Saturday, October 15, 2016

Referendumpster fire



Wikipedia : 

So, you know, good effort, Cons.




Reid :




Scotty on Denman said...

The Fair Elections Act was, strictly speaking, voting reform, not electoral reform in the current debate's sense.

I dread the Alternative Ballot---almost as much as pro-rep.

The Committee's mandate was doomed from day-one because single-member-plurality was excluded from the field of options. You couldn't bias the process more---except maybe by Soviet-style single-candidate ballot.

If pro-rep's so good, it should be able to compare itself successfully against all other alternatives, including SMP. I still contend, however, that it's a bad fit with our Westminster parliamentary system, in particular the requirement of Commons' confidence in cabinet which gives rise to a number of aberrations of pro-rep's stated ideals when parliaments are hung, as they will probably almost always will be under pro-rep.

I think the Liberals are gaming the reform process by relinquishing their majority; now they'll be able to throw their hands up and say "Oh well, we tried!" when a consensus isn't achieved and they can't push it through by superior weight on the Committee. I don't think any politician easily ignores the fact that surveys show most Canadians want a referendum.

Anonymous said...

What is this single-member-plurality of which you speak? Just another name for first-past-the-post, which we have had forever experience with already. A majority of people voted in the last election for real representation, inclusiveness, an end to the pettiness and divisiveness which only benefits parties not the people. Time for Canada to implement an electoral system that permits and reflects our growth as intelligent actors to flourish.

Anonymous said...

It's hard to vote for an alternative system when you have no experience with it in practice. So, I'm all in favour of a referendum - AFTER voters have had a chance to try a different system. Then it makes sense to ask which you prefer. Not before.

Blog Archive