[fvc-wat-disc] Catherine Fife

Tue Aug 27 12:26:46 EDT 2019

Dear Cory:

I agree with Jenn.  Although I'm a friend of FairVoteWRC I'm not a 
member; but when my husband (former FVCWaterloo co-chair Bob Jonkman) 
become a Green Party Candidate to fight for PR in 2015, after a lifetime 
of avoiding membership in any party, I became a Green Party partisan.  
The reason there was a Liberal Election Promise in 2015 is because 
FVCWaterloo's own Jenn and Sharon Sommerville wrote Resolution 31, which 
got overwhelming support at the Liberal policy convention and went on to 
form the basis of the Electoral Reform promise.  A lot of FVC support 
contributed to Mr Trudeau's false majority, and I believe we would have 
had a real chance at PR if it had been a minority. Many Liberal 
electoral reformers are no longer Liberal.

I don't believe you can blame the NDP plummet on Jagmeet Singh.  Nor can 
Ontario's failure to adopt PR be laid at the feet of Ms Horwath or the 
ONDP (Ms Wynne oversaw the failure of the 2007 referendum).  Which is 
not to say that the NDP had shown itself trustworthy when it comes to 
PR.  But that's as much a failure of our Winner Take All system.  It's 
easy to be a Green Partisan because even though a majority government 
might happen, even I know it's unlikely.

I do have a great deal of respect for Catherine Fife, who I believe was 
a Fair Vote Waterloo supporter before becoming an NDP candidate.  And 
she has continued to be.  She is exactly the kind of NDP MPP who would 
vote for PR.  I think she could even be a future ONDP Leader.

Fair Vote is multi-partisan, and it is important it stays that way.  FV 
Waterloo does presentations for schools and community groups.  If you 
can help get them in the door of any school, that would be very helpful.

We can't trust any one party, especially one with all the power.  If we 
are very very lucky the minority government we elect in October will 
have a strong Green presence... and a strong NDP presence.

The best thing we can all do is between now & then is to convince 
non-voters to vote.  Raise voter turnout.  (And advocate that your party 
promises a nonpartisan Citizen's Assembly on Electoral Reform with a 
binding recommendation.)

Regards,
Laurel Russwurm

On 8/26/19 3:35 PM, Jennifer Ross wrote:
> Hi Cory.  I do not disagree with you.
>
> That said, it is also very true that one political party can't do this
> unilaterally.  We need at least two parties--and ideally a lot of MPs/MPPs
> in general across party lines--to have a chance at a PR system that can
> stand the test of time.  Certainly was more hopeful with three parties.
>
> The last thing our movement needs is to beat up on the 'other'.  Not only
> is it playing right into First-Past-the-Posts hands, it makes it more
> difficult to have the legislature we need to have.  The more vicious the
> attacks, you know the more closely aligned the other party is to the
> attacker's.  In this way we get down to a two-party system, which of course
> is one of the goals of FPTP.
>
> 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 Mon, Aug 26, 2019 at 3:18 PM Cory Young <coryyoung at outlook.com> wrote:
>
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>> My name is Cory, I follow the group and have donated in the past.
>>
>> I prefer to keep comments to myself but I need to speak on the momentum of
>> the NDP.
>>
>> Provincially, Andrea Horwath has been in her role far to long without much
>> progress and has stagnated in the poles.  It’s no wonder we’ve been
>> relegated to vote Liberal/Conservative, back and forth like a tennis match.
>>
>> Federally is no better.  Mr Singh has actually back slid the party down to
>> fourth, obscurity in my opinion and irrelevant.  Which brings me to this
>> opinion.  People in elected office have promised a lot and rarely
>> delivered.  I’ve been of the voting age since 88’ and my family has
>> traditionally voted NDP.  I’m originally from Northern Ontario (Sault Ste
>> Marie Algoma) in a swing riding.  I’ve heard it all before.  Ms. Fife will
>> say anything to appease her audience so she can keep her job, period.
>>
>> There’s no intention of the major parties to do PR of any form because if
>> they win, it usually means majority power.  They don’t want to give that
>> possibility up and gamble instead of working in a coalition of thoughts and
>> ideas for the betterment of the province and the country.
>>
>> After 25 years of voting NDP and strategic at times when necessary I’ve
>> come to one conclusion.  A younger generation needs to step in and
>> fundamentally change how governments work.  This style of democracy isn’t
>> working because it still centralizes around one person at the end of the
>> day.
>>
>> How’s Ford been working out for ya?!  Trudeau?  Even better right?!  Done
>> with the empty promises?  The rash decisions and wasted taxpayer money?
>> The constant fight back and forth, who can be better with partisan
>> politics... I’m getting a head ache!!!
>>
>> It’s time to move forward with a vision and a plan!  Don’t look left.
>> Don’t look right.  Look Forward, Do Today, Be Now!
>>
>> If you’ve earned the right to drive a car then I believe you should be
>> allowed to vote!  Lower the age immediately!  Young people are more
>> informed than you think and want to be apart of the process if given the
>> chance and taken seriously.  Getting more young people in this group is
>> essential in achieving our goal.  So instead of wasting time talking to a
>> wall, try engaging young people in their environment.  Focus on issues that
>> can tie into FVC.  School visits, libraries and shopping centres are places
>> to start.  The summer festivals are great and should still continue, expand.
>>
>> You’re seeing a momentum shift to ‘Green’ and it’s for a reason.  I’ve
>> been voting this way because their the only party that wants to collaborate
>> with others.
>>
>> Todays generation have started a Green’ movement globally because their
>> world is being slowly taken away from them.  The animal world on land and
>> in the oceans is dying.  The world is on fire and nothing will be done
>> unless huge fundamental change happens.  It’s hard work adults don’t want
>> to do or are unwilling.  It all gets pushed on to the next generation.
>> When will the buck stop?
>>
>> Does anyone know when the Mars colony will be ready because I’d be outta
>> here if given the choice.
>>
>> Thank you for your time!
>> Cory
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