Council of Canadians chapter activists have been joining with local Fair Vote Canada activists to meet with recently-elected Members of Parliament on proportional representation.
Fair Vote Canada has put out the call for people to meet with their MP between Jan. 2 and Jan. 25. They note, “Thanks to the hard work of all of you, our new government has promised to make 2015 the last first-past-the-post election. The Liberals campaigned on a promise to set up an all-party committee to study and consult Canadians about ranked ballots, proportional representation, mandatory voting and online voting, and to introduce legislation for electoral reform 15 months from now. Our window of opportunity to influence our MPs is now! …Please sign up to visit your MP and help us win votes that count now!”
The Council of Canadians Guelph chapter met with Guelph Liberal MP Wayne Longfield on Dec. 15 to discuss a wide range of issues including electoral reform.
A Council of Canadians Nelson chapter activist met with Kootenay-Columbia NDP MP Wayne Stetski on Jan. 11 and presented him with a Fair Vote Canada petition signed by more than 600 people. A Hamilton chapter activist will be meeting with Oakville-North Burlington Liberal MP Pam Damoff this Friday Jan. 22 in a meeting arranged by Fair Vote Canada. A Council of Canadians activist in Mission and local Fair Vote Canada activists will also be meeting their MP on this issue on Jan. 22. And a Duncan chapter activist will be joining local Fair Vote Canada activists to meet with their NDP MP on electoral reform and proportional representation on Feb. 9.
In addition, a Council of Canadians Penticton chapter activist and Fair Vote activists met with Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola Conservative MP Dan Albas on this issue and are now seeking a meeting with Kelowna-Lake Country Liberal MP Stephen Fuhr. The Council of Canadians Peel chapter is hoping to meet with their local MPs before the end of January or in early February. And a member of our London chapter and a local representative of Fair Vote Canada will be meeting with London West Liberal MP Kate Young in February.
The Council of Canadians has long supported proportional representation. We believe it ensures a fairer representation of votes cast, and prevents a governing party from holding total power after earning only a small percentage of the popular vote, which is the case now with the first-past-the-post system.
Given the deadline Prime Minister Trudeau set for himself, we can expect to see his electoral reform legislation by May 2017.
Further reading
Council of Canadians calls on Trudeau to implement proportional representation (Nov. 1, 2015)
Ranked ballots would have given the Liberals 224 seats this past election (Nov. 27, 2015)
Real change to the electoral system means proportional representation (Dec. 2, 2015)
