It's been almost seven months since Stephen Harper and his foul Con regime came crashing down.
And I'm still celebrating that happy day.
But I've also been patiently waiting for another great day.
The day we start the process that will make sure that the Harper Party never returns to power.
And this monstrous nightmare never happens again.
So I'm glad to see that day has finally arrived.
Having promised that the last federal campaign will be the last one conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system, the Liberal government is proposing that a special committee study the alternatives and report back to the House of Commons by Dec.1.
And that as the Liberal minister Maryam Monsef said, we can finally replace our outdated first-past-the post system with something better.
"Our electoral system must ensure governments appeal beyond a narrow base of Canadians and encourage the building of a national consensus," Monsef said. "We need to move beyond a system that pits neighbour against neighbour. Elections should unite Canadians and not appeal to narrow constituencies."
One that better reflects this country and its values.
And will prevent the Cons from playing their ghastly wedge politics, and turning one group of Canadians against the other, for crass political advantage.
As the depraved Harper did over and over again...
And while I see the opposition parties are complaining about the make-up of the committee.
The committee would consist of 10 voting members: six Liberals, three Conservatives and one New Democrat. One Bloc Québécois MP and Green MP Elizabeth May would be members of the committee, but not allowed to vote.
And I don't understand why someone like Elizabeth May isn't going to be allowed to vote.
It doesn't really bother me because all Canadians are going to have a chance to participate in the process.
The committee would invite every MP to conduct a forum on electoral reform in his or her riding and file a report on the discussion by Oct. 1. And the committee itself would conduct a "national engagement process," including written and online submissions.
And if it's clear that most Canadians favour a certain option, the government will have no choice but to go with the flow.
As for me, I presently favour proportional representation, because I think it's the fairest system. And because it will force the parties to call upon our lost genius for compromise, which was of course how we built this country. And what made us such great peacemakers.
But I'll wait to hear all the arguments for and against all systems before I make my decision.
And the only thing that really concerns me is that the Cons not get a chance to sway public opinion in favour of a referendum, which they are so desperately demanding.
And I mean desperately...
Because they know that referendums almost always end up favouring the status quo.
And only that can save them.
And they will have the Con media on their side beating the drum for a referendum as well.
While conveniently forgetting that when Harper and his foul stooge Pierre Poilievre introduced the foul so-called Fair Elections Act, to favour themselves by jimmying the system...
They didn't hold a referendum either. Or apologize for the time they tried to steal an election.
So we should not forget that and show them no mercy.
This our great opportunity. Our reward for having had to endure almost ten years of the worst and most monstrous government in Canadian history.
So let's do what we must.
And bury the Harper Party forever...
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17 comments:
Just FYI Simon - the Bloc and Greens don't get a vote because of Parliamentary Rules - a party has to have at least 12 seats for official party status and the ability to sit on committees.
So basically you can't see that the Liberals are trying to rig the process.
They have already made-up their mind, they just hope the suckers go along with it.
I have to agree with Anon 10:10. With 6 Libs, 3 Cons and 1 Dipper on the committee, I reckon that's 9 votes against any form of proportional representation.
On October 19 I voted for a party that promised Electoral Reform. I did not vote for a referendum. The Liberals need to use their majority and keep their promise. Ignore the wailing a of the cons and their media. The fact that they're mad is just icing on the cake for me. I was mad for 9 years. I never got a referendum on their "fair elections act"
Now on the Entertainment Tonight commercial it says Sophie Trudeau is in hot water in Ottawa. Maybe we should call them the Mud Slinging Party. Apparently they think that's what the people of Canada pay them to do. Question Period is now Attack Period, it's shameful Simon. What a petty pathetic bunch of sore losers. Sunny Ways Forever Simon!! Pamela. Ps hope your leg is better, your bike misses you.
I wanted to tell you this last time you posted that pic... the one with Harper next to the clown/robot face really creeps me out lol. Reminds me of the movie SAW
Hear, hear, Anon 4:44, as he said, the Liberals were elected to a majority government and one of their promises was electioral reform. They don't need to hold a referendum, they don't need the Cons permission to move forward with this agenda. I wouldn't even hold a committee, but I understand why they are doing it. Now I realize that I might sound hypocritical by saying this, but I don't believe a government who only garnered 39% of the popular vote should have the mandate to pass any laws they see fit, including the Liberals, but I'll hold my nose for one more election cycle so they can finally address, and then repair this archaic voting system.
