[fvc-wat-disc] Finally ... an engaged answer to my letter to "concur"

[Donald Fraser]

Please note that this letter was sent before I received the suggested
improvements from Sharon and Jenn.


The reply is not to our liking, but at least MP Ruby Sahota took the time
to write it herself and gave a rather unique reason for voting against us.


cheers,

Don


============================================



Hello  Ruby,



I am writing to you concerning a coming motion in Parliament to “concur”
with the Report of the Electoral Reform (ER) Committee. Traditionally such
a vote has always been a free vote.



Voting to concur will allow the subject of ER to regain Parliamentary
attention. 88% of the contributors to the ER process recommended
Proportional Representation (PR) as Canada’s new means of choosing its MPs.



I am asking you to vote your conscience and recommend that the report be
accepted.



Just two short years ago the Liberal Party was in third place demonstrating
that our fickle First Past the Post (FPTP) system is unstable and subject
to emotional mood swings of the electorate. This causes many problems such
as the Policy Pendulum, strategic voting, discouraged and disenfranchised
voters, lack of long term planning etc.



With the growing danger of Trumpism spreading to Canada as evidenced in the
platforms of several Conservative leadership candidates, we need to protect
our country by introducing coalition government which is an almost
guaranteed outcome of PR.



Yours Truly,



Donald A Fraser


============================================


[image: Inline images 2]


Dear Donald,



Thank you for taking the time to write to me about the upcoming concurrence
in motion of the third report of the Standing Committee on Electoral Reform.



As I am sure you know, I sat on this committee and had the opportunity to
travel across the country to hear from experts and ordinary citizens  on
proposals to change the way we vote in Canada. I took many lessons from
this experience and came out of it convinced that there is much we can do
to improve our democratic institutions. The members of the committee worked
extraordinarily well together, but we were unable to reach a unanimous
conclusion in our final report.



While I agreed with some elements of the report, including financial
incentives to run more female candidates, there were other elements with
which I did not agree, such as holding a referendum. To give voice to these
concerns, myself and my colleagues authored a supplementary report
detailing our objections and the best path we saw going forward.



In our supplementary report, we recommended “That the Government further
undertake a period of comprehensive and effective citizen engagement before
proposing specific changes to the current federal voting system. We believe
that this engagement process cannot be effectively completed before 2019.”
I stand by this recommendation and the commitment to seek the broad support
of Canadians before making any decision to change our electoral system.



Unfortunately, the concurrence in motion that will soon be put to the House
is all-or-nothing. That is to say that it cannot be amended to better
reflect mine and others’ concerns. It also will not include the
recommendations of our supplementary report.



It is my belief that any change to the electoral system must be made
carefully and after thoughtful consideration. I do not believe that we have
enough time between now and 2019 to properly develop a new system or to
consult and engage with Canadians to ensure that they have an understanding
of the changes. I don’t think that the recommendations of the committee
report reflect this, and cannot vote in favour of it.



Thank you for your engagement. It is always a pleasure to correspond with
Canadians.



Sincerely,

[image: cid:image001.jpg at 01D28DDD.9F5F7DD0]

*Ruby Sahota*

Member of Parliament

Brampton North

Tel. (905) 840-0505

Fax. (905) 840-1778

Ruby.Sahota at parl.gc.ca
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