September 27th, 2016 - MP Larry Miller will be hosting a community TeleForum for residents in the riding of Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound. 7pm-8pm. Residents will receive a phone call at approximately 7pm and will be given instructions on how to participate.
Larry Miller, Member of Parliament for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, will be hosting a telephone town hall meeting (teleforum) with residents of the riding of Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound on the topic of electoral reform. The teleforum will take place on Tuesday, September 27th from 7:00p.m. – 8:00p.m.Residents will have the opportunity to listen to and join in a discussion with Mr. Miller on the topic of electoral reform including: whether a national referendum is required to change the voting system, alternative voting systems, mandatory voting and online voting. The discussion from the teleforum will inform a submission from Mr. Miller to the Special Committee on Electoral Reform (ERRE).
Residents will receive an automated phone call shortly before 7:00p.m. on the 27th and will be prompted to remain on the line. Those wishing to participate must simply remain on the line. Those who miss the call but receive a message on their answering machine will be given instructions on how to participate.
"I am looking forward to hearing a number of different concerns, questions, and opinions on electoral reform," said Miller. "It is my hope that a community teleforum will allow for the greatest number of participants possible. I hope that all will take the time to participate in this important discussion."
Those with questions or concerns about how to participate are encouraged to contact Mr. Miller's office.
The Sun Times reports that....
“Miller said there should be a full national referendum before changes are made to the electoral system.
He said about 80 per cent of the people he has heard from share that view.
Miller said about two-thirds of the constituents who have contacted him or responded to a question that was sent in a recent mail-out from his office have said they support the current first-past-the-post voting system.”
Personalty I am not going to bother, I have made my views known directly to the committee and I have little faith that Mr Millers report to them will accurately represent the wide variety of opinions that will no doubt been pressed by those that manage to get a minute or two to speak in the hour allowed at his teleconference.
As for the majority contacting him “supporting the current first-past-the-post voting system.” that may well be true in that the Conservative mantra is just that however this does not reflect the general feeling a cording to a number of national polls. The only reason for supporting a referendum on any changes is to further support this position in that those that do not understand a new system will undoubtedly vote for the status quo, and make no mistake some of the options currently on the table are fully understood by very few citizens.
Cross posted at The Rural Canadian
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2 comments:
Well, I am no Conservative, no Liberal, no NDP, and no Greenie, no socialist, Communist or any other tribe that has come together to hammer out a set of self-conflicting principles to guide itself willy-nilly into whatever oblivion, excuse me - nirvana, they think the common man should support. I am that uncommon creature, someone who thinks out my own position on every topic that matters to me.
I am well-educated, and these piffling variations on proportional representation which are advocated by white-hot supporters of every variation are a mathematical doddle for me. However, your average citizen cannot make change for $7.85 from a ten-spot in their head. Good Lord no. Fifty years ago this was not an uncommon attribute of the average citizen. That all went away in the 1970s once cash registers began to do it automatically. We thus tragically have a society of mathematical dolts who nevertheless regard themselves as being at the apogee of technical ability because they can type on a smartphone, thereby confusing process with understanding.
We are assured proportional representation will produce a new dawn, a new way of governing our goodselves. I see complex PR together with mandatory voting in Australia has produced perhaps the most reprehensible reactionary national government extant in the so-called Western world, with refugees held in detention camps, snarling objections to foreigners who are not of the white persuasion and general maladjustment.
Since Canada has been able to produce similar government without going to the trouble of taxing its citizens' brains with convoluted voting schemes, I see no need whatsoever to change the FPTP system. And I'm serious. Who needs it? because of a JT promise? We have about 287 promises to go from his electoral platform, most of which are more important than farting around in the margins of procedural changes that are unlikely to produce anything more than a multiplicity of parties all intent on furthering their own particular agendas.
If we could expect moral adult governance from our elected politicians, since figuring out what needs to be fixed is hardly a grand intellectual exercise if politicians could actually reason outside self-defined boxes which seem to preclude signs of any intellectual activity - then having dozens of interest groups rather than three or four all squabbling over the fine print is about all we could expect from PR. A colossal further waste of time.
Well I agree with you to some extent Anon in that certainly many citizens do not fully understand that a new voting system will not 'bring about a new dawn' or ensure 'moral adult governance, from those we elect. It may however, depending upon the system chosen, reduce the power of the Party and increase that of the individuals we choose who for the most part currently simply Party spokespersons.
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