<div dir="ltr">Folks,<div><br></div><div> Here is my Old American / New Canadian view on the coverage. I apologize in advance if this seems overly negative or culturally mismatched, but these are my observations as best as I can articulate them.</div><div><br></div><div> Coming from the US, this whole thing has been a bit surreal. This is probably the most important structural question in all of Canadian politics in decades and it had support in the end from nearly half the MPs who chose to vote. Usually importance + close votes = controversy and coverage. Yet, this got approximately 0 coverage. Yeah, there were a few articles and op eds. Mr. Cullen did an amazing job trying to rally support across the entire country with his town halls. And, of course, there were the tireless and amazing efforts of all of you on this list - I'm inspired by your work. But, by US standards, this was a near complete blackout. The easiest way to prevent positive change is not to shout it down, but to ignore it. And the politicians allowed the press to ignore this.</div><div><br></div><div> If there were an issue in the US that promised/threatened to change the balance of power of the major parties for generations, was tightly contested, and involved the leader of the country breaking a promise made 1600+ times, this would be front page news every day for months. How many non-activist friends, neighbors, and co-workers even knew the vote was happening or had an opinion on it? How many t-shirts, lawn signs, posters, or pins did you see? How many MPs had town halls on the topic? How many press conferences were called by the opposition party leaders to use the bully pulpit and set the terms of the discussion publicly? How many front page news stories were written? How many network and cable news stories presented it?</div><div><br></div><div> Let me think of how many things in my casual observance got more attention from the nightly news than this</div><div><ul><li>Trump, Trump, and more Trump</li><li>A new train</li><li>Minimum wage</li><li>Provincial party leader elections</li><li>Handshake styles of world leaders<br></li><li>Local crime reports</li><li>Weather</li><li>Hockey</li><li>Curling</li><li>(And I swear this is true) A woman getting arrested for climbing a construction crane</li></ul></div><div> It was amazing to me that no one even bothered to name the vote. I hunted down the HOC description of the vote and it was "That the Third Report of the Special Committee on Electoral Reform, presented on Thursday, December 1, 2016, be concurred in." 20 words and 124 characters. In today's world of tweeting, that leaves 16 characters for adding color. Seriously? In the US, the pro side would have called this the "Make your vote count vote", the "Saving multi-party democracy vote", or the "No Trumps for Canada vote". The anti-side would have called this the "Empowering extremists vote". But, neither side did any creative marketing on this at all and the result was predictable, a win for the status quo and the will of the leader of the party in power.</div><div><br></div><div> I'm not saying that we should have American style hack and slash politics. In fact, of of the great things about PR, if enacted, would be the ratcheting down of rhetoric and the creation of incentives for parties to cooperate and compromise. But, something this big and this disruptive to whoever is currently in power needs to be really wanted and demanded by the people or it just can't pass. There has to be not just a recognition that this is a good idea, but that it's something that our collective future depends on. People need an greater awareness and much more emotional connection to what's at stake.</div><div><br></div><div> I love that Canadian media and politics reflects the sober and (personally not politically) conservative nature of the country itself. It's one of the reasons I'm here and not down in the US. But, we're talking about passing something that is by its very definition against the short term interests of whoever has the majority of the power. That really does call for a different approach towards visibility and marketing of the issue.</div><div><br></div><div> I apologize again for the rant. And, I apologize for coming in late, not doing nearly as much work as anyone else on this list, and then seeming critical of the outcome. I'm still learning Canadian politics and may be wildly off base here. I am only taking the risk in writing this in hopes that maybe my outside perspective contains some nugget of insight that may be helpful for our next run at the issue.</div><div><br></div><div> Thanks so much for having me in the group. I'm excited for our prospects in the long term.</div><div><br></div><div>Take care,</div><div>Jay</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jun 1, 2017 at 11:01 AM, Evan Rosamond <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:erosamond@worldline.ca" target="_blank">erosamond@worldline.ca</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<div class="m_2740130748891101784moz-cite-prefix">There's also
