The Ontario Citizens Assembly on Electoral Reform has recently voted to back the mixed-member plurality system. Sadly voting reform gets little to no media attention.
In one of the few columns on the issue, Ian Urquhart notes,
"While hardly anyone is paying attention, we are well on our way to a radical overhaul of our electoral system – one with a potentially wide range of consequences, foreseeable and unforeseeable, good and bad."
I'm a bit less skeptical than Urquhart, and I believe that the good definitely outweighs the bad. Furthermore, even under First Past the Post, nothing is entirely foreseeable. That being said, while I support MMP, I'd much rather see a Single Transferable Vote (+) system put into place. But then again, anything is better than the current system.
However, the ultra-undemocratic super majority imposed by the governing Liberals will be a major hurdle to jump. Good thing the government has poured so much money into educating voters on electoral reform....oh wait....never mind that last point, they haven't.
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I emailed Urquhart noting that Ireland has had fewer governments since 1987 with its "oddball" system than Canada has had with "FPTP" and that maybe he should reconsider his use of the term referring to a stable EU/OECD country which has used STV for 86 years - his reply was to suggest the term "whacko" instead.
My subscription dollars well spent :(
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