The
October 10th Election & Referendum:
FPTP or MMP?
September 19, 2007
page contents
Commentary:
Vote Against MMP in the Oct 10th Referendum
by Dave Duncan
First-Past-The-Post (FPTP)
Commentary: Vote Against MMP in the Oct 10th Referendum
How many people are likely to go out next October 10th and order a 2011 model vehicle? Answer: None!
Yet, the 103 people at the Citizens’ Assembly plant are proposing that we vote in favour of a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) vehicle in the upcoming referendum. They are asking us to confirm a new electoral system that hasn’t been test-driven and has design flaws. The Assembly asks us to take a leap of faith on October 10th that the remaining design details, to be developed by the political parties and conveniently due AFTER the referendum, will be satisfactory. Caution Flag anyone?
In the new design, the base model is reduced from 107 to 90 seats, which, ironically, voters will continue to fill using the first past the post method (FPTP) that has been criticized for its failure to properly reflect voter preference and failure to produce more equal female representation. For example, the federal Conservatives hold office after being rejected by almost two-thirds of voters in the FPTP format. The FPTP concerns in Ontario are what led to the creation of the Citizens’ Assembly (CA) to consider alternate electoral methods.
Added to the base vehicle is a “List Members” option with 39 seats to be filled from lists controlled by the political parties. Voters won’t get to select their preferred candidates from the lists but they might get to choose from red, blue, orange or green seat cover material to reflect their preference of political parties, and while their votes will determine how many seats each party ultimately obtains, the party machines will control whose bums fill the seats and how/where they will provide representation.
So, while voters directly determine who will fill 90 seats, the political parties will mostly determine who will sit in the other 39 seats. More than 30% of the seats in Queen’s Park will be filled by people who may not have run for office and who may not have stood a chance in a fair election. John Tory has referred to these list members as “second-class” and “answerable only to their party establishment”.
Strangely, ballot candidates may also have their names on the “Lists”, a ploy perhaps likely where the riding contest is judged to be close, e.g. if Mr. Tory were to lose to Kathleen Wynne, he could still win a seat (even if he considers it “second class”) if a sufficient number of voters in the province opt for his party. Unfair? You bet!
The CA was created to develop an efficient modern electoral vehicle but sadly, its “hybrid” is more Edsel/Lada than one that will deliver political climate change.
We deserve better options! Vote NO!!
by Dave Duncan
You may vote if, on Election Day, you are:
- 18 years of age or older
- A Canadian citizen
- A resident of the electoral district in Ontario
If
you fit these requirements, you should get a Notice of Registration card
in the mail before the Election. If you haven’t, you may not be on the Voters
List. To ensure you are on the list, call Elections
Ontario toll-free at
1-800-677-8683.
As a democracy, every citizen of Canada has a say in the selection of their leadership. The Ontario Elections Act ensures this. Your employer must allow you time to vote if you don’t have your own time during voting hours. Everyone is entitled to three consecutive hours to vote.
- Must be requested by the employee,
- Must be at a convenient time to the employer, and,
- Once requested by the employee, must be allowed by the employer
Ontario’s Elections Act also has alternative methods of voting for those who read at a lower level. After taking an oath to verify their inability to vote in the standard manner, voters may choose to have a substitute voter fill out their ballet. They may choose to have:
- A deputy returning officer: He or she will check the voter’s choice on the ballot privately and drop it in the ballot box.
- A friend: A friend, spouse, sibling or even a tutor of the voter may fill out the voter’s ballot after taking an oath, promising never to share the contents of the ballot.
This
election, citizens will also vote on a referendum.
What
is a Referendum?
A
referendum is a direct vote. Voters are asked to answer a question regarding a
particular government proposal.
Voters will get two ballots. One is for choosing a candidate in the general election. The other is to choose your decision on the referendum question about keeping or changing the way we elect members of the provincial government (see below).
For more information
and a brief video explaining the two choices, click on “Billy Ballot”
at www.citizenassembly.gov.on.ca
The system currently used:
- Ontario
is divided into electoral districts
- Instead
of voting directly for the premier, citizens vote for the political party
by voting for the candidate representing that party in their district
- The
person with the most votes, even if it isn't the majority, wins that district's
seat
- The party whose candidates won the most seats wins the election and the leader becomes Ontario's premier
- Combines
proportional representation with first-past-the-post
-
Each voter has two votes; one for the party of their choice, and
one for the candidate in their district of choice
-
The two votes are combined to create a total vote to determine how many
seats each party gets
- Parties must win a certain percentage of votes to be eligible for seats
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