Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament

Fair Vote Canada supporters are attend the anti-proroguing rallies all across Canada today distributing leaflets and encouraging participants that one way to encourage change is to join Fair Vote Canada.

In Saskatchewan, our Chapter will be distributing materials in Prince Albert, Saskatoon and Regina.

We hope to see you there on this snowy Saturday afternoon.

FVC Saskatchewan Executive Shuffle

Congratulations to Don Mitchell who was recently elected to Moose Jaw City Council. Well done. Unfortunately the additional workload which comes with his election makes it difficult for him to continue in his role as President of the FVC Saskatchewan Chapter.

Consequently, Chapter Vice President Gord Hunter has taken on Don's duties and assumes the role of President. Don will act as Vice President until we can hold an Annual General Meeting when formal elections for all positions, will be held.

Canada's Dysfuntional Democracy

At the risk of overstating what Canadians think, it is clear to me that most of us are fed up with the state of democracy in Canada. If I have overstated it, I know that at the very least most of my friends are.

On September 23, Maclean's and CPAC hosted a round table discussion entitled our “Democracy is Broken: How do we fix it?” at Toronto's St Lawrence Centre for the Arts.

The round table was moderated by Peter Van Dusen and featured Maclean’s Andrew Coyne and Paul Wells. They were joined by a guest panel made up of former NDP leader Ed Broadbent, former prime minister's chief of staff Eddie Goldenberg, author John Ralston Saul and conservative commentator Rick Anderson.

It was an interesting discussion, a must for political junkies.

It was turned into a television program and you can find it by following this link to CPAC.

Earlier this week, Sunday Edition's Michael Enright moderated a public forum entitled "Canada's Dysfunctional Politics", is There a Cure For Our Failing Democracy" . Sunday Edition hosted the town hall type meeting at St. Paul's University in Ottawa to discuss the issues. It was broadcast September 27 and will soon be available on podcast.

The panelists were:

Jane Taber ,senior parliamentary writer for The Globe and Mail, and co-host of CTV's Question Period.

Duff Connacher , founder and co-ordinator of Democracy Watch

.Charlotte Gray, is one of Canada's best known non fiction writers, and adjunct professor in the department of history at Carlton University.

William Johnson, the author of five books on politics in French and English including "The Future of Canada" and a biography of Stephen Harper.

Manon Conellier, political columnist for Le Devoir.

Elly Alboim, former CBC journalist and current head of Strategic Communications for Earnscliffe Strategy Group.

And

As well on September 27, on CPAC's Goldhawk Live, the topic is Dysfunctional Democracy. They will be taking live calls from viewers. Political scientist and media commentator John Trent, who is on FVC's National Advisory Board, will be a studio guest.

The program should also be available on-line at the CPAC site if you miss it.

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.