Now one of the arguements that my con friends use to try and stop this, is that it will leave us with more minority governments, rather than majority governments. I believe that a minority government is the best form of democracy because bad or ideaology based legislation will not make it to a vote, simply because it would not not pass the smell test. The real evil perpetrated by Harper wasn't obvious until he won his majority, then he became the tyrant most Canadians feared and hated, and let's be honest, we've been burned by the Liberals in the past as well. It's about time we, as Canadains, did this, and no amount of whining and crying by the criminal party should have any affect on the final out coome. Bye bye, right wing zealots, yoru're going the way of the dinosaur.
If there is a lot of blow back on election reform, the Liberals may well send the whole thing to a referendum, just to ensure it doesn't get them "unelected"
In theory proportional representation is an improvement but its all in the detail and if not properly done it can actually be worse than our current system.It is more likely no party will gain a majority and therefore must work with other parties to govern. In the longer term the constant formation of coalitions can weaken the major parties and open the door to special interest parties masquerading as main stream.Essentially the elected representatives in these parties will support one of the larger parties in exchange for secret deals that promote their agenda.I am sure there are ways that prevent proportional representation from degrading into a large multiparty lobby system where the secret deals and coalitions are formed after the election however politicians and special interest groups have been gaming political systems forever.It seems to be baked into their DNA! Time will tell if it will be different this time.
As an alternative perhaps we should just permanently lock out some of the levers Harper used to force the system into doing his bidding.Normally after a major crime or disaster this is the first thing that is done before new improved designs are sought.
RT
It's a committee to discuss the issue. They won't get to make the decisions on it. All this screaming and yelling is doing is slowing down the process which is the objective of the conservatives probably. All they are doing is criticising and slowing down everything Canadians want.
hi anon...thanks for that, I knew there was a reason, but I love Elizabeth May, so I'm biased... ;)
hi anon...I don't know if they're trying to rig the process. What they are doing is reflecting the make-up of our present Parliament. But as I said in my post, it's up to us ordinary citizens to contribute to this debate, and if we can get off our asses and do that, I'm sure that in the end the will of the people will prevail...
hi anon...as I told the previous commenter one can't decide from the make-up of the committee alone that the process is fixed. It may just be a way to make sure that we do get some kind of electoral reform through. For remember the Cons will be trying to sabotage the process. And as I also said this is the time for all Canadians to get involved and make sure their voices are heard. If those voices are loud enough, the Liberals will be forced to hear them. And it will be more of a democratic exercise than just a committee process...
hi Pamela...yes whatever happens we can't give in to the demands for a referendum. For it will practically guarantee that we will be stuck with the first-past-the- post -system. And that would be the worst outcome. AS I warned in my post the Cons will have much of the MSM on their side, and all kinds of groups with big bucks are bringing up to try to influence the referendum debate. So we must nip that idea in the bud. As for the Sophie story, I just finished a post about that, and as you will see I am totally disgusted. The Cons are bullies and utterly shameless. As for my leg, it's doing OK but not as well as I had hoped. So I'll still be on crutches until next week, my bike is gathering dust in the garage. And I'm so grumpy I'm driving everybody crazy... ;)
hi anon...I never saw that movie, I have a vivid enough imagination as it is. But I made that graphic years ago, and if I can remember I believe it was to try to illustrate Harper's monster side, at a time when the MSM was falling all over him and calling him a political genius. I was looking for another graphic but I ran out of time, so I used that one. But I'm glad you found it creepy because so was Harper...
hi GreazedLitenen...I feel very much like you do. This is our chance to finally get rid of a system which the Cons used to win two elections in a row. And we should be as ruthless as we need to be to make sure that we do get that reform. Like you I tend to prefer minority governments, because when progressives work together they can do great things, and compromise is the Canadian way. However I'm glad we have a majority government to keep the Cons from sabotaging the process, because that is what they will try to do. Progressives have an unfortunate tendency to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. And in this case that could be absolutely fatal...
hi e.a.f... I think most Canadians are in favour of electoral reform, and the last thing we need is a referendum, for as it did in BC it will only result in the status quo. And that means the Cons could still dream of wining a majority one day, which would slit the throat of this country....
hi RT...thanks for that. As I said in my post I need to educate myself before I can figure out which system would work best for us. For as you point out even the best proposals have their downsides. And all I'm really asking for at this point is that we come up with a system that marginalizes the Cons, or forces than to become more moderate. And if I get that I will be more than satisfied...
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