October 2009 / octobre 2009

For the latest news on voting system reform, visit www.fairvote.ca.


· FVC launches Declaration of Voters’ Rights at Ottawa press conference (please sign today!)

· New FVC website features more news, info and fun

· Proportional representation allowed Germany to dodge bizarre election results

· FVC chapters busy at public forums

· FVC coordinating political scientists’ call for action

· New Facebook fan page – please sign up



FVC launches Declaration of Voters’ Rights at Ottawa press conference (please sign today!)

Cameras from four television networks recorded Ed Broadbent, Nathalie Des Rosiers and John Trent as they became the first three signers of the Declaration of Voters’ Rights at an October 16 press conference in Ottawa.

Fair Vote Canada developed the Declaration to give voters a means of demanding our democratic rights to equal votes, fair election results and legitimate majority rule.

“We’re here to draw a line in the sand,” said FVC executive director Larry Gordon at the press conference. “We’re here to call on all Canadian voters to sign the Declaration. It’s not a petition. It’s not a request. It’s a people’s Declaration. These are our democratic rights and we demand them now.”

The press conference, held in the Parliamentary media room, featured former NDP leader Ed Broadbent, former Law Commission of Canada president Nathalie Des Rosiers, who is currently General Counsel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and Dr. John Trent, former secretary-general of the International Political Science Association.

Fair Vote Canada is encouraging all Canadians to sign the Declaration in the coming months.

New FVC website features more news, info and fun

The new FVC website is now operational with a fresh design, more information and the latest news.

“We hope all members and supporters will take a few minutes to browse the site,” said FVC president Bronwen Bruch. “We have added more information about the problems with the current system and the fair voting alternatives [see Fair Voting]. In addition to FVC news, we now have a news feed and blog feed to provide the latest online stories about voting reform. Plus – and this is my favourite – we have an Election Humour section, featuring the best online videos that spoof elections. Check it out.”

Bruch noted that the French translation is still underway for some portions of the site, but should be completed in the near future.

Proportional representation allowed Germany to dodge bizarre election results

The recent German election results provide a classic illustration of how badly first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting can distort election results in a multi-party political system.

If Germans had used FPTP in their September 27 election, rather than their mixed member proportional (MMP) system, Angela Merkel would have won 73% of the seats with just 39% of the votes. Such an outcome would have dwarfed the Canadian record for distorted election results, set by Brian Mulroney in 1984, when 50% of the votes translated into 75% of the seats for the Tories. See full story here.

FVC chapters active at public forums

On September 23, Maclean’s magazine and CPAC-TV co-sponsored and broadcast a public forum: Canada’s Democracy is Broken – How Do We Fix It? Nearly 500 people filled Toronto’s St. Lawrence Centre to hear an all-star panel – including Andrew Coyne and Paul Wells from Maclean’s, and Ed Broadbent and Rick Anderson – repeatedly note the need for a proportional voting system.

The following night in Ottawa, CBC Radio’s Sunday Morning hosted a similar public forum with electoral reform also being a key point of discussion. At both events Fair Vote Canada chapter leaders and members distributed flyers and raised issues at the microphones.

On October 14, the Nova Scotia Chapter of Fair Vote Canada co-sponsored a major public forum in Halifax: Women in the House: Does Gender Equity Require Electoral Reform? with former federal NDP leader Alexa McDonough, Green Party leader Elizabeth May, plus the interim leader of the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservatives and the deputy leader of the Nova Scotia Liberals. Once again, the urgent need for electoral reform was front and centre.

FVC coordinating political scientists’ call for action

In the coming month, FVC will be circulating a statement to be signed by Canadian political scientists calling for electoral reform action. The first three endorsers were former Canadian Political Science Association presidents Sylvia Bashevkin and Peter Russell, along with John Trent, former secretary general of the International Political Science Association.

“We hope to find 100+ co-signers in the coming weeks,” said FVC president Bronwen Bruch. “While most of our outreach focuses on voters, we want to emphasize that the experts favour electoral reform, also.”

New Facebook page – please sign up

Fair Vote Canada has a new fan page on Facebook, where we will be posting news, updates, photos and videos. Become a fan and join the conversation today. (Please note this is a different site from the FVC group on Facebook.)

August 2009 / août 2009

For the latest news on voting system reform, visit www.fairvote.ca.

Pour les dernières informations sur la réforme du système électoral, visitez le site Internet http://www.fairvote.ca/fr.

