Time to Bring in Electoral Reform

Hi there from the Speaker's chair

As one of the sixty percenters, those people who didn’t vote for the blue meanies, I couldn’t help to notice that while the big parties have been quick to defend our undemocratic first past the post electoral system when it comes to General Elections, they recognize how flawed the system is when the time comes to elect the Speaker of the House.

It took six ballots before Andrew Scheer got the keys to that lovely old residence in the Gatineau’s. If the House of Commons used the system, which they think is good enough for the rest of us; the Speaker would most likely be a New Democrat.

It is well past time for this country to talk about serious electoral reform and to join the majority of world democracies in embracing proportional representation.

This Time I'm Working the Election

I have often worked on Election Day, driving people to polls or working as a candidate's representative or a scrutineer if you like.

This time I thought I'd give something else a try. Several weeks ago I applied on-line to Elections Canada saying I'd like to work for them. They hired me, I have been trained and Monday, will spend the whole day working as a poll clerk.

It should be fun working the election in a totally non partisan way for a change. It is all about process, enabling people to exercise their rights and making sure everything is run according to Hoyle.

None the less, even if I am out of partisan action for the day, I am still a political junkie so, as soon as those ballots are counted and the seals in place I will be racing home to eagerly watch the rest of the results come in.

Mintzberg on the Globe's Pick

I came across this piece on the Catch 22 Harper Conservatives site by Henry Mintzberg commenting on the Globe & Mail's endorsement of the Harper Reformer Conservatives. I thought I should share it.

Voting for the Canada that Can Be

by Henry Mintzberg

Photo credit Owen Egan

That the Globe and Mail came out endorsing the Conservatives is hardly a surprise. Conventionally speaking, what else could its editors do? Endorsing the Liberals at this juncture would have seemed silly, and endorsing the NDP would hardly have endeared them to their owners, advertisers, and associates on Bay Street and in the corporations.

But beyond the conventional, the Globe did have options, just as do we, as voters on Monday―beyond what we might think. Let me get back to these in conclusion.

Stepping back and looking at the Harper Conservatives, as does the editorial in places, it is difficult to justify this endorsement—hardly a call to decency and in some sense even democracy. As I wrote in a commentary at the start of the campaign on the Globe website, a move to the extreme right, as in Thatcher’s Britain and Bush’s America, could very well happen here under a Conservative majority, and the Globe had no business ignoring that.

National? To me, the most striking point in the editorial is the reference to the Conservatives as “arguably the only truly national party.” Have the Globe editors been reading the Globe? By this point in the campaign, the NDP was clearly showing itself as the only party with significant support across the country. Look at the polls and you have to ask if the Globe editors think that Quebec has already left the country.

With Harper’s grip on the party, this is not even a Conservative Party. It is the Reform Party in all its dogmatic colors. What Canada needs desperately is a truly national, and decent, Conservative Party. Maybe, from Tuesday, we will get one.

Leadership? Why the surge―this sudden popularity of the NDP? That’s easy. Many Canadians have been concerned about country and integrity, and Jack Layton is the one leader who has come through as a trustable and regular sort of guy. Once the NDP gained some legitimacy―ironically, starting in Quebec, actually with an earlier election win in Outremont, the seat of the Francophone establishment―many people recognized it as an acceptable option, and moved to it. In football terms, you might say that Harper took out Ignatieff and Layton came up the middle (even if he was playing for another team!).

The Economic? The Social? That’s about leadership. Is there more to the election? I hope so. If I listen to Stephen Harper now, it’s all about issues, all of which happen to be economic. Do we Canadians live by economics alone? Reading the Globe editorial, you might think so. I don’t. Do you?

I agree with one point that Harper is making of late, that we are offered a clear choice. But not as he depicts it.

The finale of this election looks like a pitting of the economic against the social. That’s how campaigns sound, but they are a far cry from governing, where reality has to be faced. I can’t imagine anyone who doesn’t want some sort of balance in his or her life between the economic and the social.

