<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal">Please note that this letter was sent before I received the suggested improvements from Sharon and Jenn. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">The reply is not to our liking, but at least MP Ruby Sahota took the time to write it herself and gave a rather unique reason for voting against us.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">cheers,</p><p class="MsoNormal">Don</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">============================================</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">Hello Ruby,<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am writing to you concerning a coming motion in Parliament
to “concur” with the Report of the Electoral Reform (ER) Committee.
Traditionally such a vote has always been a free vote.<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Voting to concur will allow the subject of ER to regain
Parliamentary attention. 88% of the contributors to the ER process recommended
Proportional Representation (PR) as <span>Canada</span>’s
new means of choosing its MPs.<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am asking you to vote your conscience and recommend that
the report be accepted.<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Just two short years ago the Liberal Party was in third
place demonstrating that our fickle First Past the Post (FPTP) system is
unstable and subject to emotional mood swings of the electorate. This causes
many problems such as the Policy Pendulum, strategic voting, discouraged and
disenfranchised voters, lack of long term planning etc. <span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With the growing danger of Trumpism spreading to <span>Canada</span>
as evidenced in the platforms of several Conservative leadership candidates, we
need to protect our country by introducing coalition government which is an
almost guaranteed outcome of PR.<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yours Truly,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Donald A Fraser<span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">============================================</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12.8px"><img src="cid:ii_15c5955159e8b39f" alt="Inline images 2" width="142" height="230"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12.8px"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12.8px">Dear Donald,<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12.8px"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12.8px">Thank you for taking the time to write to me about the upcoming concurrence in motion of the third report of the Standing Committee on Electoral Reform.<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12.8px"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12.8px">As I am sure you know, I sat on this committee and had the opportunity to travel across the country to hear from experts and ordinary citizens on proposals to change the way we vote in Canada. I took many lessons from this experience and came out of it convinced that there is much we can do to improve our democratic institutions. The members of the committee worked extraordinarily well together, but we were unable to reach a unanimous conclusion in our final report.<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12.8px"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12.8px">While I agreed with some elements of the report, including financial incentives to run more female candidates, there were other elements with which I did not agree, such as holding a referendum. To give voice to these concerns, myself and my colleagues authored a supplementary report detailing our objections and the best path we saw going forward.<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12.8px"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12.8px">In our supplementary report, we recommended “That the Government further undertake a period of comprehensive and effective citizen engagement before proposing specific changes to the current federal voting system. We believe that this engagement process cannot be effectively completed before 2019.” I stand by this recommendation and the commitment to seek the broad support of Canadians before making any decision to change our electoral system.<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12.8px"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12.8px">Unfortunately, the concurrence in motion that will soon be put to the House is all-or-nothing. That is to say that it cannot be amended to better reflect mine and others’ concerns. It also will not include the recommendations of our supplementary report.<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12.8px"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12.8px">It is my belief that any change to the electoral system must be made carefully and after thoughtful consideration. I do not believe that we have enough time between now and 2019 to properly develop a new system or to consult and engage with Canadians to ensure that they have an understanding of the changes. I don’t think that the recommendations of the committee report reflect this, and cannot vote in favour of it.<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12.8px"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12.8px">Thank you for your engagement. It is always a pleasure to correspond with Canadians.<u></u><u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12.8px"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12.8px">Sincerely,<u></u><u></u></p><table class="gmail-m_-8521307232689005646MsoNormalTable" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="638" style="font-size:12.8px;width:6.65in;margin-left:0.5in;border-collapse:collapse"><tbody><tr style="height:95.85pt"><td width="92" valign="top" style="width:69.3pt;border-top:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-right:1.5pt solid rgb(49,112,35);padding:0in 5.4pt;height:95.85pt"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10pt;line-height:14.72px"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:15.3333px;color:rgb(51,51,255)"><img width="76" height="106" id="gmail-m_-8521307232689005646Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D2D874.ACE795F0" alt="cid:image001.jpg@01D28DDD.9F5F7DD0" class="gmail-CToWUd"></span><span style="font-size:11pt;line-height:16.8667px;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><u></u><u></u></span></p></td><td width="546" valign="top" style="width:409.5pt;padding:0in 5.4pt;height:95.85pt"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:14.72px"><b><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:21.4667px;color:red">Ruby Sahota</span></b><span style="font-size:11pt;line-height:16.8667px;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:rgb(64,64,64)">Member of Parliament</span><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)"><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:rgb(64,64,64)">Brampton North</span><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:rgb(64,64,64)">Tel. <a href="tel:(905)%20840-0505" value="+19058400505" target="_blank">(905) 840-0505</a></span><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:rgb(64,64,64)">Fax. <a href="tel:(905)%20840-1778" value="+19058401778" target="_blank">(905) 840-1778</a></span><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><a href="mailto:Ruby.Sahota@parl.gc.ca" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10pt">Ruby.Sahota@parl.gc.ca</span></a></span></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div>