Screwed Up System Almost Screws Ontarians

Well we seem to have dodged a bullet, but just barely. The first past the post system did its usual magic and almost produced a majority of seats with less than 38% of the vote. In fact, thanks to the magic of splits, the Liberals with 2% more of the popular vote than the Conservatives go 14 more seats. It is criminal. Add to this, the fact that voter turnout was a pathetic 47.6% and you have to ask yourself whether the whole exercise was even legitimate.

The fact is, this is just another in a long line of phony exercises in kabuki democracy, where the voters know that their votes will be wasted if they back a party other than the two biggest ones and so gave the exercise a pass. It is long past time when we realize that our system of voting is suited to a bygone era of binary politics. We need electoral reform.

Dalton McGuinty is now faced with a minority situation. He has already signaled that he is going to do a Harper and rule like he has a majority and dare the opposition to bring him down. This is unwise for two reasons. First, if he was serious about the need for stability for the province during an economic crisis, he would make a deal with one of the other parties to provide this stability. Second, unlike Harper, McGuinty was just slapped by the voters. It is clear that patience with McGuinty is quite limited and if he pushes the voters, he will not like the answer he receives from them.

My fear is that instead of having a government of give and take and compromise, Ontario will be faced by years of phony confrontations, proroguing and threats of elections. This is the main "feature" of first past the post politics, where a shift of 2% of popular vote yields massive majorities. It is a feature our democracy can no longer afford.

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Show Me The Seats

For me there is only one question, is Ontario being treated the same way as Alberta and B.C.? If they all get the number of seats they are due, because of population growth, good. If Ontario is declared "special" (read as "Let's screw Ontario") and gets fewer seats than is its due, I will be pissed, as will the vast majority in this province. Stephen Fletcher take note.

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If I Was Dalton McGuinty (Or Jack Layton)

I would invite all of the Harper Ontario cabinet ministers to stand up for fair representation for Ontario, just as James Moore has done for B.C. I am sure Baird, Clement and Flaherty et al., would knock each other over, rushing to the microphone.

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Howard Hampton Or Howard Beale?

For the record, Howard Hampton is right. The big parties are arguing about nothing and meanwhile Ontario is going to hell.

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Not Enough MP's Says Dalton

I am glad the McGuinty government is on record saying that Ontario needs roughly 123 MP's in the House of Commons (which is still low, I reckon). That is pretty darn close to the 129 recommended for the Ontario legislature, by the Citizen's Assembly. Let us not hear the phrase "too many politicians" passing from the lips of Liberals in the coming months, neh?

Update: While we are at it, let's all file this away for later too. If the Star thinks all votes should be treated equally, why do they stand so squarely against electoral reform in Ontario?

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Ontario Screwed Again

I should have know it was too good to be true. I actually thought for a moment that this government was actually doing something for Ontario. Of course that was naive. This government's only concern is to contain Ontario and minimize its influence in confederation. This so-called representation by population reform is a sham, like everything else this government does.

The legislation is written in such a way that Quebec's ratio of voters to MPs becomes the benchmark. But any provinces larger than Quebec – Ontario is the only one – would not enjoy the full benefits. According to his government's numbers, in 2021 Ontario's share of the national population will hit 40.4 per cent while its share of seats will be 35.6 per cent, an under-representation of 4.8 per cent. The Ontario under-representation in 2011 is projected at 4.3 per cent. By contrast, the under-representation of B.C. and Alberta will disappear between those years.

The legislation is specifically designed to screw Ontario. It isn't about making the system fairer for Ontario, but to give other parts of the country their share of seats in the House due to them. That's fine and good, but to do that while still screwing Ontario is not going to win any points from the voters of Ontario. For the government to give all parts of this country representation by population except Ontario, is just one more insult to democracy and the people of this province, by a party that doesn't understand us and has no interest in giving us our fair say in the workings of the nation.

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