So who can give us that balance in government? Jack Layton is an unknown quantity; Stephen Harper is not. He tilts excessively to the economic, and especially to the large corporations that his dogma tells him drive the economy. Layton is obviously sensitive to the social. The question is: will he undermine the economic, as Harper undermines the social?

I think not, for two reasons. First he is promoting small businesses, which evidence has shown can be more important to economic growth than the large ones. And second, Layton would hardly be able to govern alone. He would have the good old Liberals (the Martin-like ones) to keep him straight.

Options So what are the options, for the Globe last Thursday and for us on Monday? The Globe had all kinds of unconventional choices, suitable for this unconventional election. It could have endorsed no-one. It could have endorsed a coalition. It could have endorsed strategic voting (described below).

And what are the options for the rest of us? On Monday, you can vote leader, party, candidate, issues, or country.

Leadership, as I mentioned, is an unknown quantity, or in the case of Harper’s autocratic nature, known too well. So ignore leadership.

Parties are supposed to be about ideas, but especially during election campaigns, we get this dumbing down from all of them, with discussion of serious issues reduced to trivia, name-calling, ads that insult us as voters, promises in the form of bribes with our own money, and so on. Moreover, alongside their many decent candidates, some of whom have had no choice but to affiliate with one party or another to get elected, the sad fact is that each party also runs its share of political hacks, who cheapen and sometimes corrupt politics. So let’s leave party aside too and take a better look at candidates.

Find the candidate in your riding with the greatest integrity and strike a blow for greater decency in politics. Or else do that by voting strategically, for the candidate most likely to knock off the one from the party you feel has been most indecent, and would be most dangerous in power.

Issues certainly matter, not just single issues, but the whole mix of them. The Conservatives offer us a tough country that stands its ground on tough issues (guns, jets, lower taxes, less crime, etc.), while the NDP offers us a tolerant country that expresses itself in more socially progressive ways (public health care and broadcasting, climate and personal protections, etc.). That’s a choice.

On Monday, I personally will vote for country: for the Canada that can be. I will vote for a return to tolerance and decency, balancing the social with the economic. Canada can once again be a beacon to a world going rapidly out of balance on the side of privilege and greed. Henry Mintzberg (www.mintzberg.org), O.C., ONQ, is co-editing a collection of essays entitled “Canadians on Balance”.

I Have Never Voted for a Winning Candidate

OK Canada. Are you ready to vote.

I already have since I will be working at a poll during the election.

For an election the pundits claimed would be a yawnfest it sure hasn't turned out that way. This election is anyone's guess.

I don't want to jinx my candidate but, I was talking with friends the other day and it occurred to me that I don't think that I have ever, in a Federal Election, voted for a candidate who actually won his/her seat. Not withstanding that, I never miss a chance to vote.

Hold on to your hats. This might be a first for me.

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.

Prime Minister Layton a Remote but Interesting Possibility

Whoever said this election was going to be a sleeper. Not me for sure.  Anything can happen at this point although it does look like the Liberals are tanking. Just goes to show you, a little honesty can sink a campaign faster that a scud missile.

Could the NDP become the official opposition? What for many was unthinkable, is now within reach but I am not sure it is the cause for celebration I once thought it would be. We just keep splitting the vote allowing Harper to stroll up the middle. I am not sure what that gets us.

I am probably one of the few Canadians with a Coalition Yes sign is the window. I think we need to try the alternative. What we have had over the last few years just isn't working.

Historically minority governments govern in a cooperative fashion. Minorities have given Canadians some of our best legislation over the years. What we have seen recently is just the opposite. The Harper "my way or the highway" bully boy politics  should not work in a minority but both the Liberals and the NDP have for the most part been too weak, or lacking in self confidence to challenge the status quo.  

So, I have my fingers crossed. It looks like Harper will win again supported by less than a majority of Canadians all thanks to our broken electoral system. Faced with that probibility, the best outcome would be a weak Conservative win, a defeat of their first budget and a coalition government. Jack Layton as Prime Minister? Doubtful but not out of the question.

If Harper gets a majority what does that leave us with. A country more divided, more polarized, more bitter than ever before.

Get out and vote Canada.

How is your Election Going?

