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

Sun Oct 14 21:47:56 EDT 2018

Hi Sharon,

I don't generally think of myself as terribly thick, but the acronyms on
this list drive me nuts. I have to wrack my brain when I read all the
initials, so if that's me, I venture others may have similar struggles.
Maybe not the folks on the list, but anyone beyond for sure.

That said, what the heck is STV? I just called out to Doug, too, & he said,
"I have no idea." I know as soon as you tell me, I'll say, "Of course, now
I feel like an idiot," but there you are. Idiot it is.

Thanks,
Corliss

On Sun, Oct 14, 2018 at 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.
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> 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
>>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> 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
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> 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
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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
>>
> _______________________________________________
> 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/20181014/4975eb10/attachment-0002.htm>