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I think you guys should take note of the following message from Vote
Fore MMP. <br>
/Alan<br>
<br>
-------- Original Message --------
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">Subject: </th>
<td>The fight for fair voting</td>
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<tr>
<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">Date: </th>
<td>Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:26:49 -0400</td>
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<tr>
<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">From: </th>
<td>Vote for MMP <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="mailto:info@voteformmp.ca"><info@voteformmp.ca></a></td>
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<tr>
<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">Reply-To: </th>
<td><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:reply.1.35.130110.7898e41868015eee7e1347bbf42104205f432e8f-AlanAngold=rogers.com@civimail.voteformmp.ca">reply.1.35.130110.7898e41868015eee7e1347bbf42104205f432e8f-AlanAngold=rogers.com@civimail.voteformmp.ca</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">To: </th>
<td> Alan Angold <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="mailto:AlanAngold@rogers.com"><AlanAngold@rogers.com></a></td>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana; color: blue;">Dear
Friends
and Supporters,</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">Yesterday,
I wrote the following email, but the steady stream of media interviews
and
other campaign wrap-up activities delayed its release. Then, in the
subsequent 24 hours, something really amazing happened -- spontaneous,
unplanned,
all across the province. And it will dishearten proponents of
the status quo. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">The
blizzard of letters to the editor, the surge of emails throughout our
network, and young people asking how to start new Fair Vote
chapters say it loud and clear: the fight for fair voting only ends
when every province and the entire country have fair voting
systems. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">As one
supporter wrote: "For those of us who have become convinced that a
voting
system designed for the 18th century has no place in the 21st, the next
referendum campaign has already begun."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">This
morning, I'm sitting here with a grin on my face.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">Larry Gordon</span><br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">Campaign Manager<br>
Vote for MMP</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;"> </span></p>
<div
style="border-style: solid none; border-color: windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: 1pt medium; padding: 1pt 0in;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: medium none ; padding: 0in;"><b><span
style="font-family: Verdana; color: blue;">[written on October 11,
2007]</span></b></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;"><br>
<br>
For the past several months, thousands of us joined together in an
effort to
make the Ontario referendum the breakthrough event for fair voting in
Canada.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">We fell
short on winning that immediate victory, but should not ignore
what was accomplished. Despite a pathetically inadequate public
education
program from Elections Ontario, more than one-and-a-half million
Ontarians cast a ballot for mixed-member proportional (MMP). More voted
for MMP than for three of the four major parties. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">Unfortunately,
more people cast votes for first-past-the-post, but no one should
interpret that tally as votes for the status quo. Mixed in that tally
were many
votes from people who did not have the information available to
evaluate the
alternatives, as well as those who supported some type of proportion
voting
reform, but not the version on the ballot.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">Not only
did our campaign mobilize an energetic and highly motivated grassroots
network
in recent weeks, but we also attracted an amazing list of endorsements
from
notable Ontarians. If you haven't scanned the list recently, check it
out: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.voteformmp.ca/en/full_list"
title="blocked::http://www.voteformmp.ca/en/full_list">http://www.voteformmp.ca/en/full_list</a>.
Those of us who voted for MMP were in good company.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">In a
message to local volunteers this morning, Peter Black, the Ottawa
campaign manager, put it this way: "Well, 37% voted for MMP and the
press
called it a resounding defeat. Only 42% votes for Mr. McGuinty and the
press
call it a resounding victory. That's first-past-the-post for you!"</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">And since
we're doing quotes, those who have been active in the Fair Vote network
since its inception in 2001 will enjoy this one from Mahatma Gandhi:
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you,
then
you win." </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">Back in
2001, we were in the "ignore" stage, quickly followed by the
"laugh at you" stage. Beginning with the BC referendum in 2005 and in
the past few months in Ontario, we moved into the thick of the fight. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">Below you
will see the press release we issued this morning, which includes a
quote from Rick
Anderson, our campaign chair, noting why we should all remain
optimistic
that voting reform is not a matter of "if", but "when".</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">"Several
days ago, a poll illustrated a huge generational divide on the
electoral reform
issue. Had this referendum been limited to voters between ages 18 and
34, we
would have easily exceeded the 60% threshold, according to the poll.
