I love this video.
I love this guy… the guy in the hat is my husband Bob Jonkman, the 2019 Green Party of Canada Candidate in Brantford—Brant, Ontario. As Canada uses an archaic Winner-Take-All voting system (similar to the US, UK and Australia) he didn’t win. This time.
I love this song. It was a tiny tune created by my favorite contemporary musician, the talented Josh Woodward. Everything Josh creates is released with a Creative Commons Attribution license. This video is likewise CC-By.
What this means is that any Green Party can use it. Free of charge.
Liner Notes:
For those of you who aren’t up on the Canadian Greens, I’ll give you a little background.
The video is bookended by the GPC’s awesome leader, Elizabeth May. She’s been the leader for 13 years, and the fact our Green Party is doing as well as it is has a lot to do with that.
• Our Green Party’s “Green New Deal” was called “Mission: Possible,” and the opening line is something she said at the Kitchener GPC campaign launch.
• The minnows are swimming in Cypress Lake, at a favorite camping spot, in Bruce Peninsula National Park near Tobermory.
• The Tree planting footage was recorded in the spring in Paris, Ontario.
• The CC-By temperature visualization was created by Antti Lipponen from data provided by Berkeley Earth/Robert Rohde
http://berkeleyearth.org/
• The sign waving was in Brantford.
• The footage of Bob talking to people was at the Brant Greens booth at the Paris Fair. In the background, some of our volunteers are helping kids make their own buttons, a bit of gratis outreach we make as part of our community involvement.
• The Circle Dance was at a Rise for Climate event in Waterloo
• Bob joined Cambridge candidate Michele Braniff and friends at the Cambridge for for the first “Green Wave” segment
• for “the mountains” I used a clip of Paul Manly, recorded at the 2016 GPC Special General Meeting, before he became the second elected Canadian Green, now the re-elected Member of Parliament for the Nanaimo-Ladysmith Electoral District
• for “to the seaway” I used footage of the second elected PEI Greens MLA, Hannah Bell, speaking at the 2018 Green Party of Ontario convention in Guelph (alongside PEI Greens leader Peter Bevan-Baker)
• The second “Green Wave” begins with GPO leader Mike Schreiner “mainstreeting” in Kitchener with the 2018 provincial election with the five Waterloo Region Greens candidates (Bob Jonkman, Michele Braniff, David Weber, Stacey Danckert and Zdravko Gunjevic) …
• … then cuts to Milton candidate Eleanor Hayward and friends at Elizabeth May’s “Community Matters” town hall in Guelph
• Guelph candidate Steve Dyck speaking to the crowd at the 2019 Platform Release in Guelph
• “Together” takes us back in Kitchener, where southern Ontario GPC Green Candidates Steve Dyck, Michele Braniff, David Weber, Kristin Wright,
Collan Simmons, Stephanie Goertz, Bob Jonkman and Nicholas Wendler join GPC leader Elizabeth May and GPO leader Mike Schreiner in support of the Mike Morrice campaign launch
• Elizabeth May’s back again, tying it all up at the end with a punch line that was part of her answer to a question posed by the youngest Green Party member at the “Community Matters” event in Guelph
Category: Brantford-Brant
VOTE YOUR VALUESFull Disclosure: Bob Jonkman, the 2019 Green…
Laurel & Bob
Bob and our son, Willem (circa 1993)
VOTE YOUR VALUES
Full Disclosure: Bob Jonkman, the 2019 Green Party of Canada Candidate for Brantford–Brant is my husband.
I fully support Bob’s campaign (which is why my own projects are languishing until this election is over) because I believe we need Bob in Parliament.
I can tell you Bob is perhaps the smartest most ethical man I’ve ever known. If Bob is elected, I believe we will get electoral reform to Proportional Representation. This is so important because it will make it possible for Canada to begin to actually solve our problems, rather than dance political rings around them as the big parties do. We need to restore and improve our universal healthcare (and reverse the privatization!). We need a government that understands the importance of transparent governance and personal privacy. A government that understands modern technology. And a government that will restore and honour our Charter Rights. We all need votes that count. And most important: we need to get to work on Climate Change now. Canada can be a climate leader but to be that we need to elect the right politicians.
This is why I think it’s so important to elect Bob.
