Was Phyllis Perogie Behind All This?

Doesn't this erode Saskatchewan values?

It always bothers me when I have to read about how utterly stupid the Harper Saskatchewan team sounds when confronted with a problem, in newspapers from Eastern Canada rather that in our own Leader Post. Mind you, the Post Media products these days are mostly wire copy anyway, mixed up with a bit of Brad Wall boosterism and a few, what we, back in my television days, used to call , bobbing for apples stories, mindless drivel about one community event of another.

The Globe & Mail's Tabatha Southey tells us that when asked about the latest robocall scandal the Conservatives find themselves neck deep in, backbencher Brad Trost from Saskatoon said "I don't think there was anything wrong with the robocall. I think it was good and accurate information and we should stand behind it."

Then he stuck the other foot in saying..."I didn't hear it. I don't know the script. I don't know anything...One of my colleagues had it at her residence and her husband got it and he said it was fine. I'll take his word for it."

Now poor Brad was just trying, unsuccessfully to support the Prime minister who is quite confused about the matter. Harper claims "hundreds and hundreds" of people opposed proposed changes to the Saskatchewan electoral boundaries. In fact the Saskatchewan Boundaries Commission received a couple of hundred written submissions about the changes, many of which of which were negative. They also received about 3,000 emails, postcards and petitions they say were "Clearly ..inspired by the encouragement of members of Parliament opposed to the abolition of rural-urban hybrid districts."

Gerry, the Ritz Cracker also waded in to the debate claiming that "Three-quarters of the people of Saskatchewan are upset with the way the maps are drawn."

That would be about 750,000 people which seems very unlikely. My straw poll tells me that 100% of the people questions support the changes. Of course my estimate is probable about as accurate as Gerry's.

At least this time the Conservatives admitted they did it and didn't try to pin it all on Phyllis Perogie or some one like her.

Fair Vote Canada Says, Canadians Cheated Again

Fair Vote Canada, Canada’s national citizens’ movement for voting reform released analysis of Tuesday’s federal election results showing that the outcome does not accurately reflect the way Canadians voted.

“The Conservative party increased their vote percentage by less than two points,” says Fair Vote Canada (FVC) President Bronwen Bruch, “but this allowed them to win 24 more seats than in 2008, when they were already over-represented. Stephen Harper calls this a ‘decisive endorsement’, but we call it a rip-off.”

At the time of writing, these were the actual seats won and leading for each party:

CON 167, NDP 102, LIB 34, BQ 4, GREEN 1

If the seats were won in proportion to the votes that were cast, the numbers would look like this:

CON 122, NDP 95, LIB 59, BQ 19, GREEN 13

According to these results, the Conservatives have won 54.22% of the seats with only 39.62% of the votes, one of the least legitimate majorities in Canadian history.

“This is a classic phony majority,” said Bruch, “and leaves us with a government that is completely unaccountable to Parliament. As long as they maintain rigid party discipline, nothing bad can happen to them for four years.”

The FVC analysis shows that the NDP, historically under-represented by Canada’s winner-take-all voting system, is now over-represented by seven seats, thanks to the “orange wave” that vaulted them into second place.

The Liberal Party, on the other hand, traditionally over-represented to the degree that they were regarded as Canada’s “natural governing party”, is now the chief victim of the voting system. While their vote percentage fell by less than 8%, they lost more than half their seats.

The Bloc Québècois, which has always previously been over-represented because their votes are concentrated in one region, has been decimated. Although their vote percentage has collapsed, they should still be entitled to 19 seats, but they are winning or leading in only four seats.

The Green Party is ecstatic to have finally won a single seat, but they actually received enough votes across the country to win 13 seats.

“Across the country,” added Fair Vote Canada Executive Director Wayne Smith, “vote splits between the Liberals and NDP allowed the Conservatives to steal seats. Once again, our antiquated voting system has given us the wrong government, a government that most of us voted against.

“It is truly time to change our voting system. If we want politics to be different, we need a vote that makes a difference.”

Canadian Democracy at the Crossroads

The following is fact sheet prepared by writer and activist Helen Forsey. I thought I'd share it

Canadians are privileged to live in a democracy. Our parliamentary system has evolved over centuries, and our political parties reflect the diversity and freedom of thought we enjoy as citizens.

One result of this freedom and diversity is that in some elections, no one party wins a majority of seats in the House of Commons. This means that whichever party forms the government has to co-operate with others in order to get laws passed and stay in power. This is called “minority government”, and it can work very well. All it takes is honesty, respect, and a willingness to co-operate across differences.

However, the present government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper has thumbed its nose at our elected Parliament and made “minority” a dirty word. Harper’s Conservatives have misled the House of Commons, kept vital information secret, fired public safety watchdogs, systematically sabotaged parliamentary committees, and twice shut down Parliament itself rather than face criticism.

This election really is about our democracy. Canadians have a right to expect fairness, honesty and respect from our system of government. Instead, the Harper regime has given us five years of injustice, corruption and contempt.

Harper uses a stack of fairy tales about our parliamentary system to trick people into thinking they have to vote Conservative in order to avoid disaster. In reality, his threats about the opposition “seizing power” or forcing a fresh election are shameless scare tactics based on lies.

Lie #1: Coalitions are evil and illegitimate.

Not true. Coalitions are totally constitutional, and can be the most sensible way to govern co-operatively and respect the will of a majority of voters.

Lie #2: Canadians elect the prime minister.

Not true. We elect some 300 Members of Parliament to the House of Commons.

Lie #3: The party that wins the most seats necessarily forms the government.

Not true. The governing party must win – and keep – the confidence of our elected MPs through confidence votes in the House.

Lie #4: Defeating a government on a confidence motion forces a fresh election.

Not necessarily. If a recently elected House votes to defeat a government, the Governor General calls on the leader of the opposition to form a government and seek the confidence of the House.

Lie #5: It is an illegitimate “seizure of power” if the opposition accepts the Governor General’s invitation to replace a government that has lost the confidence of the House.

Not true. In fact, the opposition has what amounts to a constitutional duty to try to form a viable government with the recently elected Parliament, with no need for a repeat election.

As Prime Minister, Stephen Harper has treated our elected Parliament like an annoying irrelevancy. His government has behaved so outrageously that it has finally been formally found “in contempt of Parliament”. Now he wants to win a Conservative majority so he can do even more damage.

People all over the world are risking their lives to achieve democracy. Let’s not allow the Harper Conservatives to destroy ours from the inside.