There are two different issues to be decided on this referendum. The first is whether the system should be changed. The second is what to change the system to. These are two very different types of questions, and the amount and the kind of trust you should apply to what you hear on each question…
Tag: canpoli
Politics
Q & A on the Referendum
by renaissanceadmin • • 0 Comments
I had an interesting political discussion last weekend. It was a scene from a Joseph Conrad novel. Three old friends and a stranger sitting in the gathering gloom, sipping cool drinks against the summer’s heat, listening to the narrator spin his tale. My audience divided perfectly: one FPTP diehard, one Pro-Rep supporter and one new…
Politics
Let’s Play “What If?” With the Referendum
by renaissanceadmin • • 0 Comments
In order to win a hockey game, you only have to score one more goal than the opponent does. There’s nothing wrong with that in a hockey game. The game is intended to show which team is stronger, and that’s it. But is democracy a contest to prove who’s stronger? I hope not. And…
Politics
It’s Too Complicated!
by renaissanceadmin • • 1 Comment
This is one of the most common complaints about the referendum on Proportional Representation. It’s to be expected. However, it is important to note from whom those comments are coming. Are they coming from voters? Yes. And that’s fair; it’s a complicated question. If a voter finds a political concept too complicated, then it’s up…
Politics
FPTP: A More Civil War
by renaissanceadmin • • 1 Comment
Here’s a little fable for you. A powerful man was unhappy with the rulers of his country and decided he wanted power for himself. So he gathered together all his supporters and formed them into a tightly knit organization. He fired them up with traditions, objectives, slogans, propaganda and a set of ideals opposed to…
Politics
Simplicity and Democracy: Worlds Apart
by renaissanceadmin • • 0 Comments
Doesn’t it drive you nuts when you get to an airport security gate or a border and find out that the rules have been changed? Again! No, it’s not a mistake or bad bureaucracy. The people who spend their lives dealing with lawbreakers have learned that keeping laws the same gives criminals time to find…
Politics
FPTP: Stacking the Deck on Electoral Reform
by renaissanceadmin • • 1 Comment
There are many talented and experienced people in all shades of the political spectrum, but you can’t help but suspect that the ones who have gained and kept power all these years will top the heap. For voters, this ability is a double-edged sword. While we are supposed to be trusting these people’s ability…
Politics
PR & FPTP: Let’s Talk Accountability
by renaissanceadmin • • 1 Comment
Read The Propaganda Carefully In the Vancouver Sun article on Monday, the FPTP bloc made a great deal of hay about the fact that, with Proportional Representation, an “overwhelming number of representatives…were appointed by their political parties…They were not elected by geographical ridings where they are accountable to voters.” This is clever writing, because…
Social Commentary
Minimum Wage Raise; What’s it Good For?
by renaissanceadmin • • 0 Comments
The At Issue panel on CBC this week discussed minimum wage, and the conversation was striking because of the lack of information this usually erudite panel came up with. It just goes to show that when it comes to economic theory, nobody really knows the effects of upping the minimum wage. Andrew Coyne, whose opinion…
Social Commentary
A is for Arrogance
by renaissanceadmin • • 0 Comments
Once again the news is full of the story of a politician who thinks the rules don’t apply to him. Literally. Every politician elected to Parliament is expected to put his business in a blind trust, in at least an attempt to keep conflict of interest to a minimum. But not Bill Morneau, who…