As one of the ‘leaders’ trying to become our next prime minister shows his true colours by spouting lies and false information I urge those of you who have yet to vote to be very careful what you wish for, or more correctly who you vote for. I will not
Continue readingTag: Civic Duty
Democracy Under Fire: Advanced Polls are open…..
I will be driving the few miles to the polling location shortly to waste my time voting for a candidate who will not be elected, its more of a protest vote against the ‘party’ of the fellow who will almost certainly get in in this traditional conservative riding. I have
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Long Hours & Many Miles
“The hours are long, the workload can be overwhelming. The people you work for don’t always like you and, after four years, they can fire you without saying why.” so says the opening commentary in a recent article highlighting the retirement of some Mps this coming fall. “I didn’t realize
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Voting A B C
I’m voting ABC ….. Any But Conservative ! Whilst I have nothing against our local conservative MPP and actually liked our previous MPP of the same persuasion, one Bill Murdoch now retired after putting the local needs ahead of provincial politics for many years, the new ‘leader’ is something else.
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Stark choices…..
In a blog dedicated to commentary on Canadian Democracy how can I avoid discussing the upcoming Ontario Provincial election and when doing so how can I avoid being highly partisan in my comments given the increasingly divisive commentary coming from some, if not all, participants? I am not sure that
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Electronic Voting Not an Option…. yet.
Following the panel discussion on voter engagement of young people at Ryerson University recently backbench Liberal MPP Arthur Potts proposes that the voting age should be lowered two years, to 16. Scotland and Argentina are among the places where teenagers are allowed to cast ballots at that age, a time
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Democratic Renewal
Recently Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne, Progressive Conservative interim leader Vic Fedeli, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, and Green Leader Mike Schreiner recently gathered at Ryerson University to discuss – not to debate – the need for democratic renewal . Moderated by the Star’s Queen’s Park columnist, Martin Regg Cohn the forum
Continue readingScripturient: Saunderson shirks his responsibility to taxpayers
The town’s budget is by far the single most important thing elected officials have to manage. It’s complicated, affects everyone in town, reaches into every department, ranges through services, user fees, and ultimately determines the quality of life for everyone here. It is the one thing that demands the full
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Last Chance ………
Tomorrow will be the last chance to have your say as to who you want to represent you in parliament and, although we currently vote for individuals, this election has been all about which party is best positioned to replace the Harper Regime, With a minority government very much a
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Be Prepared, Voter Identification
Much has been made of late of the removal of the voter card as a piece of identification, there was even a court case in Ontario to challenge the provision which was rejected. Frankly I believe the rhetoric that this change will disenfranchise some voters is a little overdone, it
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Harpoon for Youth
We all know that getting our younger voters out is even more important this time than ever before and that it is hard to get many of them engaged in the cluster fk we laughingly call democracy. Who can blame them, even those of us who are ‘engaged’ are getting
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: BGOS Greens AGM
The following is presented as a service to my local Greens The Annual General Meeting of the Bruce-Grey Owen Sound Green Party of Canada Electoral District Association will be held Thursday, May 21, 2015 at 7:00 pm at the Williamsford Mill Book Store & Cafe, 316070 Highway 6, Williamsford, ON.
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Samara’s Democracy 360 Report
Samara, the Canadian Democracy Measurement folks have just released their latest report on the state of our democracy and its not good! This is no surprise to those of us who have been taking notice but with generally 40% or less giving any time to even discuss political issues with
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Election Stories
With the Ontario election now history and a slight uptick in the voter turn out I will relate a few of the problems various voters have encountered whilst trying to vote in an effort to make both the voters and those that run the system aware of impediments to voting
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Elections Ontario Struggling……
Elections Ontario is struggling to find enough staff to fill the positions required to process your vote, this is not a particular surprise to those who have worked the polls before, it always tough to find responsible folks available for a one day 12 to 1`4hr shift with no breaks!
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Ontario Election = Identification & Vouching
With all the publicity around the Federal ‘Fair’ Elections Act and the issue of vouching it is important to know that for the Ontario Provincial Election VOUCHING IS NOT PERMITTED. You must have proper identification in order to vote, if you are not on the voters list, do not receive
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Maintaining Trust and Engagement in Canadian Elections
Extracts from a Speech of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada at the the Economic Club of Canada on September 25, 2012 (my bold) According to any international democracy index you look at, Canada’s democracy is consistently ranked among the top 10 in the world. On standard indicators of democratic
Continue readingDemocracy Under Fire: Those Questionable Polls
There have been a number of comments that the overturned election results at Etobicoke Centre was due to a failure of Elections Canada and whilst it is true that they are ultimately responsible for ensuring that the rules are followed there are a few things that are not being said.
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