Fair Vote Ontario Launched
October 19, 2002
FAIR VOTE ONTARIO LAUNCHED:
PUSH FOR VOTING SYSTEM REFORM BEGINS IN ONTARIO
Fair Vote Canada (FVC), a national citizens' campaign for federal voting system reform, announced the launch of a provincial voting reform campaign at a news conference at 9:30am, Thurs., Oct. 16, in the Queen's Park media studio.
Speaking on behalf of the campaign was FVC president Doris Anderson, feminist and author Judy Rebick, tax activist Walter Robinson, and Fair Vote Ontario co-director Wayne Smith. Fair Vote Ontario is calling
on the government to study the current system and recommend alternative systems, particularly ones offering more proportional representation, and to provide the people of Ontario with a referendum process to choose the best system.
"Like all other jurisdictions in Canada, the province of Ontario is plagued by our dysfunctional first-past-the-post voting system," says FVC president Doris Anderson. "Most major democracies ditched this system long ago. It routinely produces phony majority governments, distorts the will of the electorate, wastes millions of votes, exaggerates regional differences, and produces parliaments that are not representative of the full range of citizens and viewpoints."
Fair Vote Ontario founders note that none of the "majority" governments in recent decades actually received a majority popular vote. These government often claimed they had mandates for aggressive legislative polices, even though the majority of voters had cast votes for other parties.
"The governments of British Columbia and Quebec are actively engaging their citizens in a consultation on voting system reform," notes Anderson. "On the federal level, opposition parties, many prominent Canadians and public interest groups are calling for action. It is time for Ontario to engage its citizens also."
The Fair Vote Canada campaign for federal reform was launched in 2001. It has been endorsed by an extensive list of prominent Canadians and major national organizations, and has chapters in five cities and members across the country.
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[ This Message was edited by: admin on 2002-10-19 13:44 ]
[ This Message was edited by: admin on 2002-10-19 13:46 ]