Thursday, October 04, 2007

Mixed Up Members Disproportional Nonrepresentation

Ontario's big decision has really been a little indecisive, basically the new Mixed Member Proportional Represenational ballot seems to be creating Mixed Up Members Disproportional Nonrepresentation out there and that will be the idea that comes in First Past The Post.

There are many problems with the system, obviously a system I would not chose, despite my own favour of electoral reform in this province. But we need to make sure the system we choose is free for people to vote in, fair for parties to elect on and democratically representative for the system's sake on its own. The Alternative Majority Preferential Ballot or Transferable Vote makes much more sense, commonly keeps traditions like the current ridings and their individual members, except that unlike the current system members are elected by a majority, every party has a chance and finally all votes count.

Finally, even if I disagree with the system being proposed by Ontario's Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, I also disagree with how the Government and its Democratic Renewal Secretariat's Select Committee on Electoral Reform has placed such a huge threshold on the referendum itself. A majority is a majority, 50%+1 is a clear majority, I would hope any referendum in the future would be open enough to democracy to embrace a clear majority when given by the people. On the other side of the coin, a Students' Assembly on Electoral Reform shouldn't have given the Citizens' a partisan decision outside their own which became their own, truly makes one wonder just what other ideas were pushed upon this independent body in their independent decision. I look forward to our next Citizens' Assembly on Electoral and other kinds of Reform, but I hope more vigorous rules and regulations then debate and decision can be made with them, or else the whole exercise will be another waste of taxpayer's money, people's time and citizen's power.