NDP Candidate Brian Sklar

I have to say, in a lot of ways, it has been a pretty weird election so far. I am not one of those who thinks that the election is unnecessary. I think this election call was crucial. We really had to find a way to wrench our country from the grasp of the right wingers. But so far, it isn't working out the way it should.

This antiquated first past the post system we have sets us up for some weird situations. There are a great many ridings in Canada where the incumbent was elected with the majority of voters casting their ballots for someone else. In my riding for example the incumbent MP is Tom Lukiwski. Tom is invisible in the city of the Regina, is known as an obstructionist in Ottawa and has a pretty good shot at winning because of the Tory blue rural voters. He is in a bit of trouble as a result of his refusal to speak out about the failed BHP potash bid and his lack of support for the attempt to secure Federal funding for a much needed new stadium. In case you missed it Tom,  the Roughriders are a big deal here.

He and the other 13 Conservative MPs here in Saskatchewan have earned a reputation of saying nothing unless the issue has been vetted, then scripted by the PMO.

My reading of the situation is that, considering the riding history, if any party can do it, the NDP would have to best shot to knock him off.

Given that, the NDP, in its wisdom, is running a Provincial NDP party worker and country singer in an attempt to unseat Tom. All credit to Brian Sklar for his commitment and I hear he has a pretty good band but, couldn't the New Democrats find someone with just a bit more depth?  All that being said, I expect Sklar's and the Tex Pistols, have in pretty good following out where those crucial country polls are located.

Then there are the Liberals. Monica Lysack is the spoiler. She has good credentials but  hasn't a hope of winning. The role she'll will play will be in splitting the anti Harper vote and Tom will come up the middle.

When it is all said and done the NDP and the Liberals will point fingers and blame each other for the result.

I have lived in the riding for going on 14 years. No Federal candidate or candidates representative has ever come to my door and if there are all candidate's sessions, they are a secret.

I hope you election is going better than mine.

Where is all this Going?

I was reading the polls again. Big mistake. Polls will drive us crazy and I am not sure if anything really meaningful can be learned from them.

The overnight Nanos poll would tell us that the Conservatives are up in the polls but their methodology is a bit wonky. The question asked is not who would you vote for but, "For those parties you would consider voting for federally, could you please rank your top two current local preferences?" I don't know what that really tells us except that outside of Quebec no one is voting Bloc.  On second thought I guess it doesn't even tell us that. In any case that poll, shows the Tories gaining ground.

However, if the question asked is Which of the federal leaders would you best describe as:    

1. The most trustworthy  
2. The most competent  
3. Has the best vision for Canada's future

Things come out quite differently. Harper has dropped considerably over the last few days.

The other thing I found interesting is that when it comes to issues, is that none of the leaders are talking much about is Health Care. That issue is at the head of the pack with The Economy running second.  

While  27% of Canadians apparently say the economy is the most important issue 30% of us say they see the economy growing stronger in the next year. So, Canadians care about it but are confidant it is ok. 

Harper seems to wants us to focus on his economic record and to worry about what might happen if he isn't re-elected. I can't figure out why. His record  isn't particularly good.

Harper plays an old game. In political science there is probably a name for it. It works like this. Even if it isn't true,  keep saying it is. Say it often and with confidence. Do that often enough, people begin to believe it. 

Even the media seem to buy in which, to me at least, is curious considering Harper's economic record lags far behind that of Paul Martin and Brian Mulroney.

The media refer to his economic credentials but in truth, Stephen Harper doesn't have the qualifications to teach economics in a community college. The Canadian economy weathered the economic down turn better than most in the G20 more as a result of banking regulations put in place by Liberal governments that my Conservative economic policy.

So we struggle along through an election campaign that already seems too long arguing about the economy, the tough on crime agenda, attack ads, fighter jets, the ignored veterans and corporate tax cuts. 

Did we need this election? Yes we did. Will it accomplish much? I wonder.

If anything this election will highlight to Canadians just how broken our democracy is. What we really need to to replace all the leaders except perhaps Gilles Duceppe. We then need to have a serious talk about a vision for Canada. We need to have a frank discussion about how to fix our broken electoral system. It is time to drag those old tired politicos into the 21st century. 

