Author: Laurel L. Russwurm

is a self publishing novelist and photographer.

Comment on Canadian Dog Whistle Politics or #ProportionalRepresentation? by Laurel L. Russwurm

Canada has already given too much power to the PM of the Party in power; this is precisely why, looking south, we need PR.

The ERRÉ process was not driven by FVC, in fact it was (likely) deliberately driven around FVC. They made a submission that was ignored like everyone else’s. Including the committee.

This blog is laden with citations in the resources section:

You can find and read for yourself the ERRÉ report (and those that preceeded it in recent decades) here:

https://whoacanada.wordpress.com/pr-4-canada-resources/13-canadian-commissions-assemblies-reports-recommended-pr/

Or watch all the video or read the transcripts for the ERRÉ process here. https://whoacanada.wordpress.com/2016/08/07/erre-q-meetings-transcripts/

The ERRÉ Committee chose to compromise: their recommendation was PR. Mr. Trudeau could have chosen any he liked ~ including Mr. Dion’s made-for-Liberal’s P3 system ~ and tweaked it to favour his party as much as possible. He chose not to. He could have chosen PR without a referendum, or a confirming referendum after a few elections.

There is still time for him to relent; we might still get PR in place before 2019. If he chooses to hang tough in spite of the foolishness of driving away not just the strategic voting crowd, but his actual Liberal base, I doubt there will be a subsequent LPC majority. There might, however be a CPC majority.

Comment on Canadian Dog Whistle Politics or #ProportionalRepresentation? by Laurel L. Russwurm

Sorry, the left was willing to compromise. NDP was willing to step back from its decade (or more) support for MMP.

Even if Mr. Trudeau doesn’t understand it (which I don’t believe for a minute) there are plenty of clever folk in his party who might explain it to him. It seems Mr. Trudeau is not interested in long term stability and collaboration. He much prefers the old fashioned kind of absolute power his father wielded back in the day. When Justin Trudeau threw his hat in the Liberal leadership race, his entire campaign was “I’m listening” on everything but electoral reform. He is simply not buying. Which is why we must insist.

Pies Inspired By Bardish #4In the final pie we see clearly the…



Pies Inspired By Bardish #4

In the final pie we see clearly the Liberal election result in 2015 nearly perfectly mirrors the Conservative election result in 2011.  

The only difference is that now the Liberal Party holds all the power, although it only earned 39% of the vote.  

As Bardish tells us in the video, the Liberal Party voted overwhelmingly to adopt the Electoral Reform resolution her riding association put forward, which is why it became Liberal Policy.  Justin Trudeau and his campaign team chose to adopt this policy as the prominent campaign promise Bardish was so proud of.  And the new Government renewed that promise in the Throne speech (5:13).  But now Prime Minister Trudeau gets to govern dictatorially, (just as his predecessor did).  He has unilaterally gone back on a promise his own party overwhelmingly supported that he might keep the disproportional power he acquired in the unfair electoral system he vowed to replace.  

First Past The Post is as unfair today as it ever was.  It seems Mr. Trudeau’s Liberal Party doesn’t mind treating Canadians unfairly if they benefit.  

Not real change after all.

#KeepYourPromise