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<DIV>Just an addendum on the Republic of Ireland.</DIV>
<DIV>We were on a choir tour of parts of Ireland last summer and I felt our tour
guides were pretty knowledgeable.</DIV>
<DIV>I asked them about Ireland’s STV voting system.</DIV>
<DIV>While they agreed people were happy with the system, when I asked if most
citizens had a good understanding of exactly how STV works, they admitted many
don’t.</DIV>
<DIV>While most of us will admit the workings of most PR systems are more
complex than simple FPTP, that should not be an impediment to adopting PR.</DIV>
<DIV>Dave</DIV>
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<DIV> </DIV>
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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=anitann88@gmail.com>Anita
Nickerson</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, May 4, 2017 12:59 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=fvc-wat-disc@listserv.thinkers.org>FVC Waterloo Region
Discussion</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [fvc-wat-disc] Trudeau spending the day with the Irish
Taoiseach</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
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<DIV dir=ltr>This is entertaining :).
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I'm working on a webinar for the end of May with a former Labour TD from
Ireland. I talked to her for about half hour on the phone and the neatest thing
is when you find out that all the good things you read and say about it works
are actually how it works :)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Since I became fascinated with the idea of PR-STV about a year ago, I am a
bit more aware of Ireland's politics. Last election they had an anomoly - time
since 1989 that they were unable to put together a majority (coalition)
government. About 60 days of negotiations (lots of drama, President threatening
to call a new election which would have fixed nothing). </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In the end they have a minority coalition government with 4 Independents in
the cabinet. For some reason I just love this because it's so OPPOSITE what we
have here. Our Liberal MPs I think can't imagine what would happen if they had
to work with THOSE people. This kind of situation would probably give some of
them nightmares. Better have a LOOONG study on how PR affects the "governance
ecosystem" - to use the phrase from the Liberal ERRE report. I think "governance
ecosystem" is code for: "How in the hell could I work with MPs from those other
parties?" </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>And while this isn't normal for Ireland, it shows that politicians can get
creative and compromise and cooperate when they're pretty much out of other
options! </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Can you imagine 4 Independents in Cabinet <I>here</I>? (Or even a few
parties?). </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>How would the one-man decision making work then? Oh, it wouldn't.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>How would the PMO Spin Machine work then? It wouldn't be quite so smooth or
to the benefit of just one party.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>With such a supposedly "unstable" goverment, how does anything get done now
in Ireland? Check this out:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><B><A
href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ireland-votes-divest-fossil-fuels-climate-change-world-first-country-parliament-renewable-energy-a7549121.html">http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ireland-votes-divest-fossil-fuels-climate-change-world-first-country-parliament-renewable-energy-a7549121.html</A><BR></B></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>And this bill was put forward and passed by a TD who ISN'T in even in the
minority coalition government, despite the big party in the coalition government
voting no.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Anita</DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=gmail_extra>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>On Thu, May 4, 2017 at 9:42 AM, Sharon Sommerville <SPAN
dir=ltr><<A target=_blank>sharonsommerville@gmail.com</A>></SPAN>
wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote
style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex">
<DIV dir=ltr>Hi Stu,
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks for following up.<BR>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I don't tweet, and not very conversant with how it works. I
would check the Government of Canada website info on MPs etc. I am
on my way out to an appointment with my mom or I would look it up and put it
out there.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Cheers,</DIV>
<DIV>S.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=gmail_extra>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>
<DIV>
<DIV class=h5>On Thu, May 4, 2017 at 9:17 AM, STUART CHANDLER <SPAN
dir=ltr><<A target=_blank>stuchandler43@gmail.com</A>></SPAN>
wrote:<BR></DIV></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote
style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex">
<DIV>
<DIV class=h5>
<DIV lang=en-US style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">
<DIV
style="FONT-FAMILY: calibri,'Slate Pro',sans-serif,sans-serif; WIDTH: 100%; COLOR: rgb(31,73,125); BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">Great
idea. </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-FAMILY: calibri,'Slate Pro',sans-serif,sans-serif; WIDTH: 100%; COLOR: rgb(31,73,125); BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">Please
provide the best twitter address to reach him. </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-FAMILY: calibri,'Slate Pro',sans-serif,sans-serif; WIDTH: 100%; COLOR: rgb(31,73,125); BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">Thanks.
</DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-FAMILY: calibri,'Slate Pro',sans-serif,sans-serif; WIDTH: 100%; COLOR: rgb(31,73,125); BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">Stu
</DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-FAMILY: calibri,'Slate Pro',sans-serif,sans-serif; WIDTH: 100%; COLOR: rgb(31,73,125); BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-FAMILY: calibri,'Slate Pro',sans-serif,sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(31,73,125); BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">Sent
from my BlackBerry 10 sma<WBR>rtphone on the Rogers network.</DIV>
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<DIV><B>From: </B>Sharon Sommerville</DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent: </B>Thursday, May 4, 2017 8:57 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To: </B><A
target=_blank>fvc-wat-disc@listserv.thinkers<WBR>.org</A>; <A
target=_blank>FVCchapters@yahoogroups.com</A></DIV>
<DIV><B>Reply To: </B>FVC Waterloo Region Discussion</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject: </B>[fvc-wat-disc] Trudeau spending the day with the
Irish Taoiseach</DIV></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<DIV>
<DIV class=m_5163956290833784726h5>
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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV id=m_5163956290833784726m_-4507788301455170687_originalContent>
<DIV dir=ltr>Good Morning Everyone,
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Between 11 a.m and 2 :30pm today, the PM is at various functions with
the Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Enda Kenny. Does anyone follow
the PM on twitter? Can anyone tweet the PM to suggest that he ask
Kenny about PR in Ireland We should keep it up all day if
possible.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Have a great day,</DIV>
<DIV>Sharon</DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV>______________________________<WBR>_________________<BR>This
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