Unelected Conservative senators kill Bill C-311 without any debate in a surprise vote -- after the majority in the elected House of Commons had passed the Bill! Canada will be going to the next climate meeting in Cancun, Mexico with nothing but the current, completely ineffectual Conservative plan (putting it more briefly: Canada will come empty-handed).
The sordid details (example from Toronto Star, but almost any other Canadian media source will do):
http://www.thestar.com/news/sciencetech/environment/article/892053
Read. Weep. Then work for change!
For example: Canada Must Show Climate Leadership - Facebook Group from Green Party of Canada:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sidney-BC/Canada-Must-Show-Climate-Leadership/128764513843374
Showing posts with label democracy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label democracy. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Ontario - A Vote for MMP is a Vote Against CO2
I've argued in this blog that voting for MMP in the October 10 Referendum would be good for the environment and climate change policy. Cameron Smith obviously agrees, for reasons that are complementary to mine. He writes in the Toronto Star that
"Right now, the most important environmental issue facing Ontario is whether proportional representation will be adopted. Voters in the Oct. 10 election will make the decision.He says that this happens because"The current system of voting delivers unequal representation, which inevitably distorts the wishes of the public. How else to explain why the government at Queen's Park has kept a weak minister in the environment portfolio while the public has made it clear that environmental deterioration is a top-of-the-mind concern?"
"The current [Ontario electoral] system breeds instability. It's a blood sport, where opposition parties focus more on gaining power than on good government, largely because they have little hand in creating policies and have no commitment to them.He argues among other things that"As a result, government policies often have a short life span. In the face of global warming, short-term, ever-changing policies are a recipe for disaster."
"...proportional representation will result in more minority governments and coalitions, which means responsibility for government policies would lie with more than one party." [Bolding added throughout.]According to mark.greenan, there is evidence to back up this theory, presented by the eminent political scientist Arend Lijphart in his book, Patterns of Democracy:
"[Lijphart's] conclusions on environmental policies? Consensus democracies have lower carbon dioxide emissions, fertilizer consumption, deforestation and higher energy efficiency" [bolding added].I take it that "consensus democracy" means that more than one party has to agree on policy, because governments are formed by coalition. That's more frequent under forms of Proportional Representation (like MMP) than under our current "first-past-the-post" or "winner take all" system. I would have to read the book to find out more.
General theories aside, as I've argued, MMP would probably mean Green Party members in the Legislature by 2011. No MMP would likely mean this Party being shut out again. The same applies to the federal Parliament and many other provincial Legislatures. This hard reality makes it critical for the the MMP side in Ontario to win -- and for similar reforms to prevail Canada-wide in the coming years.
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Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Improve Democracy in Ontario -- On October 10, 2007, Support Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) Voting!
We interrupt the Climate Change posts for an important message: Ontarians have a unique opportunity to improve their democracy (and incidentally, help save the Planet, too). On Provincial Election Day, October 10, 2007, Ontarians can vote "YES" on a Referendum question to add Proportional Representation to the electoral system.
The traditional voting system (known as "first past the post") has resulted in too many minority Governments (in terms of popular support for the governing party) that call themselves "majorities" (because they end up with a majority of the seats in the Legislature). [UPDATE August 19, 2007: See charts of percent popular vote vs. percent seats in the Legislature in recent elections (citizensassembly.gov.on.ca "Resources" - links under "Electronic Press Kit" near bottom of page).] Moreover, smaller parties with a strong but spread-out support base can't get a seat in the Legislature (unless their supporters all move into one or a few ridings :-) This is deeply undemocratic, and it over-emphasizes local (even parochial) concerns over Province-wide (even Planet-wide) issues.
Speaking of Parties promoting Planet-wide issues, a recent poll has put the Green Party of Ontario at 11% support (sesresearch.com [PDF] via greenparty.on.ca). But this Party is very unlikely to get even one seat under the current system. If a recession hits and saving the planet returns to the back-burner for larger political parties (like it did in the 1990s), having the Green Party in the Legislature would help ensure that the issue does not vanish completely. For these reasons, a system that would give the Green party a voice would be a vast improvement for democracy -- and for the Planet.