Democracy is in Trouble

Get out and vote.

 One Election after another the number of Canadians who exercise their right to vote drops further and further. Not that you can blame them but, people it seems are becoming more and more disengaged from the process, fed up with the feeling that their vote doesn’t count.

Interestingly what seems to be missing from the discussion about why people don’t vote is input from the politicians. During the Leadership debate, Jack Layton was the only participant to even mention proportional representation; even then it was just for one fleeting moment. For the other three, it was as if Jack never even said the words.

During an election campaign you might think the leaders of the political parties would be crying from the roof tops “Vote. Vote. Vote”

Or, at the very least you would think, considering Canada’s dismal participation rate, Elections Canada should be engaged in a significant campaign to get people out to the polls.

The silence is deafening.

I don’t think Stephen Harper actually wants new voters added to the mix. He is hoping his tired old demographic gets off their couches and votes but, the hell with everyone else. Every party is trying to poach a few votes here and a few votes there. Harper wants the “ethnic vote”, The Liberals want the NDP vote. The NDP want the Liberals, and the Greens want a bit from everyone.

A majority of Canadians don’t want the Harper Conservatives but we might get stuck with him again. That government, despite Harper tells you, never represented a majority of Canadians and never will. Let’s be honest here. Neither will the Liberals.

When voters believe their votes won’t make any difference, or don't even count, they have little reason to bother. In my riding the Conservative candidate did get a majority in the last election, just over 50%. So what about the rest of us, the 48% that didn't want Tom Lukiwski? Take it from me, we have no representation in Ottawa. Our MP is invisible to us.That scenario is repeated all across the country. It doesn't make sense.

There is some hope however.

Stephen Harper tells us, again and again, that Canadians didn’t want this election. I think he is wrong. A record number of Canadians turned on their television sets to catch the leaders’ debate. In fact, 10,6000,000 Canadians tuned in to watch, perhaps not for the whole debate but at least for some of it. That is not bad for a debate that started before most people could make it home from work if they lived further from Ottawa than Western Ontario. Thousands of others watched in on line.

The media tells us that people are disengaged but, every single person I talk to is following the campaigns. The blogosphere, Face book, Twitter and YouTube have almost been taken over by the election. I am over whelmed by the amount of material being shared on line – opinions, rants, songs, photos, videos and news links.

I feel a shift. I no longer think a Harper majority is possible. He may hang on to a minority by the skin of his teeth, but that won’t last all that long. The opposition have to decide. Either sell out their principles and support Harper or for some sort of power sharing new government. For me, that would be an easy decision to make.

If nothing else I think the last few years of witnessing a broken parliamentary democracy have started to arouse the sleeping giant. Canadians are fed up. I believe that no matter if politicians like it or not, we will see some form of, much needed, electoral reform in this country.

So stand up, speak out and fight for change. Oh yeah, don't forget to vote

Generally it is not a Good Idea to Misquote Fraser

On the day of the leaders' debate (Well most of the leaders anyway) I find the Shelia Fraser story about G8 spending the most interesting.

No, not the story about her being unable to release her investigation of G8 - G20 spending.

The Conservative members of a parliamentary committee looking into the costs around the G8 and G20 summits dropped a quote from Fraser into their report. The report Fraser as saying: "We found that the processes and controls around that were very good, and that moneys were spent as they were intended to be spent."

Apparently Fraser's quote which went back to 2004, actually referred to the previous Liberal government spending.

As you might imagine, Shelia Fraser was rather annoyed about the misrepresentation.

The Conservatives, caught yet again, have apologized.

It is all about trust, isn't it?

Is anyone still thinking majority?

OK Folks - Where are we?

I don't think I can say I have been watching this election campaign more closely than I have others but, no question, this one has has intrigued, mystified and annoyed.

I just have to assume that most people just don't pay attention.

Then there is the debate. Over a million Green supporters are denied the opportunity to see their leader in action by that infamous consortium of TV executives. The same members of television's brain trust, decided the best time to schedule the debate. If you live west of Manitoba there is not a chance that you can get home from work before the debate starts. Oh yeah, it also doesn't interfere with prime time which would erode high commercial revenue. Ask your self. What is more important.