<a class="m_2740130748891101784moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/sean-casey-electoral-reform-1.4140596" target="_blank">http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/<wbr>prince-edward-island/sean-<wbr>casey-electoral-reform-1.<wbr>4140596</a>
from PEI about Sean Casey's part in the debacle.<div><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
On 6/1/2017 8:44 AM, Jennifer Ross wrote:<br>
</div></div></div><div><div class="h5">
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/05/31/liberal-electoral-reform-pledge-ndp-vote_n_16900086.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/<wbr>2017/05/31/liberal-electoral-<wbr>reform-pledge-ndp-vote_n_<wbr>16900086.html</a><br>
<br>
</div>
All I could find.<br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jun 1, 2017 at 8:33 AM, Dave
Arthur <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:arthurd23@bell.net" target="_blank">arthurd23@bell.net</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div style="FONT-SIZE:12pt;FONT-FAMILY:'Calibri';COLOR:#000000">
<div>Has anyone seen any reference at all in any of
the media about the result of the vote yesterday on
the ERRE recommendations?</div>
<div>What does that say?</div>
<div>Dave</div>
<div style="FONT-SIZE:small;TEXT-DECORATION:none;FONT-FAMILY:"Calibri";FONT-WEIGHT:normal;COLOR:#000000;FONT-STYLE:normal;DISPLAY:inline">
<div style="FONT:10pt tahoma">
<div> </div>
<div style="BACKGROUND:#f5f5f5">
<div><b>From:</b> <a title="2jennross@gmail.com">Jennifer Ross</a>
</div>
<div><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, May 31, 2017 10:39
PM</div>
<div><b>To:</b> <a title="fvc-wat-disc@listserv.thinkers.org">FVC
Waterloo Region Discussion</a> </div>
<div><b>Cc:</b> <a title="fvc-wat-announce@listserv.thinkers.org">fvc-wat-announce@listserv.thin<wbr>kers.org</a>
</div>
<div><b>Subject:</b> Re: [fvc-wat-disc] The Vote
Has Been Counted And The Question Is What Do
Liberals Stand For?</div>
</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div style="FONT-SIZE:small;TEXT-DECORATION:none;FONT-FAMILY:"Calibri";FONT-WEIGHT:normal;COLOR:#000000;FONT-STYLE:normal;DISPLAY:inline">
<div>
<div class="m_2740130748891101784h5">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>Further to that, we had a provincial
election in Nova Scotia yesterday or the day
before. In spite of a laundry list of
improvements made by Elections Nova Scotia,
turnout plummeted.<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Read this article and especially the
comments!<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/record-low-voter-turn-out-nova-scotia-1.4139626" target="_blank">http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/<wbr>nova-scotia/record-low-voter-t<wbr>urn-out-nova-scotia-1.4139626</a><br>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra">
<div> </div>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, May 31, 2017
at 10:03 PM, Sharon Sommerville <span dir="ltr"><<a>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">Dear <span id="m_2740130748891101784m_-1679464456338091654m_6021934911473230209:1uc.1">FairVoting</span>
Supporters,
<div> </div>
<div>Today, the House of Commons voted
159 to 146 against adopting the
recommendations of the Electoral
Reform Committee. Two Liberal <span id="m_2740130748891101784m_-1679464456338091654m_6021934911473230209:1uc.2">MPs</span>
voted for the motion: Nathaniel
Erskine-Smith (Beaches-East York) and
Sean Casey (Charlottetown). Our
thanks to <span id="m_2740130748891101784m_-1679464456338091654m_6021934911473230209:1uc.4">MPs</span>
Erskine-Smith and Casey for keeping
the promise they campaigned on and
standing up for what they believe in.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Our local Liberal <span id="m_2740130748891101784m_-1679464456338091654m_6021934911473230209:1uc.5">MPs</span>
did not support the motion. We have
heard a variety of reasons: couldn't
support an <span id="m_2740130748891101784m_-1679464456338091654m_6021934911473230209:1uc.6">NDP</span>
motion, couldn't support a referendum
and no national consensus on change or
a voting system.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>We elected the Liberal Party to
offer leadership on electoral reform.
