Newsstand: October 2, 2015

This fine Friday morning, read about City Council reversing a stance on a democracy-forward position, an inmate from Hamilton jail, and increased funding for IVF.

By Tannara Yelland • Illustration by Matthew Daley

Last night, City Council reversed an earlier vote to ask the province to allow ranked ballots in municipal elections. The vote, which passed 25-18, was decried by several councillors who see the about-face as a slap in the face to advocates who spent years working on support for electoral reform. First-term Councillor Justin Di Ciano (Ward 5, Etobicoke Lakeshore) introduced the motion and has called ranked balloting “confusing.” If it is implemented, ranked balloting will allow voters to rank their preferred candidates, typically their top three; if no one candidate wins a majority of top-ranked votes (50 per cent plus one), the candidates with the least votes are discarded from the running and voting continues in run-offs until a majority winner is reached. It is one of many forms of voting that political scientists consider more democratic than the current form of voting, known as “first past the post.”

Two inmates from the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre were taken to hospital this morning, one of them having been found without vital signs. That inmate has since been pronounced dead, while the second patient is alive and in stable condition. This is at least the fifth inmate death since 2012, and the province has launched an inquest. Police said neither murder nor suicide were the causes, and that drugs or “misadventure” may have played a role.

The Ontario government has committed to increasing funding for in-vitro fertilization by $50 million annually, in addition to the $20 million already being spent. That funding will now cover one cycle of IVF for “eligible women up to the age of 42,” according to the CBC.