Fair Vote Canada
NEWSLETTER
Nov. 15, 2001
CONTENTS:
1) Women for Fair Voting
2) Celebration for Doris Anderson
3) Let's Keep the Momentum Going
4) Prince Edward Islanders Launch PR Group
5) Local Chapter Updates
6) Ontario Liberals Promise Referendum on Voting Reform
7) Two Conferences this Month on Democratic Reform
8) FVC at NDP Winnipeg Convention
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1) Women for Fair Voting
The Fair Vote Canada executive committee has appointed Lisa Dale as chair of the Women for Fair Voting program. As past president of Women's Health and Environments Network, Lisa has invaluable experience to bring to FVC and has been very active in promoting FVC and PR over the past year.
As with the recent appointment of John Deverell to head FVC's labour program, the mandate of the women's program or caucus will be to advance the FVC mission in women's organizations, promoting individual memberships, gaining organization support and donations.
2) Celebration for Doris Anderson
Doris Anderson, vice-president of Fair Vote Canada, celebrated her 80th birthday last week with about 1,000 friends at Toronto's Royal York Hotel. The event, hosted by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, raised about $150,000 for the Doris Anderson Graduate Scholarship for students at the School of Women's Studies at York University.
The Toronto Star quoted the Governor General: "Doris, you've given us so much in this wonderful life of yours," adding that as editor of Chatelaine, Anderson turned the magazine into a "lifeline" for women across the country.
3) Let's Keep the Momentum Going
As public interest in voting reform grows, the members of Fair Vote Canada will play an important role in keeping the momentum going. In the next few weeks, FVC will mail out information to all members outlining what they can do to encourage potential members to sign up.
When this material arrives in your mailbox, please take a moment to consider the information it provides. It is one more thing you can do to help our campaign for a better voting system.
4) Prince Edward Islanders Launch PR Group
The push for proportional representation on Prince Edward Island took a major step forward on Nov. 8 with the launch of "Every Vote Counts: Citizens for Electoral Reform" -- a non-partisan group aiming to serve as a catalyst for electoral reform.
Among the group's spokespersons are Jeannie Lea, who was a cabinet member in the previous Liberal government of PEI, and Harry Baglole of UPEI's Institute of Island Studies.
Lopsided electoral results have become a trend in PEI. In three of the last four provincial elections, the Opposition has been reduced to two or fewer members.
"This means that about 40% of the votes has translated into about 5% of the seats," the group said in a statement released at the launch.
The result has been an opposition that "has quite simply not been strong enough to perform effectively its role in an increasingly complex modern society."
A committee of PEI's legislature recommended last spring that the province examine alternative voting systems. Elections PEI is currently conducting the study.
For more information, contact Shannon Hartigan: shartigan@upei.ca.
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FVC memberships are payable by cheque, VISA or Mastercard. Membership forms are available on the "Join Fair Vote" page of our website: http://www.fairvotecanada.org/eng/join/enter.html
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5) Local Chapter Updates
-- Toronto -- The Toronto chapter's October meeting featured guest speaker Steve Withers. Steve was one of the leading spokespersons for New Zealand's Electoral Reform Coalition during its successful campaign to adopt PR. He is also a native of Ontario who has lived in New Zealand for almost 20 years.
For more info on the Toronto chapter, contact Wayne Smith: 416-407-7009, toronto@fairvotecanada.org.
-- Peterborough -- The next meeting will be held on November 20th. For further information contact either Mark Finnan at mwf@nexicom.net or 705-939-2556.
-- Calgary -- The Calgary group will be holding monthly meetings. On the first Monday of every month we will meet at 7:30 p.m. at Second Cup Kensington. Next meeting is on December 3. Contact Matt Emmett at matt@emmett.ca.
Here is the contact information for the other chapters:
-- Edmonton -- Doug Bailie at doug.bailie@fairvotecanada.org.
-- Vancouver -- Arn Keeling at vancouver@fairvotecanada.org.
-- Victoria -- Bruce Hallsor at Hallsor@creaseharman.com.
-- Ottawa -- Dan Biocchi at dbdata@home.com.
If you are interested in helping start a local chapter in your area, please contact info@fairvotecanada.org or phone 416-410-4034.
6) Ontario Liberals Promise Referendum on Voting Reform
Ontario Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty announced on Nov. 9 his party is committed to holding a referendum on a new voting system. The promise forms part of the Liberals' plan to introduce a series of reforms to provincial politics in Ontario.
The Liberals' announcement is a significant addition to the growing list of political parties, citizens' groups and think tanks across the country which are focusing on the need for a positive alternative to the current voting system.
"Voting system reform is the lynchpin issue in democratic renewal," said FVC president Larry Gordon. "Fair Vote Canada commends Dalton McGuinty for his leadership in setting the stage for fair voting and fair democratic representation in Ontario."
7) Two Conferences this Month on Democratic Reform
Think tanks in B.C. and Alberta will be holding conferences on democratic reform this month.
The Fraser Institute will hold a conference titled "Reforming Politics: The B.C. Blueprint" on Nov. 22 in Vancouver. The conference will provide an opportunity to examine some of the democratic reforms that the province's Liberal government is putting on the public agenda.
Speakers include Geoff Plant, B.C.'s attorney general; Vaughn Palmer, columnist for the Vancouver Sun; John Reid, Canada's information commissioner; Nick Loenen, director of Fair Voting BC; and various MPs, MLAs and academics.
For more information, go to www.fraserinstitute.ca.
The Parkland Institute, affiliated with the University of Alberta, will be holding a conference titled Reclaiming Democracy, Nov. 15 to 18 in Edmonton.
Speakers include Judy Rebick, author of Imagine Democracy; Andrew Coyne, columnist for the National Post; Mark Kingwell, philosophy professor and author of Dreams of Millennium and The World We Want; and Michael Valpy, columnist for the Globe and Mail.
For more information, go to www.ualberta.ca/~parkland.
8) FVC at the NDP Winnipeg Convention
ANY FVC members who are going to the NDP Federal Convention in Winnipeg next week are encouraged to help out at the FVC information table.
If you can spend some time at the table during breaks in the convention activities, please contact Larry Gordon at larry.gordon@fairvotecanada.org, or phone 416-410-4034.
We will be setting up information tables at other party conventions in the future and will be looking for volunteers. If you are planning on attending a convention, or live in an area where a convention will be held, please volunteer some of your time.
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