As I explained in my post last Friday, I will be voting no on MMP (Mixed Member Proportional Representation) on Wednesday.
And with Election Day only two days away, apparently Ontario voters are barely aware of the referendum, what MMP is all about, or what they are being asked to decide.
For those in need of a quick primer on MMP:
- This CBC News backgrounder provides the most thorough and neutral discussion of MMP that I've seen yet.
- All Politics is Local has written extensively on the No side, and provides Ten Reasons to Keep Our Existing Electoral System.
- Pseudonym at Canada, Eh is supporting the MMP proposal and argues that Our Electoral System is Flawed. Canada, Eh's MMP FAQ's also provides a good overview of the MMP system.
In recent polling, only 26% of all voters surveyed indicated support for MMP. Among decided voters, only 35.7% favoured a change to MMP.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net
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4 comments:
Here is what you need to know to make an informed choice in the referendum:
MMP is a voting system designed by voters to be good for voters.
MMP will give voters the power to hold political parties accountable. That's why some people don't like it.
MPP gives every voter two votes on one ballot, the vote you have now to elect your local member in your riding, and another vote for a political party. The real difference is that the new party vote will actually help to elect someone every time, in contrast to the riding vote we have now, with which most of us vote for someone who does not get elected, so we end up with a government that most of us did not vote for.
Every voter and every part of the province will have stronger representation under MMP.
We will continue to elect 90 MMPs as we do now, in single member ridings (70% of the Legislature). We will also elect another 39 MPPs at large, province-wide (30% of the Legislature). The total number of seats each party receives is determined by the number of party votes they receive. Each party will elect enough at-large MPPs to top up their riding MPPs so that each party receives the total number of seats they earned in proportion to the party votes they received.
The at-large members are elected by the party votes of voters across the province, and they will be accountable to the people who elected them. Based on experience with MMP in Germany and New Zealand, most of them will open constituency offices where they live, which means that every party will elect MPPs in every part of the province, and every voter will have access, not just to one MPP, but to MPPs from every party.
We will have fairer election results under MMP.
Under our current system, election results are always horribly distorted, often to the extent that the party with the most votes loses the election. This happened in recent provincial elections in BC (1996), Quebec (1998) and New Brunswick (2006). Usually one party gets 40-45% of the votes, on the strength of which they get 60-70% of the seats, which means they have 100% of the power.
Contrary to the lies you have heard, MMP gives power to voters, not to parties and party bosses. It is our current system that gives one political party unlimited and unaccountable power, even though most people voted against them.
More women and minorities will be elected under MMP. Under the current system, we have 25% women in the Ontario Legislature, and we have never elected an aboriginal person. It's a disgrace! Every country except Cuba that has at least 30% women in its national assembly uses a proportional voting system.
Voters will have more real choices under MMP.
Under the current system, most of us live in safe ridings and already know who will be elected in our riding right now, before the votes are even cast. Many of us feel compelled to vote "strategically", and many don't bother to vote at all. Under MMP, every voter has a party vote that actually helps to elect somebody, every time.
Nobody is "appointed" to the Legislature under MMP. The at-large MPPs are elected by the votes of voters across the province. The province-wide seats will be hotly contested, because there are not enough of them to go around.
It is our current riding MPPs who should be called "appointed party hacks".
For yet more information, go to these sources:
The Citizens' Assembly website: www.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca
Our website: www.VoteforMMP.ca
And above all, READ MY BLOG!: www.VoteforMMP.ca/blog/44
Any questions? I would love to discuss this with you.
Wayne Smith
416-407-7009
Wayne.Smith@FairVote.Ca
Garry, how much am I paying you to plug my blog?
I'm sure your cheque is in the mail..!
But seriously, it is my pleasure to link to a a good Canadian blog that has featured serious, balanced discussion about MMP, even if our positions differ.
Why We Should Vote “Yes” For MMP
By Jordan Grant
There are really two key questions facing Ontarians in this Wednesday’s referendum: “Do you trust democracy?” and “Should politicians collaborate more and snipe less?” If your answer to both these questions is “yes” then you should vote for MMP.
Under our current “first past the post” system, the outcome of elections is rarely a true reflection of people’s votes. We often have majority governments holding 100% of the power elected by a minority. Most citizens end up with a smaller voice in the legislature than the number of their votes would warrant, and some significant groups, such as Green Party supporters, have no voice at all.
If we believe in democracy, why are we afraid of electing legislators in proportion to the number of votes each party receives?
Some supporters of the status quo say that the party lists could include unqualified “party hacks”. But the lists are to be published in advance - why would any party reduce its attractiveness to the electorate by putting up unqualified or unsavoury people?
There are many accomplished individuals who would make great legislators or cabinet ministers, people with proven leadership talent who the public would welcome on the provincial or national stage. But under our current “first past the post” election system they are not prepared to throw their hat in the ring because they have no aptitude or desire to do the glad handling that it takes to get elected as a local constituency politician.
Under the mixed member proportional representation system, there will be an opportunity for such people to be recognized by the leadership of the various political parties through their inclusion in the party lists. The parties would have every incentive to put on their lists the most respected and qualified talent they can come up with, including more women and representatives of key issue-based (as opposed to geographically-based) constituencies.
The number of such candidates to be elected for each party will be based on its province-wide vote, so that in the end, each party has approximately the same number of legislators as their province-wide popular vote would dictate. Instead of every Member being concerned first and foremost with what’s good for their local constituency, there will be a sizeable contingent whose primary concern will be the bigger picture – what’s good for Ontario society as a whole.
Once elected, under the MMP system, we will almost certainly have minority governments. Defenders of the status quo say such governments won’t be able to take “bold initiatives” or make “hard choices.” These are code words for making unpopular decisions. If a government is unable to get enough other parties on side to command a majority in the legislature on a particular issue, do we really want to empower them to pass such legislation? The end result of the current system is vast policy swings as we pass between majority governments of different persuasions.
I, for one, have enough faith in citizens choosing their elected representatives, to believe that if we put in place a structure requiring political parties representing a majority of the voters to reach a consensus; the result will be decisions that are in the best interest of Ontarians.
Some people who acknowledge the current system needs fixing say to vote “no” because there is a better alternative than MMP. But the MMP system was arrived at after eight months of deliberation by a diverse group of randomly appointed citizens from each riding in the province. The Citizens’ Assembly had the benefit of expert advice, studied electoral systems worldwide and consulted broadly. In the end they voted overwhelmingly to recommend the MMP system.
Our choice on Wednesday is not between MMP and some other unidentified “even better” system. It is between MMP and retaining the status quo, with its adversarial structure and only locally-rooted politicians. For those who believe in democracy and want positive change, voting “yes” for MMP is the obvious choice.
Jordan Grant
Toronto
Work: 416-486-4680 ext. 232
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