So I will be posting more about Bob through the remaining days of the election.
If you want to see real change in Ottawa, if you want fair voting and real Climate Action that doesn’t include additional fossil fuel pipelines and Fracking, if you want human equity and actual reconciliation, if you live in Brantford–Brant, please consider casting your vote for Bob. If you’re a Canadian who doesn’t live in Brantford–Brant you can still support Bob with a donation here:
https://bobjonkman.ca/donate/
And don’t forget to check out the candidates in your riding and
vote for what you want!
The 2019 Canadian Election is on! Check out Bob Jonkman’s…
The 2019 Canadian Election is on!
Check out Bob Jonkman’s appearance on the
Rogers Local Campaign Brantford–Brant Debate!
This is a very different election than we are accustomed to. Although 2019 is not going to be our first federal election under Proportional Representation as indicated by the #ERRE committee, because it is shaping up to be a minority government, if we elect enough Green MPs, it could actually be the last election under First Past The Post if Canadians vote for what we want.
As your Green Party MP, Bob will represent Brantford–Brant in Parliament. He won’t just deliver his party’s edicts to the riding.
One Green MP can make a real difference; with enough Green MPs sitting in Parliament, Canada will take real climate action.
Vote Your Values!
Come join the Brant Greens for drinks and a barbeque!Saturday…
Come join the Brant Greens for drinks and a barbeque!
Saturday October 12th
6:00pm - 9:00pm
Steel Wheel Brewery
105 Powerline Road, Brantford, Ontario Canada
BBQ with local organic beef burgs and beyond meat burgs, potato salad, and some munchies. And of course, the full Steel Wheel selection of local craft brew to go with it! Enjoyable evening of local food, good fun, and generous fundraising.
This is also a fundraiser for the Bob Jonkman federal election campaign!
The Brant Greens had an awesome booth at the Paris Fair. Over 5…
The Brant Greens had an awesome booth at the Paris Fair. Over 5 days we hosted a kids button making event, and a green screen photo booth
The Brant Greens had an awesome booth at the Paris Fair. Over 5…
The Brant Greens had an awesome booth at the Paris Fair. Over 5 days we hosted a kids button making event, and a green screen photo booth
Bob Jonkman at the Paris Fair 2019I’m caught up in…
Bob Jonkman at the Paris Fair 2019
I’m caught up in politics… this is my husband, Bob Jonkman, the Green Party candidate for Brantford-Brant, Ontario, in the upcoming 2019 federal election.
I’m of the opinion that we really need to leave the world a better place than we found it, for our kids, and their kids, and their kids… but if we keep on as we’ve been, we’ll bequeath them a Mad Max dystopia. Fortunately, the Green Party has a plan:
MISSION POSSIBLE
https://www.greenparty.ca/en/mission-possible
Brant Green DrinksMonday, May 13th, 20197:00 – 9:00pmTONIGHT:…
Brant Green Drinks
Monday, May 13th, 2019
7:00 – 9:00pm
TONIGHT: Green Drinks Special Presentation
Dr. Sujata Singh of the Climate Reality Project
Monday, May 13th, 2019
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. at Stillwaters Plate and Pour
61 Grand River Street N in Paris.
Check out their tasty menu here!
When Nobel Laureate Al Gore got the world talking about climate change with An Inconvenient Truth in 2006, it was the beginning of a climate revolution. The former US Vice-President then founded what would become The Climate Reality Project to move the conversation forward and turn awareness into action all across the Earth.The science is settled. 97% of climate scientists agree that carbon pollution from fossil fuels is warming our planet and throwing natural systems out of balance. Hotter temperatures, stronger storms, rising seas, and so much more, threatening the health of our families, the viability of our communities, and the habitat we pass on to future generations.
As 16 year old Climate Activist Greta Thunberg said so eloquently, We must act like this is a climate crisis. Because it is. Urgent action is necessary. In politics. In business. In every aspect of our lives. Everywhere. To cut greenhouse gas emissions and speed the global shift to renewables.
Join us on Monday, May 13th as Dr. Sujata Singh of the Climate Reality Project discusses both the climate crisis and the urgent action we must take, individually, collectively, systemically.
Who?
people like you interested in
- environmental issues,
- making a difference,
- networking,
- or just plain having a good time with friends and neighbours!
