Saskatoon Stop to Stop FPTP

A goodly number of people attended Craig Scott's NDP’s National Electoral Reform Tour stop in Saskatoon at the France Morrison Library Auditorium on October 2.  From a show of hands an encouraging 25 percent were unfamiliar with proportional representation.  
The event was co-hosted by FVC Saskatchewan Chapter and I had the pleasure of being emcee.  In my welcome I explained that three years ago if you had told me that I would be engaged in politics and electoral reform I would have laughed and declared I am a tree hugger not a glad hander.  The problem was every time I went to hug a tree or a river or a cloud, there was a wage slave preventing me.  After learning about proportional representation (PR), I am convinced that proportional representation can mitigate corporate-government cronyism that forces individuals to become wage slaves.
Scott's presentation was interactive with survey questions interspersed.  After asking baseline questions Scott used videos, charts, and graphs to illustrate why first-past-the-post (FPTP) has to stop.  His chart of the 2011 election showed that FPTP's distortion of the popular vote gave the Conservatives an undeserved 44 seats in the House of Commons; under PR their share of seats would have been 122 and under FPTP they claimed 166.  Scott stressed that the NDP have also been awarded false majorities. For example in Ontario in 1990 the NDP claimed 74 of the 130 seats when under PR they would have had only 49 seats.  Scott listed wasted votes, unfair allocation of seats, and the differing number of votes to elect a single MP* as unacceptable flaws in our current FPTP system and elaborated on the connected consequences like adversarialism, strategic voting, diminished diversity, etc.  (*Election disparities such as 30,000 votes for each Liberal seat and 131,000 votes for each Conservative seat in a 2000 election.)

In his case for mixed member plurality (MMP), Scott shared visuals of ballots for both a closed list ballot and an open list ballot.  The ballots show that you vote for a constituent candidate and you vote for a party.  The open list party ballot gives you a third possible vote in the party's ranking of "top-up" MPs.  Much of the discussion afterwards was focused on the pros and cons of choosing between closed and open lists.
In a closed list system the party ranks all its candidates.  This ranking determines who becomes a member-at-large in the legislature.  If the popular vote gives the party 40 seats and they have 35 winning candidates they would fill the 5 seats with the top 5 candidates on their closed list.  In an open system, voters can influence the party ranking of the candidates.  While open lists might be perceived as giving voters more control, there is evidence that suggests that closed lists produce more diversity as parties take the macro rather than the micro view.
Proportional representation is seen as confusing and the status quo has tremendous inertia.  Scott's comment about Canadians being at least as smart as Germans, Scots, and New Zealanders and he trusted Canadians could figure MMP out elicited some laughter.  I have recommend to Scott, and I recommend to you, that as we promote PR we switch the word confusing with unfamiliar.  It seems trivial but confusing may give people an excuse to avoid PR whereas unfamiliar suggests it can become familiar.
There are many decisions to be made and I commend Scott for his dedication to gathering input and contributing momentum to making 2015 the last unfair election.
Thanks to Adam for being my boots on the ground.
Blogger Nancy Carswell

FPTP Short Circuits Democracy

How did you celebrate September's Democracy Week?  Elections Canada's 2013 theme "Connect with Democracy" was "about connecting with people, places and information that help broaden your understanding of why democracy and voting are so important."  While connecting is important, our electoral system is short circuiting us. 
Canada is one of the few remaining democracies wired with First-Past-the-Post (FPTP). When we had only two parties, FPTP did deliver the power to a majority winner but we now have more than two parties.  Over 80 democracies utilize proportional representation (PR) to send power along multiple party circuits fairly. 
The difference between FPTP and PR can be illustrated with a chocolate bar election featuring Aero, Crunchie, Mars, and Snickers on the ballot.  Imagine we have 9 seats and 100 votes.  In FPTP as few as 33 voters would make Mars the winner of all 9 seats leaving 67 voters—Aero 32, Snickers 22, and Crunchie 13, without even a taste of power.  With PR, the number of seats for each party would be in proportion to the number of votes received—Mars and Aero 3 each, Snickers 2, and Crunchie 1. 
Civilizations rise with equality and fairness and fall when inequality and unfairness become unbearable.  This pattern continues because we appear unaware that fairness and inequality are never secure and need vigilance.  It is time to rewire our electoral system.  Make the next federal election our last unfair election.  Please find and support a candidate committed to proportional representation. 
Blogger Nancy Carswell

Let’s work together to make every vote count!

Craig Scott, MP and Fair Vote Canada
invite you to the
NDP’s National Electoral Reform

Tour Stop in Saskatoon

Tuesday October 1st, 2013
7:00pm–9:00pm
Frances Morrison Central Library (Auditorium)
311- 23rd St East 

Democracy Week in Canada-- Connecting to Power

It is Democracy Week in Canada. Elections Canada's theme "Connect with Democracy" is "about connecting with people, places and information that help broaden your understanding of why democracy and voting are so important." While connecting is important, First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) is short circuiting us. The winner of FPTP is the one parallel circuit receiving all the power and all other loser circuits are powerless.
The Honourable Craig Scott, Official Opposition Critic for Democratic and Parliamentary Reform, is touring Canada. He writes, "Indeed, the current electoral system does not reflect the will of the popular vote. It has contributed to the needless polarization of our parliamentary and broader politics, to the detriment of our democratic discourse." He would like to hear from you. Scott and Fair Vote Canada invite you to the NDP’s National Electoral Reform Tour Stop in Saskatoon on Tuesday October 1st from 7:00pm–9:00pm at the Frances Morrison Central Library Auditorium (311- 23rd St East). Scott starts in Regina early in the day with details to be announced.
Blogger Nancy Carswell