· FVC to launch new programs for municipal and civil society reform

· FVC Student and Youth Caucus to be launched

· Members vote in favour of new FVC Statement of Purpose

· Fair Vote Canada at NDP convention

· FVC paper summarizes problems with the Alternative Vote

· It’s Fall in Canada - must be time for another federal election

FVC to launch new programs for municipal and civil society reform

The Future Directions process, in which members shared ideas on advancing the fair voting cause, is already showing results. The FVC National Council announced two new programs will be launched this year.

FVC will begin working with members, supporters and chapters to promote municipal voting reform and strong representative democracy at the local level. Specifically, FVC will produce a guide for municipal reform and also work with volunteers and groups to press for provincial enabling legislation to allow cities to choose their own voting systems.

The second program will take the campaign for fair voting into another very interesting arena – civil society - with the first priority being student government elections.

This winter, Wilfrid Laurier University will become the first Canadian university to use a fair voting system – STV – for student government elections. FVC National Council member Sean Geobey, program coordinator for the civil society program, is excited about building on the Wilfrid Laurier success. FVC also envisions outreach to other civil society groups, such as cooperatives, credit unions and NGOs with member-elected boards.

Stay tuned for further details on how to get involved.

FVC Student and Youth Caucus be launched

Yet another indication of the new energy in the fair voting movement. Ryerson student Sarah Lambert, who also serves on the FVC Toronto Chapter executive, is coordinating the launch of a Student and Youth Caucus of Fair Vote Canada. The group will be responsible for building electoral reform support on campuses for federal, provincial and municipal reform, as well as student elections. Students and youth interested in this initiative are encouraged to contact Sarah: sarah.lambert@ryerson.ca.

Members endorse new FVC Statement of Purpose

FVC members voted overwhelmingly in favour of adopting the revised Fair Vote Canada Statement of Purpose : yes - 97%, no - 3%. The FVC National Council produced the revised statement based on feedback from the Future Directions process. Approximately 1800 members in good standing (annual dues paid) were eligible to vote and just under 400 cast votes before the deadline. [Note to members: if you did not receive an e-ballot or paper ballot for this vote, that means you have not updated your membership in the past 12 months. You can renew your membership online anytime.]

Fair Vote Canada at the NDP convention

The FVC Nova Scotia Chapter ran an information table at the recent NDP convention in Halifax. FVC produced a special handout for NDP delegates , calling for party leader Jack Layton to reaffirm his promise, made when elected party leader, to make electoral reform action a requirement for supporting any federal minority government. The flyer also called on the NDP governments in Manitoba and Nova Scotia to implement fair voting.

FVC paper summarizes problems with the Alternative Vote

The Alternative Vote (AV), a form of winner-take-all voting used by Australia, is sometimes cited as a possible reform option for Canada. AV is similar to first-past-the-post (FPTP) in that only one MP is elected in each riding – a feature that precludes fair representation for all voters. The primary difference from FPTP: AV allows voters to rank candidates rather than vote for just one. If no candidate gets 50% of the first choice votes, the least popular candidate is dropped and those ballots go to the second choices, and so on, until one candidate surpasses 50%. But because only one candidate/party can win in each riding, AV reproduces virtually all of the problems created by FPTP voting. The FVC backgrounder is available online.

It’s Fall in Canada - must be time for another election

The FVC federal election planning committee is busily working on an action plan in case a federal election is called this fall. Any federal election in a minority government environment provides a major opportunity for electoral reformers: both for public discussion and possible action by a new minority government. Stay tuned – if the election is called, we’ll be calling on all fair voting supporters to take action.

July 2009 Fair Vote Canada Newsletter

July 2009 / juillet 2009

Cliquez ici pour la version française du bulletin d’information.

For the latest news on voting system reform, visit www.fairvote.ca.

· Post-referendum poll shows BC voters do support electoral reform

· UK uproar over MPs’ spending stirs electoral reform interest

· FVC National Council to propose new Statement of Purpose

· Bronwen Bruch becomes FVC President

· Carolyn Bennett, Liberal MP, joins FVC Advisory Board

Post-referendum poll shows BC voters do support electoral reform

Those who defend the status quo and politics-as-usual will be deeply disappointed to learn that support for a fairer voting system is quite strong in British Columbia, according to a recent poll commissioned by Fair Vote Canada (FVC).