What?
good drinks, good people, good times!
Where?
Stillwaters Plate & Pour
61 Grand River Street N, Paris
(see calendar below for the rest of the year)
When?
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
or for as long as folks are around
on the 13th day of each month
Why?
Good drinks, good people, good times!
Brant Green Drinks is the Brantford/Brant chapter of an organic, self-organizing, international network of environmentally conscious, lively people,
like yourself, from all walks of life.
There is no formal agenda for our gatherings, just good drinks, good people, and good times. Come out and you’ll be made welcome.
Just say, “are you green?” and we will look after you and introduce you to whoever is there.
Green Drinks is a great way of catching up with people you know and also for meeting new friends and making business contacts. Everyone invites someone else along, so there’s always a different crowd. The gatherings are very simple and unstructured, but many people have found employment, made friends, developed new ideas, done deals and had moments of serendipity.
So, come along, bring a friend, we’re looking forward to meeting you!
For more information or if you have any questions,
please contact organizer Ken Burns: kenburns [at] brantgreens.ca
2019 CALENDAR
Monday, May 13th, 2019
Stillwaters Plate & Pour
61 Grand River Street N, Paris
7:00 – 9:00pm
Thursday, June 13th
Duke on Park,
505 Park Road North, Brantford
Saturday, July 13th
Legends Tap House & Grill,
1084 Rest Acres Rd, Paris
Tuesday, August 13th
Sociable Kitchen & Tavern
45 King George Road, Brantford
Friday, September 13th
Midtown Kitchen & Coffee Co.
59 Grand River St N, Paris
Sunday, October 13th
Steel Wheel Brewery
105 Powerline Road, Brant
Wednesday, November 13th
Bell City Brewing,
51 Woodyatt Drive, Brantford
Friday, December 13th
Duke on Park,
505 Park Road North, Brantford
FVC: Consultations Provide Strong Mandate for Proportional Representation #ERRE
This is the twenty-fifth article in the Whoa!Canada: Proportional Representation Series
[Guest Post by Fair Vote Canada]
The all-party committee on electoral reform (ERRÉ) has just finished four months of expert and public consultations. They will make their recommendation to Government by December 1st.
Of the ERRÉ witnesses with a position on voting systems, 88% recommended Proportional Representation. This reinforces the findings from decades of research from around the world and of 13 previous electoral reform processes in Canada, including two thorough and impartial citizens assemblies.
When the Government launched the process without a mechanism for collecting empirical data, Fair Vote Canada, a multi-partisan advocacy group, started tracking the process very closely. We are releasing the results of our work to the media because we believe the process needs to be transparent and accountable.
(You can find key a list of results below with links our spreadsheets.)
Despite a strong call for proportional representation across all of the consultative platforms, we believe reforming the electoral system could be in serious trouble based on recent comments from Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister Monsef.
President Réal Lavergne expressed Fair Vote Canada’s concerns “We are worried that the Minister and the Prime Minister are saying that we cannot count on the government keeping its promise to make every vote count. Yet experts and Canadians have clearly expressed themselves in favour of proportional representation, which is what it really means to “make every vote count.”.
David Merner, Vice-President of Fair Vote Canada and former LPC candidate (2015)
David Merner, Vice-President of Fair Vote Canada and a Liberal candidate in last year’s federal election adds “This is not the time for back-tracking. The Prime Minister and the Minister of Democratic Institutions have personally created a sense of hope in Canadians, building on the 2015 Liberal campaign promise of Real Change. Millions of voters believed that the government intended to keep its promises. We believed the political cynicism of the Harper years was behind us, and thousands of us participated in the government’s consultations in good faith.”
Merner says “Now is the time for the government to deliver on its promises.”
Highly regarded Conservative strategist and spokesperson for the Every Voter Counts Alliance, Guy Giorno, adds that “committee members must endorse what’s right for Canadians, not what benefits any particular party. Given the weight of the evidence before the committee, the only legitimate option is a recommendation for proportional representation. Let’s also remember that electoral reform was a major issue at the last election, and voters overwhelmingly supported parties promising change.”
The weight of expert testimony in favour of PR was echoed across the country in hundreds of town halls and public dialogues.
