The following is a news release and newsletter announcement about Fair
Vote Canada. We would appreciate having this announcement placed in
newsletters and egroups as appropriate. Thanks for your help!
For immediate release: November 8, 2000
Contact:
Larry Gordon or Doug Bailie
416-410-4034 or info@fairvotecanada.org
NEW ORGANIZATION TO PROMOTE VOTING SYSTEM REFORM
Fair Vote Canada (FVC) was publicly launched this week to provide
concerned citizens, community leaders and activists with an organizational
framework to build a non-partisan nationwide grassroots civic education
and action program on voting system reform. The ultimate objective of
Fair Vote Canada is to mobilize people from all parts of the political
spectrum to gain the support of all federal political parties for a
national referendum on voting systems to be held prior to or concurrently
with the 2005 Federal elections.
Fair Vote Canada intends to provide Canadians with an opportunity to
consider the merits of various types of proportional representation voting
systems, which are used in the majority of democracies, compared to our
current winner-take-all system. The five-year campaign will focus on the
inherent inequities in the current system, which dramatically distorts
voters' preferences.
Canada's winner-take-all system frequently produces majority governments
elected by a minority of voters (e.g., in 1997, the Federal Liberals
captured 51% of the seats with 38% of the popular vote). The Canadian
system also produces an extraordinarily high proportion of wasted votes,
or votes that do not translate into parliamentary representation. Voting
systems that produce high levels of wasted votes also produce low voter
turn-out, and Canada's voter turn-out is among the lowest in established
democracies. By comparison, proportional voting systems do a better job
of ensuring that every vote counts in determining the composition of
elected bodies. Not surprisingly, the nations using proportional
representation systems enjoy higher voter turn-outs.
Fair Vote Canada is being developed and coordinated by an interim planning
council, which currently has representatives from British Columbia,
Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. The interim leadership group
will be expanded in the coming month and a permanent governance body will
be in place early next year.
Individuals and organizations from all parts of the political spectrum who
are interested in voting system reform are encouraged to contact Fair Vote
Canada by phone at (416) 410-4034, by email at info@fairvotecanada.org, or
visit the web site at fairvotecanada.org. The web site features
numerous educational articles, plus a 20-page discussion paper outlining
the Fair Vote Canada program for developing a nationwide campaign. |