In the May 12 B.C. referendum on electoral reform, only 39% voted in favour of the BC-STV voting system that was proposed as a replacement for first-past-the-post. However, in a post-referendum survey of 1,000 B.C. residents conducted by Vancouver polling firm Strategic Communications, 44.3% of those who voted for first-past-the-post in the referendum said they are in “favour of replacing first-past-the-post with a voting system in which the percentage of seats a party gets in the legislature is more in line with their percentage of the popular vote”.

“In addition to the 39% who were ready to adopt BC-STV, this means another 27% of the B.C. voters appear ready to scrap first-past-the-post for a fairer system,” said Bronwen Bruch, FVC President. “While we didn’t get the big breakthrough in the May 12 referendum, we are delighted to see this level of support for electoral reform. The challenge now is to help all voters learn more about fair voting systems and to ensure everyone has the information necessary to make an informed decision on electoral reform.”

UK uproar over MPs expenses stirs electoral reform interest

The growing public anger about wasteful personal spending by British MPs from all parties has stirred significant interest in electoral reform.

A poll published on June 15 in The Guardian found that 52% of Britains now support electoral reform with only 43% wanting to keep first-past-the-post. Voters in the UK already use proportional voting systems to elect their representative to the European Parliament and in elections for the Scottish and Welsh assemblies.

Another recent poll conducted for the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust found faith in the current political system to be at an all-time low. In addition, support for a proportional voting system stood at 63% and support for a binding referendum on PR stood at 61%.

UK reformers have launched the Vote for a Change campaign with following demand:

“Alongside the next general election there should be a binding referendum on whether to change to a new more proportional electoral system. This should be drawn up by a large jury of randomly selected citizens, given the time and information to deliberate on what voting system and other changes would make parliament more accountable to citizens.”

FVC National Council to propose new FVC Statement of Purpose

Since the June 13 Future Directions conference in Ottawa, the FVC National Council has been hard at work on a strategic plan to incorporate member feedback on how to build a stronger fair voting movement across the country. Among the top priorities are expanding our action programs, increasing public outreach and upgrading the website and online support tools.

“After reviewing all the helpful and thoughtful feedback from members, it’s clear we also need to update and improve the Fair Vote Canada Statement of Purpose,” said FVC President Bronwen Bruch. “Our movement is fighting for a political system based on the core principles of democratic representative government. Our mission statement should speak clearly to that point. We will make a recommendation to members in the near future.”

Bronwen Bruch becomes FVC President

The FVC National Council has elected its officers for the coming year. The Council thanked Barbara Odenwald for serving as president for the past year. Barbara announced she could no longer serve on the executive due to increased work commitments.

The Council elected Bronwen Bruch (Oakville, ON) as President. Bronwen has previously served as president of the Halton Chapter, on the executive of Fair Vote Ontario and as financial officer of the Vote for MMP Campaign. The Council re-elected the other officers for another one-year term: Andy Blair (Ottawa), Vice President; John Deverell (Pickering, ON), Treasurer; Jennie Dailey-O’Cain (Edmonton), Secretary; and Stephen Broscoe (Vancouver), Executive Member-At-Large.

Carolyn Bennett joins Fair Vote Canada National Advisory Board

Dr. Carolyn Bennett, Liberal MP and a long-time electoral reform supporter, has joined the FVC National Advisory Board. Dr. Bennett has spoken at many FVC conferences and other electoral reform events over the years. She joins 37 other prominent Canadians from a wide variety of professional and political backgrounds who also serve on our National Advisory Board.

Electoral Reform for the City of Vancouver?

Kennedy Stewart has suggested in an op-ed at Think City that the city of Vancouver try to move forward with electoral reform, actually it sounds like Mayour Gregor Robertson is in favour of having a referendum in 2011.

Vancouver would be well served if they split the city into two five member STV districts for the local elections. Though Kennedy Stewart seems to be suggesting a party based PR model, in my opinion this would be a huge political error and lead to a resounding defeat at the polls.

Fair Vote Canada conference June 13th in Ottawa

If I could go, I would, but I can not.

Future Directions for the Canadian Electoral Reform Movement

Saturday, June 13, 2009, 9am – 5:00pm

Ontario Room, Lord Elgin Hotel, 100 Elgin St., Ottawa, ON

Agenda and registration information

Join us for this timely and important discussion on the future direction of Canada’s electoral reform movement. The October 2007 federal election and subsequent national debate on Canada’s parliamentary democracy created a significant surge of interest in electoral reform. Since that time, a new wave of concerned citizens have joined our growing electoral reform movement, bolstering those who have been active for many years.