The
younger generation is clearly not going to tolerate the antiquated
political
machinery of a bygone era," said Anderson. "Electoral reform is now
on the agenda of the nation and even skeptics, such as Professor Nelson
Wiseman, concede that the introduction of proportional voting in Canada
is now just a matter of time."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">After the
dust settles and we all have a chance to rest and recharge, we'll begin
gearing
up for the next round in the fight for fair voting. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">The BC
referendum is just two years away, a charter challenge against
first-past-the-post may be on the horizon, and other opportunities
will be emerging as we move forward. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">In the
meantime, on behalf of the campaign team, thanks for your support, hard
work
and enthusiasm. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">Larry Gordon</span><br>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">Campaign Manager<br>
Vote for MMP<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</span><b><span style="font-family: Verdana; color: blue;">*****************************<br>
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span></b><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;"><br>
<br>
Another unbalanced legislature demonstrates need for electoral reform <br>
<br>
TORONTO – October 11, 2007: Yesterday's Ontario election once again
produced results mismatched with voter preferences, and a
phoney-majority
government facing a weaker opposition than Ontarians voted for.<br>
<br>
The 58 per cent of Ontarians who voted for opposition parties received
only 33
per cent of the seats, significantly weakening the checks and balances
needed
for accountable and effective government. Meanwhile, the party
receiving just
42 per cent of the vote has been given a false "mandate" to act as
though it enjoyed majority support of the electorate. <br>
<br>
"This week's election results in both Ontario and Newfoundland
underline
the need for the electoral reform process to continue in Ontario and
across
Canada," said Rick Anderson chair of Vote for MMP, the campaign that
supported the mixed member proportional alternative proposed by the
Ontario
Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform. <br>
<br>
Had the mixed member proportional (MMP) system proposed in the
referendum been
used in this election, with similar voting patterns the resulting
Legislature
would have been very different, and more in line with voters' choices: <br>
<br>
- The Liberals' 42% would have earned approximately 59 seats, rather
than 71.<br>
<br>
- The Progressive Conservatives would have had about 39 seats, rather
than
26. As in 2003, the Tories would have gained more under MMP than any
other party and been much better able to provide numerically-effective
opposition to the Government <br>
<br>
- The NDP would have had about 21 seats rather than 10.<br>
<br>
- The Green Party, whose 352,000 voters are today totally unrepresented
in the
Legislature, would have earned about 10 seats.<br>
<br>
Anderson cautioned against the usual overstatement of the re-elected
government's "mandate". "Many more Ontarians voted for the
other three parties - for the Progressive Conservatives, NDP and Greens
- than
voted for the Government," said Anderson. <br>
<br>
"Likewise, Newfoundlanders are now cursed with a wildly unbalanced
Legislature and unopposed government, where the 30% of voters who voted
for the
opposition received only 8% of the seats - and the Government has a
totally
free hand to do as it will. This is no way to practice democratic
governance." <br>
<br>
"Unfortunately, Ontario's historic referendum opportunity was marred by
a
pathetically-inadequate public education campaign by the Legislature
and
Elections Ontario. A cornerstone of democratic decision-making is the
concept
of an 'informed voter'. But neither the Legislature nor EO ensured
that
voters had the substance of the Citizens Assembly's report," said
Anderson. "Instead, voters had little or no information, coupled with a
great deal of
misinformation from opponents of reform." <br>
<br>
Anderson also noted that those who cast votes for the status quo are
not only
voters who actually support the antiquated first-past-the-post system.
Included
in that tally are those who felt they had far too little information to
vote
for something new and those who actually support electoral reform, but
would
like to see a proportional system with different features. <br>
<br>
Anderson said last night's referendum result is more a delay than
defeat for
those who want to see a new voting system that gives voters more
choice, fairer
results and stronger democratic representation.<br>
<br>
"Several days ago, a poll illustrated a huge generational divide on the
electoral reform issue. Had this referendum been limited to voters
between ages
18 and 34, we would have easily exceeded the 60% threshold, according
to the
poll. The younger generation is clearly not going to tolerate the
antiquated
political machinery of a bygone era," said Anderson. "Electoral
reform is now on the agenda of the nation and even skeptics, such as
Professor
Nelson Wiseman, concede that the introduction of proportional voting in
Canada is now just a matter of time." </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
..................................................................
Alan Angold <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="mailto:AlanAngold@rogers.com"><AlanAngold@rogers.com></a>
549 Sandbrooke Court, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2T 2H4
Home:(519) 747-5535
</pre>
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