Ontario MMP vote hits U.S. blogosphere

Comment on Ontario MMP vote hits U.S. blogosphere

Current Discussion

• I messed up the HTML in the immediately preceeding post. The 3rd, 4th and 5th paragraphs should also be in italics, indicating quoted material. The last paragraph is my own. Does this blogging software have a preview feature?

  Posted by Bob Richard, 08/24/2007 (3 years ago)

• There's an interesting comment on the government's (alleged) informational campaign in Niagara This Week: Ron Bodner, Progressive Conservative candidate, says the reform isn't a bad thing, but wonders if there has been enough debate. So far, it doesn't seem so. The information campaigns airing now seem nothing more than a gentle reminder that within the next 45 days, you might want to figure out what a mixed member proportional system is. One place to start is www.yourbigdecision.ca. But remember, it's more than your big decision. For the 35 per cent of the population that doesn't vote, you have to make a decision that may make them more likely to put down there IPods and head for the polls. As well, for the rest of the country that isn't voting in a referendum this year, your decision could have big repercussions. With Ontario's large population and political influence, the federal government may be forced to consider electoral reform if the voters support it. Let's hope that when we discuss electoral reform, it isn't met with the stoney silence heard in the public information ads now airing. It's our big decision and it's happening soon. The Yes on MMP campaign is asking for money. Folks outside Canada can contribute if we specify that our money is for expenses other than advertising. 'Nuf said.

  Posted by Bob Richard, 08/24/2007 (3 years ago)

• While you might be hearing more in the Ontario media now about PR these days, the discussion has been a long time coming and awareness remains low among the average person - including people who follow the news to some extent. The people have a huge opportunity to gain more power by voting for MMP on October 10. As noted above, public awareness is critical to winning. There are some citizen campaigns now - Voteformmp.ca & equalvoice.ca come - maybe more to come. The government is very slow off the mark - there are 8.5 voters to reach. They've just launched their website. The internet can play an important role in getting the word out. And once we win Canada, who knows where this could ripple.

  Posted by Gary, 08/04/2007 (3 years ago)

• Survival of the executive branch is no doubt part of the picture. I think an even larger part is the fact that a parliamentary system + FPTP provides less support to two-party duopoly than does a presidential system + FPTP. Add the fact partisanship is more regional than in the U.S. In combination, these factors (and, I suspect, others) result in more than two healthy parties in at least some provinces at least some of the time. That in turn results in frequent elections where a party gets a majority of the seats on less than a majority of the vote, and even cases where a party gets a majority of the seats on fewer votes than one of its rivals. The anomalies in turn lead to some public understanding of PR. I've been reading some of the editorials, op-eds and letters in the Ontario press. The quantity and overall quality of the dialog is remarkable. By the way, my previous post contains a bad link. The provincial government's informational website is actually here.

  Posted by Bob Richard, 08/02/2007 (3 years ago)

• The level of public understanding of PR in Canada always amazes me. There are a lot of differences between Canada and the United Sttes, but Canada is the country most similar overall to our own. I wonder to what extent having a parliamentary system creates incentives to learn and know about PR, mainly because executive survivability is tied directly to seat shares in Parliament.

  Posted by Jack, 08/02/2007 (3 years ago)

• The provincial government has unveiled its educational campaign (web link). If the new web site is any indication, it will be limited to letting people know there's a referendum, without saying much about the pros and cons. On the other hand, the press release makes it look like they might (unlike British Columbia) make most voters aware that there is an issue on the ballot. It appears that they plan to cover the bases: TV, radio, direct mail, and internet.

  Posted by Bob Richard, 08/01/2007 (3 years ago)

• Should also Mention Fair Vote Canada's work on this topic across Canada, but also in Ontario. http://www.fairvotecanada.org/en/Ontario

  Posted by Mike Gifford, 07/22/2007 (3 years ago)

• There's another extremely helpful report on the government's plans (or lack thereof) for an educational campaign rabble.ca. I very much believe that, when ordinary people learn about proportional voting, they like it. So government promises to educate the public followed by inaction are in the same category as the double supermajorities. It looks like bad faith.

  Posted by Bob Richard, 06/24/2007 (3 years ago)

• There's an interesting discussion on the prospects for success on democraticSPACE. Commentators there seem to agree that everything depends on having enough resources to wage an effective educational campaign. This agrees with my understanding of the near-win in British Columbia in 2005. Many folks who voted "no" on STV did so because they just didn't know enough to decide. And both the "yes" and "no" campaigns there were, in fact, underfunded. My own reading of the press in Ontario is that discussion of MMP is beginning to filter down from the politically active citizens to ordinary folks. I'm encouraged by that, but the double supermajority requirement (60% province-wide plus simple majorities in 60% of the legislative districts) is a very high hurdle.

  Posted by Bob Richard, 06/23/2007 (3 years ago)