At the Future Directions conference, electoral reform newcomers and veterans alike will take stock of lessons learned from provincial referendum experiences, federal and provincial electoral reform commissions, and past and current Charter challenges. Participants will have an opportunity to join lively discussions on strategic direction and how best to strengthen the electoral reform movement.

Suggestion to use AV in the UK

This is an column from the Guardian in the UK. The suggestion is that the use of AV - also know as instant run off voting - would help improve the politics in the UK

Fair Vote Canada May 2009 Newsletter

For the latest news on voting system reform, visit www.fairvote.ca.

• BC-STV referendum setback, but the growing campaign for electoral reform will continue
• Fair Vote Canada “Future Directions” conference set for June 13 in Ottawa
• FVC National Council election results
• Quebec charter challenge will go to the Appeals Court

BC-STV referendum setback, but the growing campaign for electoral reform will continue

The BC-STV proposal attracted only 39% support in the May 12 BC electoral reform referendum, but both reformers and opponents agreed that the electoral reform discussion will continue in British Columbia.

With voter turnout sinking to 50%, an all-time low and a mood of economic uncertainty, BC-STV leaders acknowledged “the time just wasn’t right for change.”

The Vice President of the No STV Campaign told the Vancouver Sun “I don’t think electoral reform is going away”. That assessment was confirmed in a post-referendum statement by the BC-STV campaign leaders: “The most important democratic advancements in history took many years to achieve – the fight for a fair voting system will continue.”

In the months leading up to the referendum, the BC-STV campaign organized thousands of grassroots volunteers, produced an excellent website, sponsored a very successful Facebook group, and did television and radio advertising. In addition, a YouTube video of former Deputy Premier Christy Clark, now a popular radio host who declared her support for BC-STV, was the most popular news and politics video on YouTube several days before the referendum.

In contrast, the No STV campaign directed virtually all of its financial resources to paid television, radio and print advertising, claiming that BC-STV is confusing and would reduce community representation because of the larger ridings.

"Of course, we are disappointed that BC-STV didn't pass, but we are confident the discussion does not end here,” said Shoni Field, a former member of the 160-member Citizens' Assembly, which in 2004 recommended BC-STV as the best electoral system for BC.

Fair Voting BC has tentatively planned to hold a conference in June to assess all aspects of the campaign, identify lessons learned and plan the next steps for British Columbia activities.

Fair Vote Canada “Future Directions” conference set for June 13 in Ottawa

FVC members and electoral reformers are invited to a special one-day conference in Ottawa on June 13 to discuss the future direction of Canada’s electoral reform movement.

“With the significant surge of electoral reform interest generated during the October 2007 federal election, and referendum experiences in three provinces, plus a court challenge underway in Quebec, we think this is the right time for a comprehensive review of strategy and tactics,” said Andy Blair, Vice President of Fair Vote Canada. “We appreciate that only a limited number of people will be able to attend the conference, so all Fair Vote Canada members will be invited to participate in an extensive online survey in advance to provide as much input as possible.”

More details on the conference agenda, registration and the advance survey will be available soon.

FVC National Council election results

The National Council election results were announced at the 8th Annual General Meeting of Fair Vote Canada, held in Vancouver on April 18. The five successful candidates for the three-year terms were: Wendy Bergerud (Victoria, BC), Bronwen Bruch (Oakville, ON), Sean Geobey (Toronto, ON), Gord Hunter (Saskatoon, SK) and June Macdonald (Toronto, ON).

The newly elected National Council members join Doug Bailie (Edmonton, AB), Andy Blair (Ottawa, ON), Stephen Broscoe (Vancouver, BC), Jennifer Dailey-O’Cain (Edmonton, AB), Wilf Day (Port Hope, ON), John Deverell (Pickering, ON), Barbara Odenwald (Gatineau, QC), Linda Sheppard (Toronto, ON), Wayne Smith (Toronto, ON), and Julian West (Ladysmith, BC).

Quebec charter challenge will go to the appeals court

In March, the Quebec Superior Court ruled against the legal challenge to first-past-the-post, initiated by l’Association pour la Revendication des Droits Democratique (ARDD). The Quebec electoral reformers argued that the Quebec Elections Act violates equal treatment in law and freedom from legal discrimination based on political or ethnic association. The case will move up to the appeals court. Fair Vote Canada will be working with ARDD to provide support for the case, which will likely be heard by the court within the year.