For electoral reform, leadership means
making the case for change. Instead
of leading, the <span id="m_2740130748891101784m_-1679464456338091654m_6021934911473230209:1uc.7">LPC</span>
hid behind a bogus consultation
process and claimed there was no
consensus. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Strengthening Canada's democracy
through establishing a fair and
equitable electoral system is
non-partisan issue because democracy
is a non-partisan issue. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>There are a number of ways to deal
with a referendum if there is the will
to do so but if you are looking for a
backdoor, you will find one. </div>
<div> </div>
<div><b>The movement toward a fair
voting system for Canada isn't over,
it isn't even close.</b></div>
<div><b><br>
</b></div>
<div>More Canadians than ever understand
the need for electoral reform. We will
keep working until Canada has an
electoral system that serves Canadians
not just the two largest political
parties. This issue is alive and will
be an election issue in 2019. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Tonight Liberal MPs across the
country should be asking themselves
what they actually stand for; as Anita
<span id="m_2740130748891101784m_-1679464456338091654m_6021934911473230209:1uc.8">Nickerson's</span>
outstanding letter in yesterday's
Record said: if you don't represent
your campaign promises and you don't
represent the evidence and you don't
represent the wishes of your
constituents, what do you represent?</div>
<div> </div>
<div>See the full letter here:</div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="https://www" target="_blank">https://www</a>.<span id="m_2740130748891101784m_-1679464456338091654m_6021934911473230209:1uc.9">therecord</span>.com/opin<wbr>ion-story/7341308-government-s<wbr>hould-keep-its-promise/<br>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>So many thanks to everyone who
phoned their <span id="m_2740130748891101784m_-1679464456338091654m_6021934911473230209:1uc.10">MPs</span>,
who put in hours canvassing, who
visited your MP or wrote letters to
the Record and their MP. What an
amazing effort and a great campaign!
Thank you all!</div>
<div> </div>
<div><span id="m_2740130748891101784m_-1679464456338091654m_6021934911473230209:1uc.11">FVC</span>-<span id="m_2740130748891101784m_-1679464456338091654m_6021934911473230209:1uc.12">WR</span> will
be at the <span id="m_2740130748891101784m_-1679464456338091654m_6021934911473230209:1uc.13">tri</span>-Pride
festival this Saturday from noon to 8
pm in Victoria Park. It is always a
great day and the weather promises to
be sunny and warm. Please come and
see us there! </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Onward!</div>
<div>Sharon </div>
<div>for <span id="m_2740130748891101784m_-1679464456338091654m_6021934911473230209:1uc.14">FVC</span>-<span id="m_2740130748891101784m_-1679464456338091654m_6021934911473230209:1uc.15">WR</span></div>
<div><b><br>
</b></div>
<div><b><br>
</b></div>
<div> </div>
</div>
<br>
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<br>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
<div class="m_2740130748891101784m_-1679464456338091654gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div style="FONT-SIZE:10px;COLOR:rgb(0,0,0);FONT-STYLE:normal;BACKGROUND-COLOR:transparent"><span><font color="#888888"><font size="1"><span style="FONT-FAMILY:tahoma,new york,times,serif"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT:10px">No other Western democratic country
concentrates as much
political power </span></span></font><font size="1"><span style="FONT-FAMILY:tahoma,new york,times,serif"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT:10px">in the hands of one person as Canada does with
her Prime Minister. </span></span></font></font></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>
</p>
<hr><span>
______________________________<wbr>_________________<br>
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<a href="#m_2740130748891101784_m_-1679464456338091654_DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2" width="1" height="1"> </a></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
<div class="m_2740130748891101784gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:10px;background-color:transparent;font-style:normal"><span><font color="#888888"><font size="1"><span style="font-family:tahoma,new york,times,serif"><span style="line-height:10.909090995788574px">No
other Western democratic country
concentrates as much political power </span></span></font><font size="1"><span style="font-family:tahoma,new york,times,serif"><span style="line-height:10.909090995788574px">in
the hands of one person as Canada does
with her Prime Minister. </span></span></font></font></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="m_2740130748891101784mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
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