Fair Vote Canada
NEWSLETTER
Nov. 23, 2000

CONTENTS:
1) Election Results: A Few Things We Know For Certain
2) A Look at the American Election
3) FVC's Interim Planning Council Keeps Growing

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1) Election Results: A Few Things We Know For Certain

The opinion polls continue to vary in their predictions for either a majority or minority Liberal government. In the meantime, here are some of the things we know for certain:

-- A government will be formed without a mandate from the majority of the voters.

-- The drastic distortions we've seen in the last two federal elections will remain largely unchanged. The Liberals, the Alliance and the Bloc will each hold a near-monopoly in different regions of the country, emphasizing Canada's regional divisions and leaving millions of voters without proper representation.

-- Millions of Canadians will vote strategically in the hope that their
ballot will make a difference rather than risk "wasting" it by simply voting on the basis of their conviction.

-- And some Canadians will leave the polling station vowing to do what they can to change the electoral system so that next time every vote -- no matter where in Canada it is cast or who it is cast for -- will make a
difference.

2) A Look at the American Election

The unusual results of the American presidential election has created a unique opportunity to raise awareness of electoral reform. But the focus on the race for the White House has overshadowed some very troubling aspects of the Congressional and state elections.

The Center for Voting and Democracy (http://www.fairvote.org) has argued that the winner-take-all system has reduced the competitveness of American elections to a dangerous degree. The Center advocates proportional representation as a way of breaking the political monopoly enjoyed by
incumbents.

This monopoly is reinforced by the large degree of partisanship involved in redrawing constituency boundaries. Over time, Republicans and Democrats have used this system to make their seats as safe as possible. As Rob Richie, CVD's executive director, writes "Legislators literally choose their constituents before their constituents choose them."

Here are a few of the observations on the elections for the House of Representatives taken from CVD's website:

-- 98% of House incumbents again won re-election.

-- 64 House incumbents ran unopposed by a major-party candidate.

-- Earlier this year, the Center made a list of 237 seats that it thought would be won by landslide margins of at least 20%. Only one of 237 was won by less than a landslide -- and that by 18%.

3) FVC's Interim Planning Council Keeps Growing

Since the last newsletter, we've added two members to our Interim Planning Council:

-- Gail Turner is an educator and facilitator for popular adult education programs on topics of social and economic justice. She is currently Program Assistant in Justice Ministries for The Presbyterian Church in
Canada.

-- Troy Lanigan is national communications director of the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation and a co-founder of the Electoral Change Coalition
of BC (ECCO-BC).

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