Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. Over $600 million to change absolutely nothing. Over $100 million more than the 2019 election, primarily because of the cost of COVID protocols. All quite unnecessary with a parliament that was working rather well and an election scheduled for 2023. Ah well, I suppose we
Continue readingTag: Electoral Systems
Views from the Beltline: Voting strategically in an election we don’t need
So we are to have an unnecessary election. Didn’t we make our views clear enough in 2019? We didn’t give one of the parties a majority because we didn’t buy into any of their platforms sufficiently. So we elected a minority government. And it seems to be working well enough.
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Canada’s progressive tilt—mitigating first-past-the-post
From 2006 to 2015 we endured a decade of Conservative rule even though the Conservatives never won the support of even 40 percent of Canadian voters. Such are the idiosyncrasies of the First-Past-the-Post (FPTP) electoral system. Since 2015 we have been governed by the Liberals, but not with much more
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: U.S. democracy corrupted by U.S. constitution
In 2016, most Americans voted for Hillary Clinton. They got President Donald Trump. Republicans represent fewer citizens than Democrats, yet they have controlled the Senate for more than half of this century. Senators supporting Bret Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court represented only 44 per cent of Americans, less than those
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Calling all democrats
Every Canadian concerned about the quality of democracy in this country frets about the inability of our electoral system to do the thing it exists for—create a government that represents the people. We currently have a federal government formed by a party that only received the electoral support of a
Continue readingA bad night for politicians, but not so bad for the country
It was not a good night for political parties. Clearly, the voters were not about to commend the Liberals for their four years in power. And just as clearly, they weren’t about to replace them with the Conservatives. Or anybody else. The only party that came out smiling was the
Continue readingMy Relulctant Strategic Vote
Here’s an irony. I’m forced to vote Liberal (again) because Justin Trudeau betrayed me. No, it doesn’t make any sense and, furthermore, it pisses me off. But that’s just the way it is. In his 2015 campaign, Justin promised that that election would be the last under the grievously undemocratic
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: The Big Bumble: The 2015 Canadian General Election
Sometimes, I think Canada should change it’s name to Bumbleslavia, a land in which people bumble along and where bumbles are common and appreciated by the people: “Did you see the latest bumble? Yeah, that was a good one. It will be hard to beat.” The latest Big Bumble — methinks
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer: A Disgruntled Democrat?
In reaction to a government bill that would prevent Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer, Marc Mayrand, from speaking publicly about the quality of Canada’s Electoral System, he went on record to state: “I’m not aware of any electoral bodies around the world who can not talk about democracy” and that “my
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