Over the next few days the ERRÉ will negotiate a recommendation for a new electoral system for Canada. The final report is due on December 1.
Fair Vote Canada’s President Réal Lavergne explains that “Once that recommendation has been made, it will be incumbent on the minister to carry it forward and for the government to act on it. Leadership will be required to educate both the public and parliamentarians, and to champion the proposed reform.”
“Based on all the results of the expert and citizen consultations, the committee’s only legitimate option is to recommend in favour of proportional representation.”
Key indicators from ERRÉ hearings
Canadian Electoral System expert Dennis Pilon testified before the ERRE Committee.
88% of expert witnesses who expressed a preference called for proportional representation
4% supported the Alternative Vote
(majoritarian ranked ballot systems tend to evolve towards a two-party system, often favour centrist parties and could further entrench the distortions brought about by our existing majoritarian system. )
67% thought a referendum was undesirable or unnecessary.
Detailed analysis can be found here in our Synthesis of witness statements and views.
Open Mic-sessions
From coast to coast, Canadians lined up at the ERRÉ open-mic sessions asking that the committee keep the promise and deliver PR.
According to data released this week by the NDP, out of 428 participants who spoke up, 374 (87.38%) called for proportional representation.
MP town halls
Total number of town halls reporting: 174
The following indicates the level of support observed for proportional representation in MP town halls.
69.5% (121 town halls) – Majority of speakers calling for proportional representation.
8.6%% (15 town halls) – Majority for electoral reform, but no clear majority specifically for proportional representation
5.2% (9 town halls) – Support divided between majoritarian system and proportional representation
5.7% (10 town halls) – Majority for the status quo
8.0% (14 town halls) – Report does not allow any majority view to be identified
2.9% (5 town halls) – Majority support for the Alternative Vote
Detailed analysis can be found here in our
Synthesis of witness statements and views.
Citizen Community Dialogues & Events
Here are basic indicators from the 27 dialogues or town halls hosted by citizens and community groups posted on the ERRÉ site or for which we have directly obtained the information so far:
Total number of participants: 1,058
88% (22 events) – A majority of speakers calling for proportional representation
8% (2 events ) – A majority for change but no majority for any one option
12% (3 events) – Report does not allow any majority view to be identified.
We are aware of at least 15-20 other community dialogues that are not yet posted on the ERRÉ site.
Detailed analysis can be found here.
Minister Monsef’s Townhalls
Minister Monsef organized two types of town hall consultations: ones in her own riding, and others as part of a cross-country tour. Here is an extract from the report submitted to the ERRÉ on town halls held by Minister Monsef in her Riding of Peterborough:
“It is clear that there is an appetite for thoughtful change to the electoral system. While opinions on the various electoral systems did vary, most participants indicated their support for a more proportional electoral process that still respected the need for local representation and simplicity of the ballot.”
Although Minister Monsef routinely conducted straw polls on issues such as mandatory voting and online voting in town halls on the road, she did not do the same regarding support for proportional representation. FVC volunteers attended these events across the country and shared their opinions. Here are a few quotes from participants:
Toronto: “PR was clearly the main issue for most. With respect to PR, many attendees spoke passionately and eloquently in favour, and if anyone present opposed it, he or she was not bold enough to express that view.”
Vancouver: “It seemed that 90% of the audience… did want some form of PR.”
Edmonton: “ It seemed most people were in support of some sort of proportional representation.”
Yellowknife: “She asked whether the participants liked FPTP to remain, or Ranked system or STV or MMP or Proportional Representation implemented. One voted for FPTP. Many voted for MMP and a few voted for PR.”
Yukon: “Some Yukoners came in support of our current electoral system (First Past the Post); more were on the side of moving towards proportional representation.”
Halifax: “The feedback from the groups certainly favoured PR.”
Montreal: “There was an overwhelming support for PR in the room.”
Thunder Bay: “Of the dozens who rose to spoke, everyone spoke in favour of PR.”
Gatineau: “ Participants spoke to PR at every opportunity they had… However, the format made this difficult… Taking into consideration those interventions that spoke to the issue of PR vs FPTP or AV, the overwhelming majority of interventions – in the order of 70% or more – were in favour of PR.”
Waterloo: From the report of 4 MPs: “Every group discussed the need for our new electoral system to feature some degree of proportionality.”
