With the next set of promises recently presented in the House
after several days of targeted leaks of some of the content which
highlighted 'more choice of cable & satellite TV channels' I
wonder if Canadians are really as shallow as the Harper Regime seems
to think. Can we really be bought by a promise to give us more
choice in selecting TV channels and similar meaningless goodies, is
this such an important thing that it needs to be in the throne speech
and have legislation brought forward to force the companies concerned
to open up more choice, a move that will cost taxpayers nothing but
will undoubtedly increase subscriber fees. Will such a promise really
make voters forget how this regime has gutted the rules and
ministries that protect our land, lakes, oceans, fish, flora and
fauna? Will this suddenly make the missing census data that our
social and local governments organizations rely upon, and that the
regime does not want to interfere with their ideological agenda,
suddenly appear? Will those channels suddenly have our government
employees, our scientists, our diplomats and those Conservative
backbenchers speaking out and providing us with reliable information
without being inundated with Harperland spin & lies?
Perhaps the voters will forget the bad stuff (if they even knew in
the first place) and blindly watch as the current regime feed them
self congratulatory adverts, paid for with our money, telling us how
our entire future depends upon selling our unimproved resources to
China and continually telling us “we have a plan”, “we have a
plan”!
Given the general disinterest in politics and the ever increasing
disenchantment with our elected representative by those that do take
any notice I begin to wonder where the Canadian populations
priority’s lay. The views on my two blogs add to my concern, here
are the top 3 posts on this site - Canadian
Coup d'etat? Sep 19, 2010, 613 views - Canada
is a corporate plutocracy Mar 29, 2009, 470
views - Democracy
is Under Attack Dec 20, 2009, 385 views. Now
compare it with these top 3 from my personal blog - Rural
Satellite TV Aug 24, 2012, 5247 views -
Thousands
of Lakes and Rivers left unprotected. Oct 23,
2012, 1392 views - Broadcast
TV in Grey Bruce Jun 21, 2011, 954 – and even
the fourth item was another post about
television broadcasts ending with 903 views.
Hardy a reliable poll but it sure shows where the interest of many of
out citizens lays!
Having taken a break from writing here over the summer, mostly to
combat the depression brought on by following the direction that the
Harper Regime is taking this country, I can understand how the
average citizen would not want to dig too deep, just the little sound
bites on whatever Canadian TV channels you get are enough to make all
but the most concerned turn off.
The choice may well be TV or Democracy but I fear that many will
choose TV, and it wont be the parliamentary channel.........
Meanwhile for those that are taking notice, once again
Harper is flaunting parliamentary democracy by introducing an
omnibus bill to reinstate all the bills (except
those which HE does not now want) that are normally dropped, and
reintroduced individually with due process, when the house is
prorogued. He said he prorogued because “most of the promises the
Conservatives made in the last election have been fulfilled........ “
apparently not, although I don’t remember him promising to ignore
parliamentary tradition and ram through bills with minimal debate!
Finally the Green Party of Canada has published an alternative
Throne Speech which in my estimation should be a must read for all
citizens but particularly those that are charged with representing
the electorate in the House of Commons. I urge you to read it and
consider the possibilities if any (or all) of the other opposition
partys were to make such a commitment.
See http://www.greenparty.ca/green-speech-throne
Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Voting for a New Voting System.
Of late there seems to be an increased interest in bringing
forward a new way of electing our 'representatives' in the House of
Commons no doubt brought on by the possibility of the Harper regime
winning another majority with a minority vote in 2015. Given their
expertise in spinning the truth, using taxpayers money to beat their
own drum and fool most of the people most of the time this is a real
possibility.
There is little doubt that both electoral and parliamentary reform is needed and that the debate about what is needed and how to accomplish it will be difficult and divisive, it has been already. Even those that agree that First Past the Post must go cannot agree upon what should replace it. In my view any of the alternative would be preferable but as opponents of the various choice will point out all have their flaws and the devil is in the details. In previous provincial efforts to select a new voting system there has been one major flaw – the vote to perhaps remove the FPTP system with a more democratic system was presented as a FPTP choice, voters were only given one alternative which naturally was not supported by the partys who thought they had disproportionate chance of being elected by the old system.
