Proportional Representation

With the election on Monday, I thought I would post a speech I made for Presentation Skills class this year. It advocates proportional representation. All the facts come from Fair Vote Canada.

How would you feel if you were told that your vote didn’t count in the last election?

For millions of Canadians like you and me, the reality is that this happens every election cycle. How? Through our antiquated vote counting system.

Currently in Canada, we have a “first past the post” voting system. What this means is whichever party has the most seats wins power. However, when we look at the number of votes that are actually cast for members of parliament to win these seats, it becomes very clear very quickly that the number is not a majority. This means your voice and my voice isn’t being heard. 

Consider the following: In the 2008 federal election, 940,000 voters spread across Canada supporting the Green Party didn’t elect anyone, while fewer Conservative voters elected 27 Conservative MPs in Alberta alone. In the Prairies, Conservatives received roughly twice the votes of the Liberals and NDP combined, but took seven times as many seats.  Nationally, the NDP attracted 1.1 million more votes than the Bloc, but the Bloc won 49 seats in Quebec while the NDP won 37 across Canada.

The truth is, the majority of votes cast elect no one. In the last election, a quarter-million Conservative voters in Toronto alone elected no one. In Canada, 7 million votes elected no one. 

The solution is to switch to the voting system already embraced by 80 countries in the world: proportional representation. The goal is to give every voter a voice and create a real representative democracy. The result will be to have representatives from every party, from every province, representing everyone in Canada equally.

There are three kinds of Proportional Representation systems, List, Mixed Member Proportional and Single Transferable. Now, each of these have their pros and cons, but the idea is, if you cast a vote for a Liberal candidate it counts as a vote the Liberal party. Therefore, if at the end of the night, if the Liberals get 25 per cent of the votes, they get 25 per cent of the seats.

Imagine everyone in the House of Commons working together to find solutions, compromising to find a middle ground, creating policy that reflects the needs of all Canadians. No one region will have more value than another- everyone from Victoria to St. John’s will have an equal say. Imagine knowing you are really making a difference.

So what can you do? It’s simple. First, if you haven't already, go vote on Monday! Even though you may not feel that it makes a difference, it does. The federal parties get their funding based on your votes, so if you want to make your party stronger, you need to vote.

If you want to make a real change, write to your local MP to tell them that you want to make your vote count and they need to support legislation that will being proportional representation to Canada. You can also go online for more information. There you can sign the pledge showing your support of proportional representation.

By working together to have all our votes count and have all of our voices heard we can change the way politics is practiced in Canada and never again have to worry if our vote counts.

Top 5 Canadian Democracy Myths

I don't know if it's too many years of the West Wing airing in Canada or people just plain forgetting grade 10 civics, but after watching last night's debate, it seems to me that we need a refresher course on how democracy works in Canada.

Here are my Top 5 Myths about Canadian Democracy:

1. We elect our prime minister. 
False. In spite of what he says, the only people who elected Stephen Harper are the good people in Calgary—Southwest. Harper is merely the leader of the Conservative Party which currently has the most seats in the house of commons. Under the parliamentary system, that means he gets first crack at being Prime Minister, nothing more.  No one ever put an "X" next to his name to make him prime minister.

2. We elect a government. 
False (at least in the way it was used in the debate last night). We elect individual people in ridings who choose to work together in a party. Harper's assertions that Canadians "elected a Conservative government" were patently wrong. We just ended up with more Conservatives than anyone else in 2008. That is not equivalent to casting a vote to make the Conservatives an absolute government.

3. Coalitions are not democracy
False. We're used to power trading hands between the Liberals and Conservatives in this country and that's fine, but the only reason we're used to it is because for most of our history, we've only had two parties. It's only been since 1945 that we have a true third party alternative in the CCF. In other countries, multiple parties are the norm and no one is questioning their democracy.

4.  Minority parliaments don't work
False. They work all the time. We have had 13 of them. In fact, minority parliaments brought Canada some of the things we hold most dear, like health care. But, they only work when parties choose to work together.

5. Elections are a waste of time and money
False. Discussion is always good. Talking about issues is good for our country. Yes, they cost $300 million, but it's not like we take that money and flush it down the toilet. Money spent in elections does go back into the economy. People are paid to work on elections, printing houses are paid to make materials and property owners make money renting out their spaces for election activities.

So, when you go to the polls on May 2, and I know you will, keep these thoughts in mind when you fill in your ballot. Our parliamentary system is counting on it!

A big day for space enthusiasts

Anyone who checked Google today would have noticed a very cool image of a cosmonaut and a rocket ship blasting off. This was a very creative way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's historic mission as the first human in space. His mission truly changed the course of history. It scared the Americans into action and a mere eight years later, they had landed a man on the Moon.

Today was also the day that NASA announced where the remaining Space Shuttles would retire. Atlantis will stay at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida; Endeavour is off to the California Science Center in Los Angeles;  Discovery is going to the Smithsonian; and the test shuttle, Enterprise (yes, it really was named for the Star Trek ship) will be found at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York.

The best part of this for Canadians is that while Atlantis and Discovery are going to be keeping their Canadarms, Endeavour's is coming home. No word yet on where it is going to go, but I think it should go somewhere that Canadians can see it. The Canadarm has played a vital role in dozens of missions  including helping to build the International Space Station, servicing Hubble and is a part of our heritage (I feel a commercial coming on...).

So, where should it go? The Air and Space Museum is a logical choice, but I don't think people really go there. My vote? The 5th floor of the ROM. It's big enough and woefully underutilized. And, people actually go to the ROM! Plus, the Canadarm would look super cool in that crystal.

Stay tuned to see how it all turns out!