Charlottetown: “ About 90% of the people there were pro-PR.”
Winnipeg: After noting that three people were for FPTP because they feared losing local representation. The rest of the comments I heard were mostly just preferences for the different PR systems.”
Happy Valley-Goose Bay: “What we said was that we wanted PR BUT, it had to be a hybrid type that considered the lack of population and massive land mass of not only Labrador but 60 % of Canada, i.e. the North.”
Calgary: “There was overwhelming support for getting rid of the current system, with different groups mentioning STV or MMP as their top choice.”
A concluding note
And, to conclude, this eloquent quote from a Fair Vote Canada volunteer at the Victoria town hall where the Minister said she “can’t promise you that I’ll be advocating for PR because I haven’t heard that from an overwhelming majority across the country.“
Victoria:
“The wheels were skidding out of control as we tried to combat the spin we received at last night’s town hall on Electoral Reform. Maryam Monsef, the Minister of Democratic Institutions hosted the gathering in Victoria billed as “the last chance” to give your input. But the tone of the meeting was quite acrimonious. They were clearly managing the message while backpedaling from an election commitment about changing the electoral system. Not only did she defend Trudeau’s recent comments about no longer needing this reform because we voted for HIM.”
“After months of hearing expert witness by the proportionally cross-partisan panel, and while MPs held public consultations with thousands of Canadians across the country, are we now to believe there is no appetite for Proportional Representation? Monsef said that she has not yet made up her mind but the implication of her words was troubling. Will the government diminish the committee’s well-researched, democratic report in December by championing their predetermined preference? For many of us who attended last night the so-called consultation felt like a sham.”
PS from Laurel:
I’ve chosen to used my own photographs, here, not only because they are free culture photos (licensed to share under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License) but because the number of electoral reform events in and around Waterloo Region has been staggering, and I wanted to share some of them with you, but there were so many local ERRÉ events that I attended (and I didn’t attend them all) that there isn’t enough room here to use photos from them all!
There was a time not long ago when I knew nothing about electoral reform. It was only when I was asked to take photos at local Fair Vote Waterloo events that I found myself listening to what the Fair Vote folks had to say, and after a while I even started understanding it. This was not an easy process, nor was it fast. It can take a while to really gain an understanding of something completely different from what we’re used to.
That’s why every electoral reform event must incorporate an education piece. The thing that I have seen over and over again is that even though Canadians may not know the words for it, or how to fix it, we know something is wrong with our voting system that needs to be fixed.
That is why Mr. Trudeau’s “We will make every vote count” resonated with so many people.
And what I have learned from every discussion and every ERRÉ event I’ve attended is that when Canadians have a chance to understand the difference between winner-take-all and Proportional Representation, we almost always want some form of PR. I think that’s because most Canadians value fairness, and the only way to get to a point where the votes of most Canadians actually count will require some form of Proportional Representation.
Fair Vote Canada suggests Canadians who want to see the implementation of some form of Proportional Representation would do well to let the ERRÉ Committee know about it, and to make it easier for us, they have an automated tool to help us send a letter urging the committee to recommend PR here:
http://fairvotecanada.good.do/thankyou/keepthepromise
• Proportional Representation for Canada
• What’s so bad about First Past The Post
• Democracy Primer
• Working for Democracy
• The Popular Vote
• Why Don’t We Have PR Already?
• Stability
• Why No Referendum?
• Electoral System Roundup
• When Canadians Learn about PR with CGP Grey
• Entitlement
• Proportional Representation vs. Alternative Vote
• #ERRÉ #Q Committee
• #ERRÉ #Q Meetings & Transcripts
• Take The Poll ~ #ERRÉ #Q
• Proportionality #ERRÉ #Q
• The Poll’s The Thing
• DIY Electoral Reform Info Sessions
• What WE Can Do for ERRÉ
• #ERRÉ today and Gone Tomorrow (…er, Friday)
• Redistricting Roulette
• #ERRÉ submission Deadline TONIGHT!
• #ERRÉ Submission by Laurel L. Russwurm
• The Promise: “We will make every vote count” #ERRÉ
• FVC: Consultations Provide Strong Mandate for Proportional Representation #ERRÉ
and don’t forget to check out the PR4Canada Resources page!
