FAIR VOTE CANADA NEWSLETTER - APRIL 2004

Note: for late-breaking news, visit www.fairvotecanada.org

In this issue:

· FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
· PR RECOMMENDATION TABLED IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
· BC CITIZENS' ASSEMBLY TO HOLD PUBLIC HEARINGS
· QUEBEC REFORMERS CRITICIZE GOVERNMENT PR PLAN
· FVC NATIONAL COUNCIL ELECTION UNDERWAY


FVC ELECTION CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEERS READY IN 100+ RIDINGS - BUT WE STILL NEED YOU!

Can you direct some volunteer time during the upcoming federal election to help reshape the Canadian political system? To help turn electoral politics upside-down, so we can put Canadian democracy right-side-up? Fair Vote Canada is organizing a nationwide grassroots campaign during the federal election. We intend to send a clear message from the citizens of Canada to all parties and all candidates: Make this the LAST unfair election!

Volunteers in more than 100 federal ridings have already stepped forward. If you can help with one or more of the following tasks, please let us know.

1) ask a question to candidates at an all-candidates meeting and distribute flyers to the audience;

2) distribute flyers at local conferences, forums, or other public events during the election;

3) distribute flyers in your neighbourhood, community centre, or local library;

4) write letters to the editor of your local papers during the election;

5) place an article (provided by Fair Vote Canada), in a newsletter of an organization in which you are active; or submit an article (prepared by Fair Vote Canada) to your local community paper;

6) call radio or TV phone-in shows during the election to talk about the need for voting reform; and/or;

7) get some of your friends to help with these tasks.

If you can help with one or more of these tasks, contact us today: info@fairvotecanada.org.

FVC CALLS FOR ACTION ON LAW COMMISSION ELECTORAL REFORM RECOMMENDATIONS

In the House of Commons, Justice Minister Irwin Cotler tabled the long-awaited electoral reform report from the Law Commission of Canada. The report recommends scrapping the current voting system and adopting a mixed member proportional system. Under this proposal, two-thirds of the seats in the House would be filled by the winning candidates from individual constituencies or ridings. The remaining third would be filled by party list candidates on a compensatory basis - that is, to ensure that the total portion of seats held by each party closely reflects their total portion of the popular vote. The successful list candidates would become at-large MPs representing a particular province, or in the case of Ontario and Quebec, a region within a province.

While lauding the Law Commission for proposing a form of proportional representation, Fair Vote Canada expressed concern with their recommendation that the reform process be left solely in the hands of Parliament. Instead, Fair Vote Canada recommends that:

1) all federal political parties support a public deliberation and decision-making process in which citizens are able to consider several approaches to developing a more proportional, or fair, voting system;

2) the primary objective be to identify the best made-in-Canada approach that gets us as close as possible to the ideal of making every citizen's vote count;

3) citizens themselves identify the best alternative system from a shortlist of possibilities, either by using a referendum to narrow the options (similar to that used in New Zealand), or a citizens' assembly process (similar to that being used in British Columbia), or some other process to be developed; and

4) once the best made-in-Canada alternative is determined, that Canadians choose between the current system and the alternative in a binding national referendum.

BC CITIZENS' ASSEMBLY TO HOLD HEARINGS

The BC Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform will convene 49 public hearings throughout the province in May and June. Citizens will be invited to make oral and written presentations to the Assembly on voting system reform.

In preparation, the Assembly released "A Preliminary Statement to the People of British Columbia". While emphasizing they have yet to conclude a new voting system would be desirable, the Statement noted: "The Assembly believes it is important that the outcome of an election, in terms of the distribution of the seats in the Legislature, should reflect the expressed intentions of citizens as expressed in their votes.
This is the principle of proportionality - seats won should be proportional to votes won."

The Statement, hearing schedule, and application to make presentations are all available on their web site at www.citizensassembly.bc.ca. Fair Vote Canada (FVC) urges our BC members and supporters to attend these hearings. FVC has also prepared a short series of points for consideration by those who wish to promote proportional representation at the hearings - contact us at: info@fairvotecanada.org

QUEBEC REFORMERS CRITICIZE GOVERNMENT PR PLAN

A Quebec government plan for mixed member proportional (MMP) voting in Quebec has drawn fire from Quebec electoral reform groups. According to reports in Montreal newspapers, Jacques Dupuis, the minister responsible for democratic reform, is considering an MMP system that continues to elect 125 MNAs. About 75 to 85 would be from individual ridings, with the remainder being at-large regional representatives. However, rather than having party lists presented to voters for the at-large seats, the plan calls for candidates defeated in riding elections to fill those seats.

Mouvement pour une démocratie nouvelle (MDN), the leading electoral reform group in Quebec, and other organizations, criticized the plan as cosmetic rather than substantive. They raised specific concerns about the regional compensation and proportionality, the provincial threshold for party representation, and the absence of candidate lists. For more information: www.democratie-nouvelle.qc.ca.

CANDIDATE STATEMENTS FOR NATIONAL COUNCIL ELECTION NOW ONLINE

Statements from each of the eight candidates running for five seats on the National Council have been posted at www.fairvotecanada.org. Ballots have been mailed to eligible FVC members and must be returned through the mail by April 21. Results will be announced at the FVC Annual General Meeting in Toronto on April 24.