I am no economist but...ask your self.
Does this make sense to you?

So, where are we going with all this? There are the polls but I am not sure the pollsters give us answers, or if they simply push voter's opinions in one direction or another. No matter which, I do find the trends troubling. I am not sure how Canadians can be so disconnected from reality?

So in my continuing efforts to get people to think about things before they vote, I suggest you take a look at what Some Guy has to say.

Henry Mintzberg on Sunday Morning

Listening to CBC Radio's Sunday Morning this morning I was taken in by Michael Enright's interview with Henry Mintzberg, who is Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University.

I have reproduced a part of his website below and encourage you to visit it.

If you missed the program on Sunday you can go to the Sunday Morning webpage and download it as a podcasts.

Henry Mintzberg

• This election is theatre: ignore the campaigns and the promises (which are just attempts to bribe us with our own money.) What matters is what the people who are elected can and will do. And that is best judged by what they have done.

• What the Conservatives have done suggests that, with a majority, our most cherished institutions―Medicare [PDF], the CBC [PDF], others―will be threatened. As a prominent minister was overheard just after the 2006 election: “If we get a majority, they won’t recognize this country.”

• Do not necessarily vote Liberal. Or NDP. Or Bloc. Or Green. Or Independent. If the majority of voters split their votes again, the Conservatives will go forward again. So please drop your party preference: this election is about the future of Canada. If you cherish what this country is, vote for whichever candidate in your riding has the greatest chance of beating the Conservative―in other words, the one who is ahead of these others.1 Consult the latest poll in your riding, or else see the results last time [PDF]. (See also www.Catch22campaign.ca. for information on this.)

• If enough people do this, we will likely end up with a coalition government, which could well be the best solution. (Recall that cooperation of the NDP with the Liberals gave us Medicare fifty years ago.) This election has to be about the country, not about its personalities. In fact, such a coalition may well prefer as prime minister someone who is not now the leader of any of the parties.

The Best Election Poster So Far

Much has been said about the struggle to convince young voters to cast their ballots. This poster turned up in several places on the Internet today. I am not sure where it comes from but...I think it is the best so far.

Harper Doesn't Think Canadians care about Contempt

He is wrong about that. We care deeply

So, Who is the Average Canadian?

For years pundits characterized Stephen Harper as a shrewd, crude and successful  political strategist.

• We all claim we hate his vicious political attack ads but like a train wreck, we all slow down and take a look. As much as we say we don't want that Republican style campaigning here in Canada, they seem to work.
• We gagged on the image of Stephen Harper as the caring cardigan wearing family man sitting in front of the fireplace when it contrasted to much with his cold, calculating agenda but, it got him re-elected.
• We have to admire his ability to turn a motion finding the "Harper Government" in contempt of Parliament into a partisan attempt to destroy his hard work, bringing the country back from an economic meltdown.

All this stuff works. Or does it?

Harper is gambling this election, that Canadians will be as outraged as he claims to be, about the possibility of a coalition government being formed, if he wins another minority. I don't think Canadians are half as dumb as Stephen Harper thinks they are.

When I was a young turk, and on some rant or other, an older but wiser colleague told me "Be careful Gord, you're starting to believe your own propaganda."  I think that is what is happening to Harper right now. It is a deep trap.

• As Stephen Harper goes on and on and on about coalitions as if they were evil personified. He thinks that Canadians forget that  he proposed collaborating with the Bloc to bring down the Liberal Martin Government.
• He forgets that there is television archive footage still available and now on You Tube where he suggests that a coalition of the right is needed to bring down the Liberals.
• He thinks Canadians are too dumb to research enough to discover that almost 70 countries around the world currently have coalition governments, including Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

I have a friend who claims that Canadians are so disengaged from Canadian politics that they can't see the forest for the trees. That they spend their evenings perched in front of their television sets watching Fox news, Housewives of Orange County or Cops and don't give a fiddlers fart about what is happening here in Canada.  He might be right, but I don't think so.

