Monday, October 22, 2007
Random Pieces of Tape...
I would like to welcome Duct Tape into the world of blogging and wish him all the luck in updating more often than I do! I have big hopes for Random Pieces of Tape.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Referendum Ontario
It is election time in the Province of Ontario. The candidates are all out glad handing and generally making asses of themselves everywhere you turn. I'm not overly concerned with how I'm going to vote as there really are no good options this time around. The politics of this election are probably best saved for a different post (or a different blog entirely).
The big news in Ontario is that we are having ourselves a referendum. No, not a cool one like deciding if we want to separate from the rest of Canada and just use their infrastructure for free. We get to have a hand in a misguided attempt at electoral reform.
Let me start by outlining the two options.
First we have "First Past the Post" or "FPP". This is the system we are all familiar with where the person that gets the most votes in an electoral riding gets the seat in parliament.
The other option is "Mixed Member Proportional" or "MMP". In MMP each eligible voter would have to votes to cast for each provincial election. The first vote would be for one of the candidates running in their riding to represent them in Parliament. The second vote would be for a political party. The political parties would have lists of party members who would sit as MPPs based on the percentage of the vote garnered in each electoral district by each party.
Those are the general descriptions of both options. Now for some basics to consider. Currently, the Province of Ontario is broken down into 107 electoral districts (I promised myself that I wouldn't preach (read rant) about the importance of voting in this post. If you are stupid enough to not vote then you will have to deal with the decisions the rest of us have made. Just like being stuck at the kids’ table at Christmas. Having said all that, if you want to find out what district you are in you can go here and you can go here to find out who the candidates are.). Right then, so 107 electoral districts in the current system (FPP). in MMP, there would be a reduction in the number of electoral districts from 107 down to 90. There would, however, be a net increase in the number of seats in Parliament from 107 to 129.
Let me try to make that a little less ranty and a lot less ambiguous. We currently have 107 seats in Parliament. In MMP, there would be 129 seats. 90 seats would be filled by 'Local Members' (i.e. the person voted in in any given riding just as it is now). The remaining 39 seats would be filled by 'List Members' or party members put on a list by the various parties. Now the party in questions has to have won at least 3% of the vote to be eligible to a seat. There would be no change in the way that the 'Government' is formed as the party with the most seats in Parliament would be asked to form a government. The difference is in how we get there.
I will try giving a practical example so that I can wrap my own head around it as well. The Green Party of Ontario I believed had 11% of the popular vote in the polls this past weekend. With 11% of the vote, the Green Party would be able to win a seat in Parliament in the new MMP system. This could mean that the Green Party might actually be able to formally take part in the political process and have the opportunity to mature into a legitimate option for the voters in Ontario. If MMP were in place already I would go into the voting booth (by which I mean go behind the little cardboard screen) tonight when I get home from work and mark two selections. I would vote for the Liberal candidate in my riding (because as the incumbent they have served the riding well, not because they are Liberal) and then I would vote for the Green Party of Ontario. This would potentially allow for a member of the Green Party to hold a seat in Parliament and fight for better environmental stewardship from this province.
There are flaws in the system we have. There are flaws in the new system. MMP is a huge step forward as it is a mostly practical application of proportional representation (I know, I know... Wikipedia is not always the most credible source for information.. It's good enough in this case). It is not the perfect answer but we could all sit around arguing until the cows come home about what a perfect system would be. There are no easy answers. I think that I will be voting in favour of MMP so that we can try to move away from the two party system we have in Ontario (yes, OK.. the NDP _is_ a party but do you actually they will ever form a government (minority or otherwise) in the foreseeable future..? Didn't think so) and open up the diversity of the political landscape.
Let me know what your thoughts are on the referendum (even if you have already voted in the advance polls). You can do it anonymously or put your name to it if you are feeling bold.
The big news in Ontario is that we are having ourselves a referendum. No, not a cool one like deciding if we want to separate from the rest of Canada and just use their infrastructure for free. We get to have a hand in a misguided attempt at electoral reform.
Let me start by outlining the two options.
First we have "First Past the Post" or "FPP". This is the system we are all familiar with where the person that gets the most votes in an electoral riding gets the seat in parliament.
The other option is "Mixed Member Proportional" or "MMP". In MMP each eligible voter would have to votes to cast for each provincial election. The first vote would be for one of the candidates running in their riding to represent them in Parliament. The second vote would be for a political party. The political parties would have lists of party members who would sit as MPPs based on the percentage of the vote garnered in each electoral district by each party.
Those are the general descriptions of both options. Now for some basics to consider. Currently, the Province of Ontario is broken down into 107 electoral districts (I promised myself that I wouldn't preach (read rant) about the importance of voting in this post. If you are stupid enough to not vote then you will have to deal with the decisions the rest of us have made. Just like being stuck at the kids’ table at Christmas. Having said all that, if you want to find out what district you are in you can go here and you can go here to find out who the candidates are.). Right then, so 107 electoral districts in the current system (FPP). in MMP, there would be a reduction in the number of electoral districts from 107 down to 90. There would, however, be a net increase in the number of seats in Parliament from 107 to 129.
Let me try to make that a little less ranty and a lot less ambiguous. We currently have 107 seats in Parliament. In MMP, there would be 129 seats. 90 seats would be filled by 'Local Members' (i.e. the person voted in in any given riding just as it is now). The remaining 39 seats would be filled by 'List Members' or party members put on a list by the various parties. Now the party in questions has to have won at least 3% of the vote to be eligible to a seat. There would be no change in the way that the 'Government' is formed as the party with the most seats in Parliament would be asked to form a government. The difference is in how we get there.
I will try giving a practical example so that I can wrap my own head around it as well. The Green Party of Ontario I believed had 11% of the popular vote in the polls this past weekend. With 11% of the vote, the Green Party would be able to win a seat in Parliament in the new MMP system. This could mean that the Green Party might actually be able to formally take part in the political process and have the opportunity to mature into a legitimate option for the voters in Ontario. If MMP were in place already I would go into the voting booth (by which I mean go behind the little cardboard screen) tonight when I get home from work and mark two selections. I would vote for the Liberal candidate in my riding (because as the incumbent they have served the riding well, not because they are Liberal) and then I would vote for the Green Party of Ontario. This would potentially allow for a member of the Green Party to hold a seat in Parliament and fight for better environmental stewardship from this province.
There are flaws in the system we have. There are flaws in the new system. MMP is a huge step forward as it is a mostly practical application of proportional representation (I know, I know... Wikipedia is not always the most credible source for information.. It's good enough in this case). It is not the perfect answer but we could all sit around arguing until the cows come home about what a perfect system would be. There are no easy answers. I think that I will be voting in favour of MMP so that we can try to move away from the two party system we have in Ontario (yes, OK.. the NDP _is_ a party but do you actually they will ever form a government (minority or otherwise) in the foreseeable future..? Didn't think so) and open up the diversity of the political landscape.
Let me know what your thoughts are on the referendum (even if you have already voted in the advance polls). You can do it anonymously or put your name to it if you are feeling bold.
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