The Ottawa chapter of Fair Vote Canada was at the Pride Parade and the information fair yesterday. We were next to the Green Party table, many of which who I know personally. My colleague Andy Blair had talked to them and reported that none of them were Fair Vote Canada members.
As the Greens & NDP get stronger, the election results will get weirder. Those are indeed very teachable moments.
But the most active of you know very well that its the work between elections and referendums that count the most. Fair Vote Canada can approach people as a multi-partisan campaign and uniquely focus on electoral reform. Although Adrianne Carr, Elizabeth May and Jack Layton have talked many times about electoral reform, it comes nowhere near the work that Fair Vote Canada has done on the matter. Plus, when Greens or NDP talk about electoral reform, it may (or may not) look like sore loosers. When FVC talks about PR, we are citizens who want a better democracy and we can do so without taking a partisan stance.
I don’t want to come across as saying that the work the Greens do on the matter is unimportant; far from it. But I am constantly surprised to see how so few are members. Proportional representation will give both parties more seats: so, where is the logic in not being a member of an organization that advocates for it?
So Greens & Dippers, what are you waiting for to join?
In a 1995 atlas*, I noticed this startling figure: Only 60% of Canadians have level 3 reading and numeracy skills. 40% of Canadians have level 1 or level 2 skills.
The different levels mean the following:
- Level 3 skills mean “has sufficient reading and numeracy skills to cope with everyday demands”
- Level 2 skills mean “Able to understand simple text and perform simple numerical operations, ie addition, subtraction.”
- Level 1 skills mean “has difficulty dealing with printed materials and numbers.
The level 3 & 2 skills for across Canada were about 85% for numeracy skills and 90% for reading skills. The remainder made up level 1 only skills.
What does this mean when explaining electoral reform? Obviously we have to keep it as simple as possible. Now I understand why Billy Ballot looked so childish.
*Matthews, G. & Morrow, R., “Canada and the World: An Atlas Resource, second edition”, Prentice Hall canada, Inc. 1995, p. 50.
I was happy to see an MP from a rural area push for proportional representation. During past referendums, rural areas have often opposed reform because every riding or district had to be larger to accommodate for proportionality. I can understand the perception of not feeling represented if your riding area gets larger. But what is often forgotten in that argument is that most voters in most ridings, rural or otherwise, are not represented in the first place because their vote didn’t count. In Mr. Hyer’s riding (Thunder Bay — Superior North) for example, 63% of votes were discarded because they did not go to Mr. Hyer.
To: Bruce Hyer,
MP for Thunder Bay — Superior North
Cc: Paul Dewar, MP for Ottawa-center (my riding)
Steven Fletcher, Minister of Democratic Reform
Fair Vote Canada
Dear Mr. Hyer,
I noticed in a tbnewswatch.com article dated Friday 7th of August 2009 (http://www.tbnewswatch.com/News/?cid=63010) that you would be talking more about proportional representation at the NDP convention.
I thank you for supporting the reform of our electoral system to a more democratic system. As you may know, in the last federal election, 51% of all votes across Canada were discarded because they did not go to a “wining” candidate. Votes for all political parties are lost under our current electoral system: conservatives in Toronto, Liberals out west, Bloc voters in western Quebec, Green votes across Canada. Your party consistently receive fewer seats than the Bloc when it should get more. The lack of proper representation is a loss for all Canadians.
Good luck in pushing for proportional representation; have a wonderful convention,
Julien