[fvc-wat-disc] Karen Redman comments on ranked ballots

Sun Oct 14 21:25:56 EDT 2018

That is a tough one but looking at lawn signs (not street signs) in the
areas that I visit, it looks like Karen.

On Sun, Oct 14, 2018 at 9:22 PM Kevin Smith <kevedsmith at gmail.com> wrote:

> Speaking of the race for chair, do we have any idea who the frontrunners
> are?
>
> On Sun, Oct 14, 2018, 9:15 PM Sharon Sommerville, <
> sharonsommerville at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Jonathan,
>>
>> You are being most open minded toward Karen.  My thinking is based on a
>> specific conversation about RB she & I had a couple of years ago in which
>> she clearly stated her support for RB.  I pointed out that in an election
>> for 4 seats in a single jurisdiction such the election for regional
>> councillors here in Waterloo Region, RB would become STV.  At the time,
>> she said she would be okay with that.  As a long time Liberal politician,
>> she might well support ranked ballots.
>>
>> We often expect experienced politicians to know about electoral systems
>> and many don't.  Karen may not even have known what I was referring to when
>> I said RB would become STV, but as an experienced politician she went
>> with the flow.  In this most current situation on Reddit, she
>> homogenized the issue and then did a pivot.   A classic political move to
>> not be pinned down by any definitive position.
>>
>> On another occasion she asked me why do we need electoral reform?  Her
>> point being that FPTP is fine.  It is a bit hard to say what Karen
>> thinks about electoral reform but we can be fairly certain that it isn't
>> very high on her list of priorities.  In fact she stated during this
>> campaign that she doesn't have any priorities and will be guided by what
>> the electorate wants...  uh huh.... right... listen I have some land here,
>> looks a bit like a swamp at the moment but it is for sale and the LRT is
>> going to be going right by here....
>>
>> Cheers,
>> S.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Oct 14, 2018 at 4:51 PM Jonathan Cassels <cassels.jon at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> To be fair to Karen, I only asked about Ranked Ballots. For all I know,
>>> she was coy about ranked ballots because she actually favours STV locally,
>>> but didn't want to say so without knowing the opinions of the questioner.
>>>
>>> I agree that Rob Deutschmann is the regional chair candidate who's been
>>> most vocal in supporting election reform, though. When Yes, Cambridge!
>>> posted a pledge on twitter yesterday (asking all Cambridge candidates to
>>> sign on to support ranked ballots municipally), he commented:
>>>
>>> I voted yes for ranked ballots. If elected I pledge that I will do what
>>> I can as Regional Chair to support the upper and lower tier municipal
>>> efforts to introduce ranked ballots for the 2022 municipal elections.
>>>
>>> As far as I know, no one specifically solicited Rob for that comment. He
>>> was paying attention to the local effort to bring in ranked ballots himself
>>> (even though he's running at a different level) and pledged his support to
>>> bring in ranked ballots at that level.
>>>
>>> On Sun, 14 Oct 2018 at 15:00, Sharon Sommerville <
>>> sharonsommerville at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Also disappointing that she is talking about mandatory voting,
>>>> something nobody is considering. She is creating a distraction & red
>>>> herring issue.
>>>>
>>>> Not great for us if she is elected.  Rob Deutschmann would be a better
>>>> choice for us.
>>>>
>>>> On Sun, Oct 14, 2018 at 1:51 PM Jennifer Ross <2jennross at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Well, that's not good.  In the past, we have discussed with Karen the
>>>>> Regional issue that it would be STV and she's been very happy to support
>>>>> that.  Nothing said here about the proportional aspects of ranked ballots
>>>>> in the Regional context.  Disappointing.
>>>>>
>>>>> Jenn
>>>>> Bookkeeping Services
>>>>> 519-501-2736
>>>>> No other Western democratic country concentrates as much political
>>>>> power in the hands of one person as Canada does with her Prime
>>>>> Minister.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Sun, Oct 14, 2018 at 1:17 PM Jonathan Cassels <
>>>>> cassels.jon at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Karen Redman did an AMA on Reddit today, and I asked her about ranked
>>>>>> ballots in Cambridge and whether she'd be open to adopting it at the
>>>>>> regional level. I thought you all might like to see her answer:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> There is a real appeal for the ranked ballot system and knowing that
>>>>>> whoever represents us at the Regional level will have received 50% or more
>>>>>> of the vote.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Voter turnout is alarmingly low normally citing between 30-40% for
>>>>>> Municipal Elections. Local elections matter because the decisions made at
>>>>>> Regional Council impact you, your family and business almost immediately.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I am in favour of finding a way to get more voters engaged in local
>>>>>> elections. Maybe ranked ballots could be considered as part of a larger
>>>>>> electoral reform package similar to Australia's where there is mandatory
>>>>>> voting? Anyone who does not vote is fined through the tax system.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I look forward to seeing the results of the referendum in Cambridge
>>>>>> and continuing the conversation.
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