesses and briefs submitted by Canadians who have studied the issue say we need proportional representation, the system used by 90% of other developed democracies in the world.  What do those countries know that Hepburn doesn’t?  PR countries typically have more stable, longer lasting governments, better representation for all citizens, more cooperation and consensus, less partisan bitterness, longer range planning, less policy lurch, better voter turnouts, and sincere rather than strategic voting.  Systems using multi-member or larger ridings with additional MPs give constituents more, not less contact with representatives.  Candidate lists adding proportional MPs can be open and ranked by voters adding more democracy, not less.  Canada is almost alone with its unfair version of democracy. Friends in countries with PR can’t believe we have stayed with a system where votes are not equal and too many do not count toward representation.




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