I don't think;

• that Canadians are stupid. 
• Canadians are afraid of coalitions. 
• we are as disengaged as our Prime Minister things we are.

What I do think is that most Canadians;

• believe this election is necessary
• reject the law and order agenda
• are afraid of a Harper majority
• are not comfortable with the Conservative Party's vision for Canada
• are frustrated with Parliament now seems to be working
• want a cooperative and functional House of Commons

Then again I might be falling into another one of those traps. Not unlike Harper, I usually think of myself as the average Canadian. We are both probably wrong on that front.

We'll see in May.

Why is this Election Important?

Stephen Harper doesn't want to talk about it but Canadians should never forget why we are having an election.

Following rulings by Speaker Peter Milliken, for the first time in Canadian history,the first time in Commonwealth history,  the government and a minister have been found to be in contempt of parliament for withholding information and misleading the house.

This election is about contempt

con·tempt  (kn-tmpt)

n.

1. The feeling or attitude of regarding someone or something as inferior, base, or worthless; scorn.

2. The state of being despised or dishonored; disgrace.

3. Open disrespect or willful disobedience of the authority of a court of law or legislative body.

The Dipstick

It is how you check the oil you dork
Leader Post Photo

During Election Campaigns I feel almost compelled to mock public figures. With good reason I think. Election campaigns are not about substance or real policy or what candidates really stand for. It is all about tightly managed messages and photo ops of highly controlled "visits" to local business, universities and peoples houses.

Harper has been spending his days announcing new economic initiatives which are dutifully reported by every newspaper in the country. Everyone seems to miss the fact that if these new "gifts to Canadians" were real he'd have put them into the budget released not two weeks ago. I think Conservative policy wonks think them on the campaign jet as they wing their way back and forth across the country

So, I thought this morning offering in the Regina Leader Post had to be shared. Harper visited a boat sales shop and in an effort to look like he cares, seems quite curious about the marine engine dip stick. I know Harper doesn't drive his own car, the RCMP get him from place to place, and it must have been years since this "ordinary Canadian" checked the oil but in this photo it looks like Laureen Harper is explaining to Stephen what a dipstick is.

Fair Vote Canada Predicts Election Outcome

Fair Vote Canada

Although the writ has barely dropped, Fair Vote Canada figures it’s not too soon to announce the results of the coming federal election.

The President of Fair Vote Canada, Bronwen Bruch says, “Our dysfunctional voting system throws up erratic and irrational results,” says “but some outcomes are sadly predictable.”

So, Fair Vote confidently predicts the following:

· Most Canadians will be “represented” in Parliament by somebody they voted against. Under the current, winner-take-all system, votes for losing candidates do not help to elect anybody and are essentially wasted votes.

· Canada will elect less than 25% women to Parliament. That’s about as good as it gets with our voting system. Fifty countries do better than we do in this regard, most of them using proportional voting systems. Every democracy with at least 30% women in its legislature uses a proportional voting system.

• The Conservatives will win every seat in Alberta, or all but one, with about 65% of the votes.
• The Liberals will win almost all the seats in Canada’s major cities, with about half the votes.
• The NDP will get one million more votes than the Bloc Quebecois, but the BQ will win almost twice as many seats.
• The Bloc Quebecois will win two-thirds of the seats in Quebec with half the votes. 
• The Green Party will get one million votes (enough to elect 25 Conservatives) but will not win any seats.

· Voter turnout will be the lowest in history, or close to it. When your vote doesn’t make a difference, why bother? Unprecedented amounts of negative campaign advertising will deliberately foster apathy and cynicism.

Our antique voting system is not really competitive, Two-thirds of Canadian voters already know who will be elected in their riding, before the votes are even cast. Really, it’s a tribute to Canadians’ sense of civic duty that any of us bother to vote at all

Regime Change

Ready, Set, Go

Everyone is doing it so Canada, don't miss this opportunity. The chance doesn't come often enough.

The "Harper Government" is set for a fall and although all the chatter is about the rejection of the budget, it isn't that at all. This government is going down over integrity, dogma, secrecy, lying, bullying, lack of vision, partisanship and corruption.

