<html xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
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--></style></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>My Sunnyside concert may end around 7:45 and I’ll try to get to the meeting late.</p><p class=MsoNormal>Dave</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Sent from <a href="https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986">Mail</a> for Windows 10</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div style='mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal style='border:none;padding:0in'><b>From: </b><a href="mailto:bjonkman@sobac.com">Bob Jonkman</a><br><b>Sent: </b>Monday, June 24, 2019 2:29 AM<br><b>To: </b><a href="mailto:fvc-wat-announce@listserv.thinkers.org">Fair Vote Waterloo Announcements</a><br><b>Subject: </b>[fvc-wat-disc] [fvc-wat-announce] Discussion Night Wed,26 June 2019 at 7pm in Bread&Roses Community Room</p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Hi all: It's time for another Discussion Night, since there is much to </p><p class=MsoNormal>discuss.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>First, there's some business from Fair Vote Canada:</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* Report from the Fair Vote Canada Annual General Meeing held in Ottawa </p><p class=MsoNormal>last weekend</p><p class=MsoNormal>* overpass sign</p><p class=MsoNormal>* meeting with Karina Gould</p><p class=MsoNormal>* Citizen's Assembly visits to Liberal MPs. Anita (Fair Vote Canada </p><p class=MsoNormal>Executive Director) has asked us to ask Bardish Chagger & Raj Saini to </p><p class=MsoNormal>introduce the idea of a CA as a non-partisan, legitimate way forward for </p><p class=MsoNormal>electoral reform. We need to ask for volunteers to make a friendly visit.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>And there's some business for the Waterloo Region Chapter:</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* door knocking campaign & federal election strategy</p><p class=MsoNormal>* meetings with NDP & Green Party candidates in Waterloo Region</p><p class=MsoNormal>* Volunteers needed to staff info tables for Kultrun (13-14 July) and </p><p class=MsoNormal>Nonviolence Day In The Park (20 July); perhaps other events</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Finally, some discussion: There have been four by-elections in Canada in </p><p class=MsoNormal>the past few months:</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* Three on 25 February 2019, including Burnaby South won by NDP leader </p><p class=MsoNormal>Jagmeet Singh with 39% of the vote.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* One on 6 May 2019 won by Green Party candidate Paul Manly with 37% of </p><p class=MsoNormal>the vote.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In total, there have been 21 by-elections since the general election in </p><p class=MsoNormal>2015.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Provincially, there were two elections:</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* Alberta on 16 April 2019, won by the United Conservative Party with </p><p class=MsoNormal>55% of the vote and 52% of the seats (30/87).</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* Prince Edward Island on 23 April 2019, won by the Progressive </p><p class=MsoNormal>Conservative party with 37% of the vote and 44% of the seats (12/27). </p><p class=MsoNormal>This election was notable for electing eight Green members, who form the </p><p class=MsoNormal>Opposition.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* Newfoundland and Labrador on 16 May 2019, won by the Liberals with 44% </p><p class=MsoNormal>of the vote and 50% of the seats (20/40).</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Internationally, there were also some elections of interest:</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* 17 April 2019: Indonesian general election, won by the Indonesian </p><p class=MsoNormal>Democratic Party of Struggle with 19% of the vote and 22% of the seats </p><p class=MsoNormal>(128/575), using an open-list, multi-member system. There is a threshold </p><p class=MsoNormal>of 4% for representation. Interestingly, Indonesia has a gender quota </p><p class=MsoNormal>for 30% female candidates. Wikipedia: </p><p class=MsoNormal>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Indonesian_general_election#Electoral_system</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* 28 April 2019: Spanish general election, resulting in an upset of the </p><p class=MsoNormal>previous Congress of Deputies. Spain has a mixture of single member </p><p class=MsoNormal>ridings, and multi-member ridings with two to four members, elected with </p><p class=MsoNormal>a full block