The whole debate is a little silly in that the chances of any party elected via FPTP would have any great incentive to put a new system up for consideration to the voters, something that would in all probability not happen until the NEXT voting cycle. In other words it aint gona happen anytime soon!
That said there is a way to eliminate at least part of the dilemma if and when we can persuade a government to actually ask us what we want, and that is to give us a variety of choices and vote upon them using a ranked ballot. That is – your choices are FPTP, MMP, STV, AV etc - now rank them in order of your preference and if, as is probable, none get 51% of the vote then the second and possibly the third choices come in to play. This is of course the system (Alternative Vote or Ranked Ballot) that many are now proposing as a compromise system for elections until such time as we can agree upon a more proportional system, there will no doubt be those that would prefer just a choice of their preferred system verses FPTP. Such a choice of one or the other hardly seems democratic to me!
Lets get the various political partys who are talking about this voting method or that voting method being the one they might support if we ever got that far stop, and have them all agree that if elected they will give us a chance to vote for change by presenting all the various viable choices to us. Should that ever happen the challenge will be to educate the voting public as to the various advantages and disadvantages of the various choices something that the various supporters will no doubt have lots to say about.
The point I first made some four years ago or more still stands....
All the electoral reform in the world, everybody getting out and voting, more partys represented in the mix, even a better quality of representative will not make one iota of difference if the current “if he said it, it must be wrong, If I say it, it must be right” confrontational, non co-operational, my job is to prove the other guys wrong attitude remains unchanged. We need a quantum change in attitude from both our representatives and the partys that they purport to represent (damit, they are supposed to be representing us!) before we can wrest what is left of our democratic processes out of the hand of the politicians and their corporate lobbyists and back into the hands of our citizens where it belongs.
This is reflected in the Conservatives report on Canadas Democratic Institutions way back in 2007 where those few who had a say in this 'National Survey' were much more concerned about what our Representative were doing than how they were elected. Little has change over those 3 years except perhaps the 'parliamentary dysfunction' has increased! I am increasingly leaning towards that view myself, whilst electoral reform MAY change the outcome of any election the question remains will it change in any way the partisan nature of our Parliament that is stifling free debate and producing flawed legislation. As Elizabeth May says we need to Save Democracy from Politics.
Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers
There is little doubt that both electoral and parliamentary reform is needed and that the debate about what is needed and how to accomplish it will be difficult and divisive, it has been already. Even those that agree that First Past the Post must go cannot agree upon what should replace it. In my view any of the alternative would be preferable but as opponents of the various choice will point out all have their flaws and the devil is in the details. In previous provincial efforts to select a new voting system there has been one major flaw – the vote to perhaps remove the FPTP system with a more democratic system was presented as a FPTP choice, voters were only given one alternative which naturally was not supported by the partys who thought they had disproportionate chance of being elected by the old system.
The whole debate is a little silly in that the chances of any party elected via FPTP would have any great incentive to put a new system up for consideration to the voters, something that would in all probability not happen until the NEXT voting cycle. In other words it aint gona happen anytime soon!
That said there is a way to eliminate at least part of the dilemma if and when we can persuade a government to actually ask us what we want, and that is to give us a variety of choices and vote upon them using a ranked ballot. That is – your choices are FPTP, MMP, STV, AV etc - now rank them in order of your preference and if, as is probable, none get 51% of the vote then the second and possibly the third choices come in to play. This is of course the system (Alternative Vote or Ranked Ballot) that many are now proposing as a compromise system for elections until such time as we can agree upon a more proportional system, there will no doubt be those that would prefer just a choice of their preferred system verses FPTP. Such a choice of one or the other hardly seems democratic to me!
