I didn’t have a chance to speak at the rally because I contacted the rally organizers too late. But our mission is so connected to prorogation issue and the lack of cooperation we see in parliament. So here’s my speech for your consideration.

My name is Julien Lamarche and I’m with the Ottawa chapter of Fair Vote Canada. I joined Fair Vote because I think allot of the problems we see in Canadian politics is a consequence of our electoral system, known as first past the post or winner take all.

It has this funny trait called plurality. Plurality means that you only need 1 more vote than any other candidate to win an election. For example, across the river, in Gatineau, the wining candidate got 29% support of all the voters who took the time to cast a ballot. The remaining 70% go unrepresented.

But the lack of representation goes beyond a few ridings. Across Canada in that same election, 51% of all votes didn’t go to a winning candidate. Our electoral system produced more unrepresented voters than represented ones!

Even Political parties don’t use plurality to elect their leaders: they know its an unfair system. So why should we use plurality to elect our representative?

Plurality leads to instability in many different provincial and federal elections. For example, in 2006 7% more votes for one party lead to 15% more seats. In provincial elections for New-Brunswick and Quebec, the party with fewer votes gets more seats and formed a “majority” government.

Fair Vote Canada, since its foundation in 2000, has managed to put 4 referendums in 3 different provinces. Over 120 thousand Ottawa residents and 1.5 million Ontarians voted Yes to electoral reform in 2007.

And over 60% of Ontarians age between 18 and 34 support electoral reform. This is a cause we can win.

The main question that we face is not how do we educate the public on this issue, its how we mobilize our supporters.

And the answer to that question is right in front of me [large arm sweep to the crowd]:

So let’s mobilize to win

* We’ve got people walking around here with Fair Vote t-shirts: go and talk to them
* If you can, donate
* If you can’t donate, become a monthly volunteer
* If you can’t, sign up for our mailing list.
* If you just want one e-mail with more information, ask us for it

But ABOVE ALL, sign the Declaration of Voters Rights which demands the following:

* To be able to cast an equal and effective vote
* To be represented fairly, regardless of where you live and how you vote
* To live under laws approved by parliamentarians representing a majority of voters

Lets call on government and people of all political stripes to initiate a nation-wide discussion on electoral reform. Lets mobilize to win!