You've probably heard by now that Ontarians will be asked to cast a second ballot on election day. That is, unless you're among the 47% of Ontarians who, according to a recent poll, are completely unaware of the upcoming referendum question on whether to replace the existing first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system with a proposed mixed-member proportional (MMP) system. Whether this is the first you've heard about it—which seems unlikely since Torontoist has mentioned it numerous times—or you've been doggedly campaigning on the issue for months, here's an event that'll pique your interest.
This Friday evening, the Queen's University Centre for the Study of Democracy is assembling a panel of media pundits and former politicians to square off in a referendum debate. In one corner, National Post columnist Andrew Coyne and former provincial cabinet minister and federal NDP MP Marilyn Churley will argue in favour of adopting the proposed MMP electoral system. In the other corner, Toronto Sun columnist Christina Blizzard and former Conservative cabinet minister Charles Harnick will champion the existing FPTP system.
Hosted by Thomas Axworthy, the evening will also feature introductory remarks from George Thomson, Chair of the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, which first proposed the MMP reforms last spring.
The debate offers the perfect chance for you to learn more about the MMP alternative (its finer points are also explained elsewhere) and hear the arguments for and against it in a lively public forum. It kicks off this Friday (September 28) at 7 p.m. in the Lower Hall of the MaRS Complex (101 College Street). The room holds 200 people, but seating will be on a first-come-first-served basis.
If you can't make it Friday, but still want more information before casting your referendum vote, check out tonight's episode of The Agenda on TVO at 8 p.m. After discussing the referendum options with guests, Steve Paikin will host an online chat with viewers.
Photo by David Sherret from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.
add to digg
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
add to facebook
add to del.icio.us
Boy, I already liked Mixed-Member Proportional, but it must be really good if so many Sun columnists are against it.
It has a terrible abbreviation, though. "MMP?" It looks like a typo for "MPP," especially during a provincial election. The French abbreviation, on the other hand, is great: "RPM." Who wouldn't vote for more RPM? They should've come up with an English name that matched those letters — "Representatively Proportional Membership," or something. Or just called it "The Good One," so that it'd be obvious that it's the one you should vote for.
"Toronto Sun columnist Christina Blizzard, and former Conservative cabinet minister Charles Harnick will champion the existing FPTP system."
Jeez, I hope so. So far all the "No MMP" folks have done is, well, attack MMP. There is currently no campaign advocating for the current system, only people trying to spread fear about the recommended change. When I challenged them on it, they responded that that's because the "No MMP" team can't actually agree that they like the current system--some of them are even opposing MMP because they don't think it goes far enough.
Problem is, we've only got two choices, so holding out for third and fourth options doesn't help. The real question is "which system should we use?" The old one that doesn't take into account modern political realities, or the new one that was designed by Ontarians, for Ontario? No system is perfect, and every system has flaws. What the Citizens' Assembly concluded, however, was that MMP is a marked improvement over what we have now.
It's not that marked an improvement. Either way there's over a hundred leeches still drawing pay from my wallet.
If the Citizens' Assembly concluded it's better, well...no need to even think for myself...
Chris - It sure would be cheaper if there was just one person in charge. Elections are expensive too, so we should try cutting back on them as well.
http://yourbigdecision.ca/en_CA/Media.aspx
interactive explanation
If you missed The Agenda on electoral reform and want to watch it:
Streaming video of the the entire show and post show chat is now available.
Or you can get the video and audio podcast of the show.
These links are good for ten days.