I made a small perl script to do meditation in sub sessions that become exponentially longer within one session. The one argument that must be supplied is the length of the entire session. The script will beep at you twice to start a sub-session and beep once at the end of the session. You get a short break, then the next sub-session starts.

Those who have mobiles on which they can download third party applications can try Meditation4all.

Mon collègue Andy Blair de Représentation équitable Canada m’a envoyé une feuille de calcul avec le taux de votes gaspillés par province par parti. Naturellement, je l’ai converti au format international de Open Office. Vous pouvez obtenir Open Office gratuitement.

A friend of mine wrote to me how she didn’t have much faith in the big tent parties nor the public to change the electoral system. Here’s what I wrote back:

• One of the things that makes Elizabeth great is that she believes in the electorate, no matter how incomprehensible public opinion is not going our way, or no matter how First Past the Post (FPTP) or the media distorts public opinion or manipulates it.
• There are 1.5 million Ontario voters (38% in the last referendum) that *did* support Mixed Member Proportional (MMP). That’s a pretty big chunk of the public to starting making connections with in order to build a movement.
• The next big thing is the British-Columbia Sigle Transferable Vote (BC-STV) referendum in May 2009. We can use all the help from the arts community.
• Big parties certainly have a vested interest in the status quo. It will certainly be a grassroots effort, which is the beautiful thing about it.
• Take note of what you said: “.. and a great feeling to even know that things could be different”. When May got excluded from the debates, people knew how it felt to have your voice excluded, similar to our current electoral system which wastes allot of votes. Additionally, they could imagine her being on the debates. Right now, however, many cannot imagine a different electoral system and its benefits. Once they do however, they quickly realize the befits of electoral reform. Which is why I give this link to everyone I meet: http://www.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca/billy-ballot-new/pick_lang.html

McMaster University English and cultural studies professor Marc Ouellette says the Harper Conservatives aren’t interested in building a Big Tent party. Secure in their 35 per cent ideological base, they are using wedge issues and U.S. Republican-style “culture wars” to smash the coalitions of the other parties. Again, like the Republicans, they hope to win and govern by pitting all against all outside their own Small Tent.
– Frances Russell

Les Verts francophones et la proportionelle: Une participation cruciale pour restaurer la démocratie au Canada

À la fête du siège social après l’élection, mes pensées gravitent autour du travail après l’élection: la réforme électorale.

En effet, nous aurions pu avoir les meilleurs résultats possibles, cela n’aurait pas eu beaucoup d’impacte. Le fait qu’il y a une “gauche fracturée” avait plus d’importance. En fait, on pourrait faire encore mieux aux prochaines élections, nos chances de réussir sont encore minces. Pourtant, avec 6,8% des voix, nous aurions 21 sièges sous un système proportionel.

Le Bloc serait farouchement opposé à la réforme électorale. Avec seulement 10% des votes, ils réussissent à obtenir 49 sièges. Les progressistes-conservateurs, avec 16% des votes, ont eu seulement 2 sièges en 1993. De plus, les associations Franco-Ontariennes se sont prononcés contre la réforme électorale en 2007, ne songeant pas aux conséquences du présent système dans une province (l’Ontario) qui a élu des fausses majorités conservatrices pour la plupart de son histoire.

Ainsi les Verts Francophones jouent un rôle crucial pour restaurer la démocratie au Canada. Nos réseaux sociaux francophones sont des précieuses ressources pour le mouvement. Joignez-vous à Représentation équitable Canada et faites partie de la mobilisation pour restaurer la démocratie au Canada.

I’ve been observing inwards my own anger as I participated in a student club debate at the University of Ottawa. I got very angry when the Conservatives qualified tax shifting as an extra tax. Yo Connies! its tax shifting, tax shifting, tax shifting. How many times do I have to say it?

The reason I want to see tax shifting (for me, personally) is that I see a fundamental injustice in the amount of the public treasury, natural resources and our public spaces that is going into car transportation and freighting goods from far away places. They both take money away from our cities and steal from our commons. Whether you see it from the perspective of fiscal responsibility or spending money elsewhere (culture, community centers, education, health), that is your own choice. But there is an imbalance. One that, as a cyclist, I live on a day to day basis.
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