Larry Gordon Responds to Gagnon

Larry Gordon, Fair Vote Canada's Executive Director wrote to the Globe & Mail refuting Lysiane Gagnon's recent opinion piece which was critical of electoral reform. His letter is below.

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Lysiane Gagnon is too hasty to bury the electoral reform movement because of the recent B.C. referendum loss (Thank B.C. For Winning Its PR War - May 25). Voter rejection of one alternative to first-past-the-post does not mean Canadians have rejected the principles of voter equality and true majority rule. What it means is the search for the best Canadian approach to fair voting in the 21st century will continue.

Unstable minority governments in Ottawa are a direct result of our current system. The large parties know an increase in voter support from 35 per cent to 40 per cent may be enough to give them an undeserved majority of seats. That motivates mindless partisan bickering, obsession with wedge issues and relatively frequent elections.

With proportional systems and fair election results, governing parties have to form stable and effective majority partnerships.

Fair Vote Canada,

Meetings Postponed

There had been some discussion about Fair Vote Saskatchewan setting up some events during the summer. Unfortunately as a result of other pressing commitments it has been impossible to follow through and those events have been postponed until we get the chance to regroup, most likely in the fall.

Plans are under way for an Annual General Meeting in early November. As this event if finalized we will post details on this website..

FVC Survey Underway

All Fair Vote Canada members received an e-mail recently with the heading, Future Directions Conference. There is a link to a member survey near the bottom of the page. If you missed it, The survey can he found here.

Please take the time to fill it out. The responses will be a great help to FVC as we plot our future.

John Baglow answers Lysiane Gagnon's column in the Globe

There is a great response to Ms. Gagnon's Globe and Mail piece on Dawg's Blawg by John Baglow. He takes on Gagnon's article and much of the misinformation being spread in today's media about proportional representation.

It is worth reading.

B.C. - STV In Vancouver Sun Run

The Vancouver Sun Fun Run attracts upwards of 60,000 participants each year. Serious runners, joggers, and walkers participate in the 10 km event. Families run together, young parents push kids in strollers,
In an effort to get people thinking about the upcoming referendum this year the BC - STV campaign took atvantage of the crowds to leaflet and they also put in a team in the run. The bright blue t-shirts were scattered throughout the mass of runners.

Fair Vote AGM

The Fair Vote Canada Annual General meeting was held at Simon Fraser’s Downtown campus Saturday April 18th. The initial part of the agenda reviewed Fair Vote Canada’s history, Treasurer tabled the Financial Statement and the newly elected members of the National Council were introduced.

The main focus of the meeting was the current campaign to win the hearts and minds of British Columbians and to win the referendum which is 24 days away.

The B.C. referendum is the second attempt to let the people of B.C. to choose a Single Transferable Vote (STV) system instead of the current First Past the Post method of choosing a government. The last time this referendum was held a majority of voters in all but two riding choose STV but the threshold was set at 60%. The vote was close but not quite there. It is ironic that governments have been swept to power in B.C. with just over 39% of the popular vote but to change that system the threshold is much higher.

Most of the morning was taken up with a panel discussion with participants Rick Anderson, Rafe Mair, Jim Harris and Judy Rebick. Rick Anderson urged participants to continue the fight. He talked about what he called the democratic deficit in Ottawa and reminded us that countries that have tried proportional representation have never chosen to go back to a first past the post system. They may fine tune the process but they never go back to the flawed older system.

Tricia Marwick, a Member of the Scottish Parliament, then told delegates about the tough fight they went through in Scotland to get local and regional elections held using a proportional represent system and how it has worked for them. They will clearly, never return to the old system.

The afternoon focused on the campaign to win the referendum in B.C. Fair Vote Canada has put a considerable effort into helping the B.C.- STV win the vote. FVC Director Larry Gordon will be working in Vancouver and the Campaign Co-Manager and other FVC members have also come to Vancouver to lend their efforts to the cause. Their message that first past the post gives you government but does not deliver democracy resonates well with B.C. voters but no matter what the 60% threshold is daunting.

Fair Vote Canada AGM Starts Friday

The Fair Vote Canada 8th Annual General Meeting begins at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning in Vancouver. Entitled 24 Days to Victory: The B.C. STV Referendum and Voting Reform in Canada will be held at Simon Fraser University's downtown campus.

Gord Hunter, Fair Vote Saskatchewan's Vice President and newly elected member of the fair Vote Canada National Council will be attending the AGM and representing the interests of our Saskatchewan members.