FAIR VOTE CANADA WATERLOO REGION CHAPTER NEWSLETTER

ISSUE #3, 2008

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS — FEDERAL ELECTION FAIR VOTING CAMPAIGN

Another federal election is upon us and the executive members of the Waterloo Region Fair Vote Canada Chapter have developed an activity plan to raise awareness about the need for electoral reform during the campaign. We are focusing on two tasks:

1. Sending letters to local newspapers linking electoral reform to the federal election
2. Attending all candidates’ debates to ask questions about electoral reform and to distribute literature

Please feel free to use some of the talking points listed below to write letters to the newspapers or attend all candidates’ meetings to raise awareness about the need for electoral reform. Each of the Waterloo Region Chapter executive members is taking responsibility for providing leadership to promote electoral reform in one of the four ridings in Waterloo Region during the election. Please contact the executive member providing leadership in your riding if you would like to collaborate to prepare letters or attend meetings beyond the talking points listed below.

• Kitchener-Waterloo Riding: Angela Yenssen ( )
• Kitchener Centre Riding: John Milne ( )
• Kitchener-Conestoga Riding: Neil Dietrich ( )
• Cambridge Riding: Donna Reid ( ) or Shannon Adshade ( )

John Milne has ordered flyers from the Fair Vote Canada head office that can be distributed at all candidates’ meetings. Please contact John to obtain some flyers at . Thanks to all of you who are able to assist with raising the profile of the fair voting campaign during the federal election. Together we can ultimately win this fight and bring proportional representation to Canada!

TALKING POINTS FOR LETTERS AND CANDIDATES’ DEBATES

1. Emphasis should be on "ELECTORAL REFORM", not MMP. - What will parties/candidates do about the issue?
2. Facts:
   
   1. In the 2006 federal election, more than 650,000 Green Party voters across the country elected no one. Meanwhile, fewer than a half-million Liberal voters in Atlantic Canada alone elected 20 MPs.
   2. In the prairie provinces, Conservatives won three times as many votes as the Liberals, but were given nearly ten times as many seats.
   3. More than 400,000 Conservative voters in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver couldn't elect a single MP.
   4. The NDP attracted a million more votes than the Bloc, but the voting system gave the Bloc 51 seats and the NDP 29.
   5. A majority Government does not need the support of the majority of Canadians. The last true majority (where a party received more than 50% of the vote) was with Brian Mulroney in 1984 with 50.03% of the vote. Jean Chretien's Liberals won a Majority in 1997 with 39% of the vote.
   6. The First-Past-The-Post system used in Canada today was developed in the 12th century. Most European countries utilize voting systems developed in the 19th or 20th century, such as Single Transferable Vote used in Ireland.

GOVERNMENT POSITION ON ELECTORAL REFORM (Possible Debate question)

The Conservative Party of Canada's March 19, 2005 Policy statement reads as follows on the question of electoral reform:

1. A Conservative Government will consider changes to electoral systems, including proportional representation, the single transferable ballot, fixed election dates, and the use of referendums.
2. In reviewing options for electoral reform, a Conservative Government will not endorse any new electoral system that will weaken the link between Members of Parliament and their constituents, that will create unmanageably large ridings, or that will strengthen the control of the party machinery over individual Members of Parliament. A national referendum will be held prior to implementing any electoral reform proposal.

Therefore, possible question: To the Conservative Candidate - The Conservative Party said they will consider changes to the electoral system and promised a National Referendum on the issue in 2005. What happened? To other Candidates - Would you consider a national referendum to propose a new electoral system, such as a form of proportional representation? If so, by when?

PROVINCIAL AND NATIONAL FAIR VOTE UPDATES

The one day provincial conference on voting reform that had been planned by Fair Vote Ontario for October 2008 has been postponed until February 2009. Planning had been started by the Fair Vote Ontario Council to hold a press conference on the anniversary of the MMP referendum calling on the Ontario government to complete the unfinished business of electoral reform in Ontario. However, the press conference has been cancelled due to the federal election call. The Fair Vote Canada national office is currently focused on the federal election campaign but will be resuming a focus on preparing for the British Columbia referendum on STV in May 2009 when the federal election is over. Stay tuned for more updates on Fair Vote Canada and Fair Vote Ontario initiatives after the federal election.