I will vote for the status quo on the electoral reform referendum. Firstly, I, as do many, dislike the idea of having list MPPs that parties can select in an elite manner. MPPs in danger of defeat who are high-profile could simply be added to the top of the list to prevent their defeat. We could also experience the phenomenon whereby MPPs can run both locally and on a list, so that when defeated locally they are still elected on a list. This happens all the time in New Zealand and I don’t agree with it. The second problem is that proportional representation would result in perpetual minority governments. Proponents of proportional representation counter that these minority governments would be stable coalition governments. But I don’t like the idea of the Liberals having to make a semi-permanent coalition with the NDP. As it is, the Ontario NDP is fiercely anti-Liberal in nature. How we could ever make any kind of alliance with them I’m not sure. The NDP never has anything good to say about the Liberals. I don’t see how that could change in the context of minority governments.
As far as the coming election is concerned, based on my experience at the federal level, I fear that a minority Liberal win would be almost as bad as losing outright. Once again, people say the Liberals would need the NDP to stay in power in this situation. But the NDP dislike the Liberals so much I don’t see how any kind of alliance could be formed. I expect that the minority government would be unstable. I can just see now both opposition parties announcing they cannot support the 2008 budget, causing the government to fall in 2008. I foresee a Liberal minority as a disaster. But sometimes I wonder whether the talk of minority government is only being used to sell more newspapers. A 5, 6, or 7 point lead could just as easily translate into a majority government.
The Ontario Liberal Party has nominated all its candidates and exceeded its goal of nominating females in half of ridings not held by the Liberal Party. And overall the party has one third of its candidates women. This is excellent. This includes Helena Jaczek in Oak Ridges—Markham, the riding neighbouring mine.
I am impressed by the candidate running for the Liberals in Hamilton Centre. His name is Steve Ruddick. He is a CH (Hamilton’s local television station) weatherman and is a media personality who is also a news reporter and journalist. The Liberals pulled out of their hat a candidate much stronger than I expected (I feared the Liberal candidate would be much lesser known after Judy Marsales announced she wasn’t going to run again). I wish Steve Ruddick the absolute best of luck.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
The "elitist" argument is one that keeps getting repeated over and over by you No folks, and it is a false one.
Firstly, The exact format for picking list MPP's for ALL the parties hasnt even been discussed by any of them. Other countries that use MMP pick List Members in a democratic manner similar to nomination meetings that we hold for picking the candidates now.
All it takes is for the party members of the respective parties to insist the parties here follow that precedent and do the same thing. If they don't, you can be sure they will face the electoral consequences by a voting public who isn't as dumb as some people think.
If its being hammered in the media and by other parties that a certain party picked their list in an elitist way (and people will see that, because Elections Ontario will require the parties to show nd disclose not only who is on the list and what order they are on, but how they picked those candidates), you can be sure the voters will remember that.
The "trained seals" argument COULD happen, but its more likely it won't.
One of the expected benefits of MMP is a more civil style of politics. The current winner take all system provides no incentives for cooperation. When there is no hope of a phony majority, the parties have to learn to get along. This is what happened when New Zealand switched to MMP a decade ago, although it took one election for some people to figure out the new reality.
The possibility of participating in government will make the NDP less vitriolic. You can't be slagging people this week when you hope to make a deal with them next week. You can't be promising the moon this week when you might have to deliver it next week. The NDP will have to adapt or die.
Wayne Smith
Good post. Didn't know about NZ.
Post a Comment