vote, closed list, proportional system. The election was </p><p class=MsoNormal>won by the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Worker's Party) with 29% of the vote </p><p class=MsoNormal>and 35% of the seats (123/350). A total of 64 parties participated in </p><p class=MsoNormal>the election. There is a threshold of 3% for representation. Electoral </p><p class=MsoNormal>system details are at </p><p class=MsoNormal>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Spanish_general_election#Overview</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* 19 May 2019: Indian general election, won by the Bharatiya Janata </p><p class=MsoNormal>Party with 37% of the vote and 55% of the seats (303/543). India uses a </p><p class=MsoNormal>First-Past-The-Post system: </p><p class=MsoNormal>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Indian_general_election#Electoral_system</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* 26 May 2019: Belgian general election, using a method of party-list </p><p class=MsoNormal>proportional representation, won by the New Flemish Alliance with 16% of </p><p class=MsoNormal>the vote and 17% of the seats (25/150). A ruling coalition has not yet </p><p class=MsoNormal>been formed, with an extension to 1 July from the original date of 6 </p><p class=MsoNormal>June, extended to 17 June. There is a 5% threshold for representation. </p><p class=MsoNormal>Electoral system details: </p><p class=MsoNormal>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Belgian_federal_election#Electoral_system</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* 26 May 2019: European Parliament election, won by the European </p><p class=MsoNormal>People's Party Group with 21% of the vote and 24% of the seats </p><p class=MsoNormal>(179/751). Voting systems differ in various countries, but all must use </p><p class=MsoNormal>a proportional system with either Single Transferable Vote or a </p><p class=MsoNormal>party-list system. Representation thresholds also vary from country to </p><p class=MsoNormal>country. Wikipedia: </p><p class=MsoNormal>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_to_the_European_Parliament#Voting_system</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>* 5 June 2019: Danish general election, using a party-list proportional </p><p class=MsoNormal>system, won by the Social Democrats with 26% of the votes and 27% of the </p><p class=MsoNormal>seats (47/129). The ruling coalition "Red Bloc" gained a total of 49% of </p><p class=MsoNormal>the vote (slightly more when including Greenland and the Faroe Islands) </p><p class=MsoNormal>and 52% of the seats (93/179). There is a 2% threshold for </p><p class=MsoNormal>representation. Electoral system details: </p><p class=MsoNormal>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Danish_general_election#Electoral_system</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>If anyone has lots of spare time, it would be interesting to see the </p><p class=MsoNormal>Gallagher Index for each of these elections.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>*What*: Fair Vote Waterloo Discussion Night</p><p class=MsoNormal>*When*: Wednesday, 26 June 2019 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm</p><p class=MsoNormal>*Where*: Community Room, Bread and Roses Co-op</p><p class=MsoNormal>*Location*: 307 Queen Street South, Kitchener</p><p class=MsoNormal>*Map*: https://osm.org/go/ZXnwTLMg--?m=</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>As always, if you're driving please park in the north lot, and place a </p><p class=MsoNormal>note in your window:</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>*Meeting in Community Room re Apt 107 from 7-9pm*</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>North Parking Lot Map: https://osm.org/go/ZXnwTL0rw--?m=</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>See you all on Wednesday!</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>--Bob Jonkman</p><p class=MsoNormal>Fair Vote Waterloo Secretary and Discussion Night Organizer</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Mail to: info@fairvotewrc.ca</p><p class=MsoNormal>Phone: +1–519–279–2990</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________</p><p class=MsoNormal>This is the fvc-wat-announce mailing list</p><p class=MsoNormal>Unsubscribe: http://listserv.thinkers.org/mailman/listinfo/fvc-wat-announce_listserv.thinkers.org</p><p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________</p><p class=MsoNormal>This is the fvc-wat-disc mailing list</p><p class=MsoNormal>Post a message: fvc-wat-disc@listserv.thinkers.org</p><p class=MsoNormal>Unsubscribe: http://listserv.thinkers.org/mailman/listinfo/fvc-wat-disc_listserv.thinkers.org</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>