Lets get the various political partys who are talking about this voting method or that voting method being the one they might support if we ever got that far stop, and have them all agree that if elected they will give us a chance to vote for change by presenting all the various viable choices to us. Should that ever happen the challenge will be to educate the voting public as to the various advantages and disadvantages of the various choices something that the various supporters will no doubt have lots to say about.
The point I first made some four years ago or more still stands....
All the electoral reform in the world, everybody getting out and voting, more partys represented in the mix, even a better quality of representative will not make one iota of difference if the current “if he said it, it must be wrong, If I say it, it must be right” confrontational, non co-operational, my job is to prove the other guys wrong attitude remains unchanged. We need a quantum change in attitude from both our representatives and the partys that they purport to represent (damit, they are supposed to be representing us!) before we can wrest what is left of our democratic processes out of the hand of the politicians and their corporate lobbyists and back into the hands of our citizens where it belongs.
This is reflected in the Conservatives report on Canadas Democratic Institutions way back in 2007 where those few who had a say in this 'National Survey' were much more concerned about what our Representative were doing than how they were elected. Little has change over those 3 years except perhaps the 'parliamentary dysfunction' has increased! I am increasingly leaning towards that view myself, whilst electoral reform MAY change the outcome of any election the question remains will it change in any way the partisan nature of our Parliament that is stifling free debate and producing flawed legislation. As Elizabeth May says we need to Save Democracy from Politics.
Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Save Democracy from Politics
The title says it all, our very democracy is in danger of being
totally subverted by partisan actions which are aimed at keeping or
gaining power with little regard to the well being of Canadian
peoples or our country. Elizabeth May is correct when she says there
is no consensus on how to achieve the replacement of the flawed and
highly biased first past the post electoral system. I fully support
the Green party in their long held view that the system is broken and
requires a major reform and applaud Ms May's efforts to leave
partisan politics behind and seek common ground in moving forward
with change.
From the Green Party of Canada
The Green Party of Canada today launched its Save Democracy From Politics 2013 Tour. The Tour will see Green Leader Elizabeth May visit 15 communities in one month starting in Halifax tonight.
“With Stephen Harper shuttering Parliament once again, I decided to reach out directly to Canadians. The Greens have ideas about how to fix our broken democratic system, but I want to hear what Canadians across the country have to say,” said Green Leader Elizabeth May, Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands.
“Electoral reform has always been a priority of the Green Party. I think most Canadians would now agree First Past The Post has to go. But there is no consensus on how to achieve this vital reform. I don’t think it can happen unless political parties cooperate for the higher good of the country,” said May.
Ms. May also launched a new website about electoral reform and party cooperation: www.truemajority.ca. The site will allow Canadians to debate the pros and cons of our current First Past the Post system and offer alternatives that will allow every vote to count.
“I really hope people will take advantage of this initiative. We launch this debate platform with a non-partisan approach. On a fundamental issue like this one, people expect us to put country before party,” said May.
Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers
From the Green Party of Canada
The Green Party of Canada today launched its Save Democracy From Politics 2013 Tour. The Tour will see Green Leader Elizabeth May visit 15 communities in one month starting in Halifax tonight.
“With Stephen Harper shuttering Parliament once again, I decided to reach out directly to Canadians. The Greens have ideas about how to fix our broken democratic system, but I want to hear what Canadians across the country have to say,” said Green Leader Elizabeth May, Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands.
“Electoral reform has always been a priority of the Green Party. I think most Canadians would now agree First Past The Post has to go. But there is no consensus on how to achieve this vital reform. I don’t think it can happen unless political parties cooperate for the higher good of the country,” said May.
Ms. May also launched a new website about electoral reform and party cooperation: www.truemajority.ca. The site will allow Canadians to debate the pros and cons of our current First Past the Post system and offer alternatives that will allow every vote to count.
“I really hope people will take advantage of this initiative. We launch this debate platform with a non-partisan approach. On a fundamental issue like this one, people expect us to put country before party,” said May.
Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers
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