(And that is not a threat, of course, but a prediction) An analysis of the present state of future prospects of the nation ~ An open letter in response to Daily Kos, and to anyone concerned with either justice, or peace The article I recently wrote and…
Continue readingTag: reform
The Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: Single Member-Proportional Vote (SM-PV) Feedback & Public Support
Back in May I came up with an idea for electoral reform. Since then I’ve been seeking input, looking for similarelectoral systems, and trying to judge what the public would think of SM-PV. In all three areas I have had a bit of success.For those who didn’t check out the link above my proposed system keeps most of the FPTP system intact with one keychange: every MP in the House of Commons would have a vote that is stronger or weaker based on their party’s share of the popular vote. The result bei […]
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Canadian and US Federal Elections – 2015, 2016: A summary of the prospects and possible outcomes
Revolution, reform, stagnation – or worse? It is sometimes difficult to say what would be best for a given nation at a given time in history. There are things that would be desirable, of course, or which seem desirable, and things that are quite clearly, urgently needed – but in
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Canadian and US Federal Elections – 2015, 2016: A summary of the prospects and possible outcomes
Revolution, reform, stagnation – or worse? It is sometimes difficult to say what would be best for a given nation at a given time in history. There are things that would be desirable, of course, or which seem desirable, and things that are quite clearly, urgently needed – but in
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: Education Reform In New Brunswick: What Japan Can Teach Us (Part 1)
As a graduate of New Brunswick’s education system I sometimes reflect onthe quality of the schooling I received. I also have a longstanding interest inJapanese culture. It is natural then that I would eventually get to looking at howJapan does education. What I found was a school system that better instills thevalues of leadership, sense of
Continue readingHarper is not serious about senate reform
Stephen Harper is not serious about senate reform. Despite his announcement last week that he plans to stop filling vacancies in the upper chamber until the senate is reformed, his track record on the issue is very poor. Stephen Harper, cc: pmwebphotos (Flickr.com) Harper was first elected to parliament in 1993
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: The Case for a Province of First Nations
UPDATE: It appears I am not the first to consider this idea. A paper was published by Queens University which goes intomuch more detail than I ever could. Link The problems facing Canada’s First Nations are many and longstanding. Some of these problems are structural. Bandleadership often has to deal
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: A Look at ‘100 Remedies for a Broken Democracy’
I received a link to this site from The Friends of the Reform Act. It is essentially a site to crowd source the top 100 ideas forimproving Canadian democracy (there is a separate effort for the USA). So far they are halfway to 100 ideas. Notsurprisingly electoral & Senate reform
Continue readingThe Tory Pirate - Politics & Policy: Electoral Reform: Bennett Method 2.0
Note: An earlier version of this article had a calculation error in regards to the Bloc Quebecois. I have corrected it and added additional information in italics regarding calculating voting power. I have been posting about electoral reform for a while now. Mostly this has been concerning a new system
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Are Canada’s Disaffected the Raw Material for a Leftist Renaissance?
Europe is still reeling from the victory of the Syriza party in the recent Greek elections. It was a matter of days before that spread to austerity-wracked Spain’s Podemos movement that has gone from nothing to the country’s second largest political party in just six months. Now The Tyee’s Crawford Killian asks
Continue readingLeDaro: Harper’s ‘Fair’ Elections Act
Has Harper gone crazy? Does he care about democracy? He seems more and more a dictator. Harper’s Conservatives even shortened debate in the House of Commons over this bill. The Chief Electoral Officer was not involved in the drafting process, he only saw it after the media did. Usually, for
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Is This How the Senate Whitewash Begins?
Duffy, Wallin and Brazeau turfed out in disgrace by a gaggle of Tory senators who had expense skeletons in their own closets to conceal. Word from Ottawa is that there are plenty of other senators in the same boat on housing expenses, perhaps two to three dozen, who all voted
Continue readingLeDaro: Justin Trudeau’s Senate Move… a great political move or amateurish
Harper has been mired in embarrassing scandals concerning his Senators, from Wallin to Duffy to Brazeau. Justin Trudeau has responded with a move that some have called “bold” and “game-changing” by kicking all Liberal Senators out of caucus. I don’t think it’s “bold” or “game-changing” and it does not show
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Senate reform still desired over Senate abolition or status quo
Despite the Senate scandal deepening, it appears that for now, Canadians still prefer reforming the Senate over abolishing it, as indicated by this Ipsos-Reid poll from a couple of days ago. 49% of respondents indicated reform (and the Ipsos question on reform is worded as “..reformed to make it for
Continue readingParliamANT Hill: WallAnt audit has opposition demanding PM response
Inspired by these headlines: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2013/08/14/pol-wallin-senate-audit-ndp-dewar-turmel.html http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/08/13/stephen-harper-pamela-wallin-video_n_3749071.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Saskatchewan: A beachhead of labour law reform?
By: Andrew Stevens | First published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives on May 3, 2013: Sweeping changes to Saskatchewan’s labour relations and employment standards legislation are on the verge of being passed. Bill 85, the Saskatchewan Employment Act, will dramatically transform the laws governing trade unions and industrial relations in the province. The
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Saskatchewan: A beachhead of labour law reform?
By: Andrew Stevens | First published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives on May 3, 2013: Sweeping changes to Saskatchewan’s labour relations and employment standards legislation are on the verge of being passed. Bill 85, the Saskatchewan Employment Act, will dramatically transform the laws governing trade unions and industrial relations in the province. The
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: The Undemocratic Elected Senate & The Democratic Appointed One
90% of Americans support universal background checks for guns yet on Wednesday the American Senate struck down that legislation. That’s not very democratic, is it? Those in Canada who fervently cling to the idea that voting will make our Senate democratic almost completely ignore the problems that come with it,
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: NDP: Abolish the “unelected and unaccountable Senate of Canada”
By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive, Mar 4, 2013: The New Democrats today repeated their call for the abolition of Canada’s scandal-ridden “useless, expensive, undemocratic appendage of government”, the Senate. The Official Opposition’s MP for Toronto-Danforth, Craig Scott, issued the following statement earlier today: In order to address the irresponsible conduct of the unelected Senate, NDP Democratic and
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Why Canada Needs An Elected Senate Just Like America’s
“Washington is broken.” – Barack Obama Looking at the Canadian Senate in isolation might motivate many to question it, but compared to the American Senate, Canadians should be proud of their upper chamber. Besides the fact that googling “Ottawa is broken” brings zero related results, the American Senate is so
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