42.2% is a Majority Under FPTP

These totals are why MMP supporters can claim that their position has been further justified. With 42.1% of the vote the Liberals will completely control the provincial parliament by themselves. Under MMP they would need NDP or PC support. (Image From CBC.CA)

Claim: Poor Education Campaign led to “Unmitigated Disaster”

The Globe and Mail states that MMP proponents say Ontario’s referendum on electoral reform was an “unmitigated disaster” plagued by voter and media apathy, a poor education campaign, and an impossible threshold for passage.
Dennis Pilon, assistant professor of political science at University of Victoria and author of The Politics of Voting: Reforming Canada’s Electoral System named the referendum as a waste of money because the education campaign focused on how the referendum would work, not what was being considered:

“Selling a voting system is like selling a car. Most of us don’t look up under the hood. We recognize that there are professionals who will take care of that. What we want to know is performance.”

Is this true, or just sour grapes?

MMP Defeated

A Toronto Star article posted at 11:53 PM October 10th reports that MMP has been rejected by nearly a 2-to-1 margin.

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Ontario Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform

Referendum Ontario’s Official Guide

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Green Party describes how it would select list candidates under MMP

Ontario PC Party Rejects MMP

The Toronto Star reports that an email from the Progressive Conservative Party is urging party members to reject MMP. From the article:

In an email sent to “tens of thousands” of supporters, the Tories warn the proposed mixed-member proportional representation system (MMP) would further empower parties’ backroom insiders.
“It is felt that the alternative proposed system known as MMP will increase the influence and power of the political party and its leader while decreasing the independence of MPPs,” the missive states.

VoteForMMP.ca was issued a press release rejecting the claims.

Debates On TV

Roger’s Local Cable is boardcasting the tape of “The Great Referendum Debate: Toronto Edition” organized by The Centre for the Study of Democracy at Queen’s University which was held September 28, 2007 at the MaRS Complex in downtown Toronto. See this post for my coverage of the event.
For MMP were:

• Andrew Coyne – National Post political affairs columnist
• Marilyn Churley – former NDP provincial cabinet minister, nominated NDP for next federal election

Against MMP were:

• Christina Blizzard – Toronto Sun Queen’s Park columnist
• Charles Harnick – former PC provincial cabinet minister

The debate in on Cable 10/63 in Toronto 1:30 -3:30.

CPAC’s Public Record program has an archive of their broadcast video available.

Rogers is also broadcasting the Churchill Society debate between Ed Broadbent, former leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada on the pro-MMP side versus Charles Harnick, former attorney general of Ontario on the pro-FPTP side.

Broadcast times are Sunday at 2:30 AM, 3:30 PM, and Monday at 12:00 AM, 4:30 AM.

Tip: YouTube Videos On MMP and The Referendum

YouTube has a number of videos tagged “MMP” in its “News & Politics” selection including videos of speeches and debates.

Globe and Mail Rejects MMP and Citizens’ Assembly

The Globe and Mail calls the referendum a missed opportunity arguing the timing of the referendum and major flaws in the new model of government being proposed make it impossible to endorse.

The first concern is that by being scheduled together with the provincial election too little attention was paid to the referendum leading to an uninformed public potentially reshaping the entire system of government. Secondly the editorial raises questions with MMP’s allocation of list seats and the selection of the candidates. It suggests raising the minimum percent of the vote to win list seats to 5%, creating a clear-cut nomination system by which parties pick their list nominees and assigning the seats on the basis of the direct proportion to the popular vote, independent of how many ridings each party won.

Finally the editorial urges rejection of MMP and bringing in experts to do the job of designing an alternative to FPTP

All of these are shortcomings that could easily be overcome. Rather than abandon electoral reform altogether if Ontarians correctly reject the current proposal, Ontario’s next government should take a more serious stab at it. Instead of the populist pandering of “citizens’ assemblies,” a smaller panel of experts should be tasked with designing a more workable MMP model. The matter should then be put to voters between elections, ensuring that the referendum receives the attention it deserves.
As for what is currently on the table, sadly, the proportionate response is to reject it.

It’s A Trap!

An article in The Canadian online paper states that the pro-MMP campaign is actually run by big business because there will be more smaller right-wing parties gaining list seats than left-wing ones:

The proposed MMP system will work very well for well organized and financed right wing special interests that support such issues as religious fundamentalist schools, destroying labour laws; anti-immigration/racist groups, and other fascistic groups that “can’t get their way” in the current political environment. Such groups are much more likely to get MMP’s 3% threshold for political representation, than competing progressive groups, i.e. anti-poverty activists. Such currently disenfranchised activist groups have much less money to spend on sophisticated campaigns.

Let’s ignore the conspiracy theory – is it likely that ANY extreme groups – left or right could gain a seat under the list portion of MMP? If so is this worst than the possibility that they could win a local riding?

Note: This posting was updated October 4, 2007 to make the article link better source of useful discussion.

Elections Ontario Criticized For Lack of Public Awareness

The Canadian Press (via Canoe.ca) has an article describing how MMP supporters believe that the government and Elections Ontario are doing a poor job of informing the public about the referendum. They believe holding the referendum as the same time as the provincial election was a mistake as the media coverage of the election drowned out that of the referendum.

Similarly, writing in the National Post, Dennis Pilon, assistant professor in the political science department at the University of Victoria and the author of The Politics of Voting: Reforming Canada’s Electoral System and MMP supporter states that the government and Elections Ontario have bungled educating the public about the referendum and to fix this Ontario broadcasters should televise a debate on between MMP supporters and opponents.