Openness to Electoral Reform

Fair Vote Canada Saskatchewan Chapter's participation in the Prince Albert Street Fair was inspiring. Also thrilled that we were selected as a focus by Matt Gardner of the Prince Albert Daily Herald. Read his article "Fair Vote Canada Talks Electoral Reform at Street Fair".
To generalize, there were three reactions. One, individuals who had heard of proportional representation would walk up, smile, and sign the petition. Two, individuals who had not heard or proportional representation and thought it sounded better than the current system who were comfortable signing. Three, individuals who had not heard of proportional representation and thought it sounded better but who wanted to learn more before signing.  
I appreciated the pre-voter who was very interested and inspired a lively conversation by asking if proportional representation gives us an opportunity to have a say in who becomes Prime Minister. Even the one nay-sayer was not against proportional representation but appeared more disillusioned that any reform would suffice. What really made my day was the individual whose eyes lit up at having found another reason to hope that others were actively working on a shift towards a better democracy.  

Caption for photo: Even fools know to support proportional representation.
I also encouraged everyone to check out the "edutaining" videos at FairVote.ca contest to learn the basics.  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE0dYpVCw9bYWQIuI1pr0L-ptCk5EpWYn
Nancy Carswell
Co-spokesperson FVC Saskatchewan Chapter

Why FPTP Does the Robocallers’ Job for Them

The 2011 Federal election left many Canadians stunned. The scandal’s epicentre was Guelph, Ontario - a city with an active left-of-centre political consciousness. Progressive Conservative (PC) party members besieged voters loyal to other parties with an extensive voter suppression initiative – the Robocall scandal.
A group of eight individuals backed by the Council of Canadians has brought the 2011 election fraud case to the Federal Court. In a ruling just two weeks ago, Justice Richard Mosley concluded that, “electoral fraud occurred.” In light of these realities, the Council of Canadians is amping up its pro-democracy campaign. On May 31 the Council launched a national petition to increase support for (1) a public inquiry into election fraud and, (2) a comprehensive electoral reform project. Sign the petition here: http://canadians.org/election/petition.html
As a first time voter in the 2011 election, I voted for the Liberals. My allegiance was to the NDP but I didn’t want to split the vote. I felt like a phony participant – a cog in a wheel that didn’t look like democracy. The first-past-the-post (FPTP) system corrupts partisan alignment for those just entering the fold of civic engagement. There is little point having convictions or even becoming informed when you feel the need to vote strategically.
Robocaller members of the PC party did themselves a double disservice. They committed election fraud, but they also wasted their time. The FPTP electoral system continues to do their “progressive-voter-deterring” job for them… and in fact discourages any political expression departing from “Liberal” and “Conservative” partisan ideologies.
Guest Blogger Emma Wilson, Guelph, Ontario

Make 2015 Our Last Unfair Election

Here is the text of an email sent to our contact list to generate awareness and support for our cause:

MAKE 2015 OUR LAST UNFAIR ELECTION—The Saskatchewan Chapter of Fair Vote Canada (FVC) is on the go! We aim to move MPs and MP candidates to take a shared public pledge, prior to the federal 2015 election campaign, to bring in proportional representation in the next parliament. We invite you to help us make 2015 the last unfair federal election.
How? FVC has already made progress within the national parties. We will add to this effort a considerable number of Saskatchewan voices through local petition drives using Fair Vote's "Petition to the House of Commons." Moose Jaw's drive is already underway, with 200+ signatures demonstrating Saskatchewan voters' openness to electoral reform.
Help us add to a steady flow of Saskatchewan petitions to be read out in Commons by MPs to drive our message home.

• Join or renew your membership to FVC Saskatchewan Chapter by calling Dave at 306-990-0135.
• Explore http://www.fairvote.ca/ to learn about proportional representation.
• Sign Fair Vote's "Petition to the House of Commons" locally and encourage others to sign.

To be contacted by a petition volunteer in your area, email fairvotesask@gmail.com . If you are not near a volunteer, there will be a petition form mailed to you as part of an info packet (or you can print one from here). So they can continue to collect signatures before being submitted to MPs, any petition forms with less than the three-signature minimum must be MAILED to Fair Vote Saskatchewan Chapter c/o 510 Main St. North Apt 305 Moose Jaw SK S6H 3K3.
Share the petition with others so they have a chance to support the adoption of a truly democratic and representative voting system! Every little bit of effort helps. Visit a neighbour petition in hand, invite an FVC speaker to your group, write letters to MPs, set up a signing table at a mall….
Above all, share your ideas with us at fairvotesask@gmail.com! Let's strengthen our democracy and usher in parliaments that express all Canadians' hopes for our children's future.

Propose a Saskatchewan Stop for the NDP Democratic Reform Tour

Fair Vote Canada welcomed the news that the NDP's MPs Craig Scott and Alexandrine Latendresse will be touring this spring and in the fall to consult with Canadians about proportional representation.  At the Montreal convention, the NDP confirmed their longstanding commitment to voting reform, in particular, the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system.  In a MMP system, a voter usually has two ballots, one for the seat in their riding, and another ballot for a political party.  The second ballot is used to fill at-large seats so the number of seats for each party reflects the popular vote.

On Twitter, Scott reported a super start of the 2 year tour.  In this video, Scott says, "We must be committed to fixing this incredibly broken electoral system. A system that, with less than 40% of the vote, produced a government that has a non-mandate to dismantle this country, but nonetheless is going about exactly that. Ever since the late 1970s when Ed Broadbent began the process of convincing this party that we needed to change the first-past-the-post system, to Tom Mulcair who was adamant during the leadership race that we also had to change this, the NDP has stood for fixing our electoral system. We have to start with the next election. We have to begin the consultations now.”

We encourage you to email us if you would like to propose a Saskatchewan stop on the tour.