A bit of background:
If you have a blog, help spread the word by adding a "Vote for MMP" button from http://mmpbloggers.blogspot.com/
(We are not members or affiliates of any of the above organizations. We are expressing our support as individuals.)
Most importantly, if you are eligible to vote, make sure that you come out on October 10, 2007 and vote "YES" for MMP!
The traditional voting system (known as "first past the post") has resulted in too many minority Governments (in terms of popular support for the governing party) that call themselves "majorities" (because they end up with a majority of the seats in the Legislature). [UPDATE August 19, 2007: See charts of percent popular vote vs. percent seats in the Legislature in recent elections (citizensassembly.gov.on.ca "Resources" - links under "Electronic Press Kit" near bottom of page).] Moreover, smaller parties with a strong but spread-out support base can't get a seat in the Legislature (unless their supporters all move into one or a few ridings :-) This is deeply undemocratic, and it over-emphasizes local (even parochial) concerns over Province-wide (even Planet-wide) issues.
Speaking of Parties promoting Planet-wide issues, a recent poll has put the Green Party of Ontario at 11% support (sesresearch.com [PDF] via greenparty.on.ca). But this Party is very unlikely to get even one seat under the current system. If a recession hits and saving the planet returns to the back-burner for larger political parties (like it did in the 1990s), having the Green Party in the Legislature would help ensure that the issue does not vanish completely. For these reasons, a system that would give the Green party a voice would be a vast improvement for democracy -- and for the Planet.
A bit of background:
"After months of learning, consulting and deliberating, the province’s first Citizens’ Assembly decided to recommend a new electoral system for Ontario: Mixed Member Proportional [MMP]." (citizensassembly.gov.on.ca "How We Got Here")This is known as "one person, two votes". You would vote for a local representative, and for a Party. The two don't have to be aligned, giving you great flexibility.
"A Mixed Member Proportional system combines members elected in local districts and members elected for the whole province from party lists to serve as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) in the legislature.This combination produces proportional election results that better reflect the wishes of voters." (citizensassembly.gov.on.ca "The Recommendation")
As a bonus, there would be no more need for "strategic voting"! Many Ontarians have voted for one large Party to try to block another large Party, despite really wanting to vote for a third (smaller) Party. Under MMP, you could vote for a local representative from the larger Party (for example), and still vote for the smaller Party to help them get Proportional seats.
Under the proposal, the 90 traditional, locally-elected representatives would still predominate. But 39 representatives would be assigned by Party. For any Party with at least 3% of the popular vote, the formula would bring the percentage of seats in the Legislature to the percentage of the popular vote. (See citizensassembly.gov.on.ca "How the New System Works" for more details.)
If you have a blog, help spread the word by adding a "Vote for MMP" button from http://mmpbloggers.blogspot.com/
(We are not members or affiliates of any of the above organizations. We are expressing our support as individuals.)
Most importantly, if you are eligible to vote, make sure that you come out on October 10, 2007 and vote "YES" for MMP!
BlogThis! (Click to discuss this post on your own Blogger blog. To quote any text, highlight it before clicking.)
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Releasing information "anti-democratic" says former bureaucrat
This quote in this Toronto Star story deserves some sort of "dumb quote of the year" award:
Canada's former top bureaucrat, Mel Cappe, said the environment minister's deputy minister deserved a medal for not accepting leaks in his department. Employees, contract or otherwise, who have access to secret information sign confidentiality agreements.
"It violates the principles of responsible democracy and good governance," said Cappe, former clerk of the Privy Council. "To allow anyone to release information is anti-democratic and it should be punished."
Mr. Cappe has a strange idea of what democracy is!
To me, the arrest of Mr. Monaghan is yet another example of Tory intimidation tactics, similar to what they did last year, when they tried to prevent a government employee from attending his own book signing.
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