tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post2925564121374970943..comments2024-03-03T17:01:57.876-05:00Comments on Montreal Simon: Stephen Harper, Raif Badawi, and the Barbaric Practices of Saudi ArabiaSimonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15309809679331128837noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-58909017106869126462015-12-01T17:37:58.580-05:002015-12-01T17:37:58.580-05:00Harper was a complete fool as far as foreign polic...Harper was a complete fool as far as foreign policy was concerned, and an idiot for hanging everything economic on the western Canada oil industry. He had no sense of humanity - so he is fairly compared to the Saudis, who are less than human in their practices of so-called "justice".Justinianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03071949915885033209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-13807784886216351892015-10-31T07:19:44.176-04:002015-10-31T07:19:44.176-04:00hi anon...thank you for this comment, which is as ...hi anon...thank you for this comment, which is as excellent as your contribution to our polling questions. And yes, I agree with you, proportional representation would be a better system. And yes I will strongly encourage the Liberals to adopt it. What is also clear to me is that the sooner we can get the discussion going the better, because it is more complicated than the present system, and we need a massive campaign of public education to help people understand why one system is better than another. But I'm sure we can do it, and the ultimate reward couldn't be greater...Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15309809679331128837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-89326852965831620542015-10-31T07:12:42.923-04:002015-10-31T07:12:42.923-04:00hi jrkrideau....yes I think Harper would have used...hi jrkrideau....yes I think Harper would have used Bill C-51 to try to intimidate his opponents. And because I couldn't trust the Canada Revenue Agency I have been forced to have my taxes done by a reputable accounting firm. But the fact that we are even talking about this tells you how low the Cons have taken Canada. I am looking forward to a more lawful and more Canadian future....Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15309809679331128837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-20326343692279423452015-10-31T07:07:57.274-04:002015-10-31T07:07:57.274-04:00hi Kathleen...yes it did cross my mind what might ...hi Kathleen...yes it did cross my mind what might happen to bloggers in this country if Harper had got another majority. But while it was an unpleasant thought, I wouldn't have stopped blogging or attacking him and his foul regime, because I've donate for years, and they could never scare me...Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15309809679331128837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-26128475435969664442015-10-31T07:04:49.728-04:002015-10-31T07:04:49.728-04:00hi anon...you're right, Harper did nothing to ...hi anon...you're right, Harper did nothing to get Fahmy released, and I'm glad that fahmy has made his feelings clear. No government has done less to help Canadians in trouble abroad, and for that alone was unfit to remain in office. Hopefully Justin Trudeau will do better, and that combined with pressure from others will help free Badawi. But of course nothing will truly improve the situation in Saudi Arabia until that murderous regime is finally overthrown...Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15309809679331128837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-4967097718043511772015-10-30T12:03:43.400-04:002015-10-30T12:03:43.400-04:00Hey Simon: I am your polling "expert" (r...Hey Simon: I am your polling "expert" (remember?) who will now morph into your electoral reform expert. :)<br /><br />Harper had beheaded our values for so long because our antiquated FPTP electoral system had allowed him to command a majority (54%) of seats in Parliament even though he had only won 39.6% of the popular votes in 2011. It is the same system that had just allowed the Liberals to win 54% of seats in Parliament also with almost the same percentage of popular votes (39.5%) on Oct. 19.<br /><br />We have to ensure that Trudeau keeps his promise to enact electoral reform in time for 2019. Let us all work together (here is your next project, Simon, Lol) to keep the pressure on the Liberals just in case they are having second thoughts now that the same flawed FPTP has given them majority power.<br /><br />PR (Proportional Representation) is the only form of electoral system that will allocate the same percentage of seats in Parliament as the percentage of popular votes. In other words, it is the only system that will implement the voice of the people fairly. PR will also ensure that no vote is wasted (e.g. if you were a Cons or NDP voter in Atlantic Canada, or a non Cons voter in most ridings of Alberta, your vote had been wasted as it did not count towards determining the winner). With PR, every vote goes towards determining the final number of seats in Parliament and is not wasted. The most common form of PR used in the majority of countries is the MMP (Mixed Member Proportional) : http://campaign2015.fairvote.ca/<br /><br />The RB (ranked ballot), also known as AV (alternative vote)/IRV (instant run off)/PB (preferential ballot) that the Liberals apparently prefer is not as good as PR and will NOT result in the same percentage of seats as the percentage of popular votes. It is basically the same majoritarian system (a system which allows the candidate with the most number of votes) as the FPTP. You can see here that RB/IRV is placed in the same category as FPTP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_system<br /><br />Therefore, RB also faces the same major problem as the FPTP system in that the votes of a substantial segment of the voters in the riding are wasted if they do not select the winning candidate. We can talk about this in more detail later as more people become more informed about the differences between the electoral systems.<br /><br />For now, we need to institute electoral reform. Specifically, we need to get rid of FPTP and institute some form of PR in time for the next election so that Parliament truly reflects the choices that voters had made on election day.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-30251130816978209352015-10-30T08:05:02.075-04:002015-10-30T08:05:02.075-04:00Well judging from earlier examples with NGOs and c...Well judging from earlier examples with NGOs and charities yes, but, at least at first, it probably would just have been some nasty audits by the Canadian Revenue Agency although with C 51 passed who knows?jrkrideauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04869979887929067657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-28969801082599824882015-10-30T07:39:43.298-04:002015-10-30T07:39:43.298-04:00If we hadn't gotten rid of Harper, then Canadi...If we hadn't gotten rid of Harper, then Canadian Bloggers would be in big trouble, EH?Marmaladehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01651890655542192076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-9752748535700971962015-10-30T07:16:24.262-04:002015-10-30T07:16:24.262-04:00http://www.amnesty.ca/our-work/individuals-at-risk...http://www.amnesty.ca/our-work/individuals-at-risk/raif-badawi<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-54146274477728024092015-10-30T04:06:46.610-04:002015-10-30T04:06:46.610-04:00Harper did next to nothing to seek the release of ...Harper did next to nothing to seek the release of Fahmy. It was only the citizens behind the scenes that eventually persuaded the Egyptian president to release him. With Badawi, there is hope that Trudeau can exert some influence to get him released.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com