tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2156536327610779049.post3808656764913006836..comments2024-02-23T11:23:45.971-05:00Comments on Lost Motorcyclist: We Really Need Election Reform in CanadaLost Motorcyclisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08873504561959138792noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2156536327610779049.post-78751086335128878992010-08-07T12:39:31.748-04:002010-08-07T12:39:31.748-04:00Yeah I do think there are (now moderate in terms o...Yeah I do think there are (now moderate in terms of the party..) I would think Peter McKays and the like<br /><br />And if they ever do really break thru and gain their majority, it will likely be by picking up seats in urban Ontario---with likely moderate (again relative term, so moderate Conservaties) and then it would be interesting (and scary) to see what happens...does the "real" agenda of the ex-Reformers from out west really come to the fore or are the moderates from Ont and elsewhere able to keep them somewhat at bay?<br /><br />or as I say, do they simply find they can't get along under the "tent" and back we go again...<br /><br />course I personally hope we never find out!Stefnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2156536327610779049.post-7311775102318868752010-08-07T10:57:13.372-04:002010-08-07T10:57:13.372-04:00Stef, you write, '... the religious right in t...Stef, you write, '<i>... the religious right in that party will either take control and the moderates may have to leave</i>'<br /><br />There <i>are</i> moderates in that party?!<br /><br />Seriously, though, you raise a valid issue. Although 'visions' and 'strategic directions' may be discussed as platform issues (especially by the opposition parties) during elections, the 'reality' of governing seems to push everything back into the realm of the tactical.<br /><br />Which, of course, is generally mostly about retaining power once gained.<br /><br />One shudders to think about all those fundamental commitments made during elections that were reneged on almost as soon as power was acquired (FTA, GST, &c., the list is depressing, isn't it?).Madeyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02593933575568389288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2156536327610779049.post-84618623584844093272010-08-07T08:55:42.625-04:002010-08-07T08:55:42.625-04:00seems to me the issue is in incentive
while a par...seems to me the issue is in incentive<br /><br />while a party will talk reform while in opposition, once in power (and able to do something) there is this funny tendency for them to forget about reforming the system that now has got THEM into government!<br /><br />It will be to see if anything happens in Britain--the Lib-Dems want reform and the Cons seemed to have promised to do something about it...<br /><br />I am also wondering how long these new CONS in Canada can keep the right unified, the religious right in that party will either take control and the moderates may have to leave or they won't get what they want and they will have to set up Reform Party II...Stefnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2156536327610779049.post-14464910530294235912010-08-06T08:42:58.758-04:002010-08-06T08:42:58.758-04:00Election reform is a complex problem - any fundame...Election reform is a complex problem - any fundamental change in the election process risks the effect of unintended consequences.<br /><br />Canada has, traditionally, been a two-party (some flavour of 'Conservative,' some flavour of 'Liberal') democracy. Although minor parties (Social Credit, CCF, NDP, &c.) have contested, the two primary parties have held the majority of seats in the House.<br /><br />That situation changed dramatically following the disastrous 1991 Meech Lake accord. An 'informal' coalition of Conservative and Liberal members from Quebec formed the Bloc Québécois, a 'regional' party. <br /><br />This compounded the problems initiated by the (1987) regional Reform Party in the West. <br /><br />The rump of the Progressive Conservative party merged with the Reform Party in 2003, 'uniting the right,' and enabling it to form successive minority governments since 2006.<br /><br />However, the left in Canada remains fractured between the Liberals, NDP and Greens and the Bloc regional presence distorts the situation even further. <br /><br />The Bloc has taken around 50 seats (almost 20% of the seats in the House) in each recent election while receiving little more than 10% of the popular vote. Or, from another perspective: with approximately 1,400,000 votes in 2008, the Bloc won 49 seats, whereas with 2,500,000 votes, the NDP won only 30 seats. A serious distortion.<br /><br />In the 2008 election, <b>64%</b> of Canadian electors voted <b>against</b> the Conservatives. The 'leftish' parties (Liberals, NDP and Greens) actually obtained, in aggregate, more than 50% of the popular vote.<br /><br />The present situation, with two strong 'regional' parties (the Conservatives' take the majority of their seats in the 'West,', the Bloc all their seats in Quebec) has prompted some analysts to despair that (at least under the present system) majority governments may have become a thing of the past.<br /><br />Personally, I suspect that some form of inter-party co-operation among the parties on the left may offer a solution to the current 'vote splitting' problem. <br /><br />Given the policy differences between the Greens, NDP and Liberals (especially the more conservative Liberals) a movement to 'unite the left' is unlikely to bear fruit. And, as you point out in your Ontario example, people tend to be reluctant when it comes to making fundamental changes to the electoral system.Madeyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02593933575568389288noreply@blogger.com