I wish I'd made a list. I know it would be as long as my arm but I am as bad as everyone else. I move from issue to issue forgetting fairly quickly what annoyed me last week as a new clumsy misstep grabs our attention.

We do remember a few like:

• Agriculture Minister Gerry "The Ritz Cracker" joking over listeria deaths.
• The stonewalling over Canadian soldiers turning over Afghans to be tortured.
• Using the unelected Conservative majority in the Senate to defeat a bill after it was approved by Parliament.
• The unbridled use of Republican style attack ads to attack the leader of the Liberal.
• The prorogation of Parliament by Harper in an attempt to save his own skin.
• The insertion of the word "not" into a document which it seems was approved by the minister in order to reverse that decision.
• Using Parliamentary staff and budgets to raise funds for the Conservative Party
• Ignore the law over election spending

Under Stephen Harper's leadership the Conservatives pandered to the anti gun control lobby, shunned climate change research and supported dirty oil and held fast to the view that lower corporate tax rates will solve our economic issues. They are soft of humanitarian aid,  overtly militaristic, most of their elected members are little more than mouthpieces for the Prime Minister's Office.

So this is our chance to make a real change. What do we want instead?

• Well, what if we had a Prime Minister who believed in and supported our arts and culture a  leader who saw the value of investing our tax dollars to support our writers, our poets, our artists and musicians instead of   and business, business and more business. Sorry, a $75.00 tax write-off for music lessons doesn't cut it.

• What if we had a Prime Minister who understood that poverty, homelessness, desperation and crime are all pretty much part of the same equation. Some one who was prepared to roll up his sleeves and work to solve those problems instead of just putting those who fall through the cracks in jail.

• What if we had a Prime Minister who believed that Canada should be a world leader in education and research?

• What if we had a Prime Minister who valued democracy, human rights and transparency, who was prepared to fix our broken electoral system, who believed in and supported out public broadcaster, who really believed in a Canadian style healthcare system.

What if? 

What if? 

What if?

What if we could believe any of the leaders in the running would bring us all that? They won't but getting rid of Harper would at least be a start.

If we can believe the Globe and Mail poll most Canadians want an election and I'm looking forward it. Anything that would put my MP, Tom  Lukiwski into the opposition back benches would be a positive thing.

Election Fever - or Not

Last week I'd have bet anyone $100  that an election is in the works. All the signs were there. The Bloc, Liberals and NDP seemed to be singing from the same hymn book saying "We've had enough" and even the "Harper  Government" seemed to be keen to get to the polls.

By this morning the pundits seem to think that things are shifting a bit. Some of them anyway.

Me? I'm chomping at the bit. Canada needs an election now if only to try and get Canadians to pay attention. The "Harper Government" is running amok and even if the opposition can't take them down, those thugs need a good swift kick in the pants.

I  know its all about the economy blah...blah...blah but some one has to remind Harper that if the Canadian economy is doing well it has little to do with his economic policy and everything to do with monetary and banking regulations put in and maintained by years of Liberal rule. Harper lucked out. The economic meltdown came before he could dismantle the regulations that saved his, and our asses.

We need a little public debate.

It is times like this that I revert to my "If I was king" persona. So here goes.

If I were directing strategy for the opposition I would bring this government at the soonest possible moment.

Harper might win another minority but I very much doubt he can do better than that. So be it.

Then at the first possible opportunity the opposition should simply bring down the government again. The day after the election would be good. The next thing that would happen is that the Governor General would be obliged to see if anyone else could form government. Not withstanding Michelle Jean ruling, that is his job.

The Liberals and the NDP should then step up and form a coalition supported by the Bloc and hopefully a few Greens. Harper would scream bloody murder but who cares? A Liberal/NDP coalition government would have more legitimacy that a Conservative Government that 65% of Canadians didn't vote for.

In the next four years Canadians would see that there is nothing wrong with coalition government. After all aren't Canadians supposed to be proud of our historical ability to find workable compromise. A coalition would work like minority governments are supposed to. They stay in power through co-operation.

After all. What we have now isn't working.

Let's get on with it.