- I'm happy to see the Toronto city council showing some backbone. I didn't think they'd have the guts to stare down the Mayor. Okay, they only delayed the vote and it still could pass in October, but clearly, this is not the result Miller was looking for.
- Let me join the chorus, John McCain's campaign is dead. The horribly contorted straight-talker will have to content himself with the Senate.
- In a related story, I have no clue who is going to be President. At this point I feel like I'm taking a multiple choice test and the answer is none of the above.
- Why is Harper signing trade deals with the government of Colombia? I don't know who's right in the three-way Colombian civil war but I can't believe funding one of the sides with Canadian investment is going to make it go away. Also, how safe is the Colombian market for Canadian investors? Wasn't a Canadian just kidnapped there? Who's next on Harper's list, Iraq? How about Somalia?
- Conrad Black is guilty. No surprise really, that video is pretty convincing. Let the arrogant S.O.B. rot. All rise for the Lord of Levenworth!
- A few months ago I said Alberta and Quebec were ready for seismic political shifts. I like my predictions.
- Elections Ontario is in the hiring process for someone to run their education campaign for the referendum. This better be one hell of a blitz because this MMP thing is not all that simple.
- I want to break party allegiance and put my weight behind Bill Davis for greatest Premier in Calgary Grit's contest. The man governed Ontario with a steady hand. He played a large part in getting the Constitution repatriated. He went toe to toe with the Catholic Church on Catholic schools. He may be a Tory, but he was a great premier.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Disorganized Thoughts
I don't really have one idea for a post today so here's a bunch of political thoughts on my mind.
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9 comments:
What's so complicated about MMP? One ballot, two votes. Pick your preferred local candidate and your favorite party. The overall results in the legislature will reflect how we voted.
Seems simple to me!
Off the subject a bit, but the name of that country is COLOMBIA
Thanks for catching the typo
Maybe Harper traded them a "u" for their extra "o".
I agree with Mark Greenan. Voting under MMP is simple: One tick for the person you prefer and one tick for the party you prefer. Drop the ballot in the box. Done. Plus you know that your party vote will actually elect people for your favoured party even if your local vote (as is too often the case now) is wasted on someone who didn't win.
It's a simple act with very complex consequences.
One's party vote is unlikely to help elect anyone in the case of the leading party in the riding elections, or in the case of very small parties, so even by your standard, it would not be uncommon for 40-50% of party votes cast to be "wasted".
"One's party vote is unlikely to help elect anyone in the case of the leading party in the riding elections"?
You need to substantiate that. Transposing the votes cast into the Citizens' model, even the NDP in 1990 -- the majority government with the lowest % of support in our history -- would have gotten one list seat. More often the leading party would have gotten, since 1985, 7 or 8 list seats.
Wilf, Andy's going to have problems substantiating that beacuse ... well, because it's completely unsubstantiated!
Yes, it is POSSIBLE for a party vote to be "wasted" if party wins more local seats than they would deserve based on their party vote, but as you note it is VERY UNLIKELY considering that even with the most distorted majority government ever (the Rae Government), they still would have won a list seat.
Of course, I would argue that even in the rare case where a party wins more local seats than they would deserve based on their party vote, it does a great disservice to the English language to describe any of those party votes as wasted. After all, said party will HAVE WON A HIGHER PROPORTION OF SEATS THAN ONTARIANS VOTES - their party votes are actually counting for MORE than other party's votes!
My reply is on my own blog, lest I clog up aginsberg's.
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