Last week, you might have read about how Jean-Pierre Kingsley, former chief electoral officer of Elections Canada, will be at the Kitchener Library next Wednesday to talk about electoral reform. Well, if you don’t want to drive 30 minutes up the road, good news! Kingsley will be in Guelph, one day earlier. Continue reading “Kingsley Coming to Guelph Too”
If you’re looking for something to do on Wednesday September 28, then you’re in luck! You will have your pick of three major political events in the Guelph area to check out. Continue reading “Three Local Political Events; One Big Night”
You might have heard a lot of discussion in the news about electoral reform, but what is it, what are we reforming, and what are we reforming it into? All good questions that also have the virtue of not being easy ones to answer as well. This is the podcast that, at least initially, aimed to answer those questions, but if you’re not sure where to begin on electoral reform, then this is as good a place as any to start. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #41 – Fair Vote Guelph on Electoral Reform”
You may have noticed a lot of talk in the media about something called “electoral reform.” That’s sarcasm, of course, Guelph has been fired up about reform ever since some scalawag named after our local poutinerie made robocall a dirty word back in 2011. If the various systems being proposed to replace First-Past-the-Post (FPTP) have you scratching your head though there’s good news! Fair Vote Guelph is holding an event at the end of the month that will hopefully make things clearer. Continue reading “Fair Vote to Put on an Alternative Voting Explainer”
Repeated in the Throne Speech last month was the Liberal government’s dedication to reforming Canada’s electoral system, and ensuring that 2015 is the last election using “First Past the Post.” Some are sceptical of the government’s intentions, others doubt it’s doing to be a done deal by the government’s own 18 month deadline, but the grassroots support that made electoral reform an election priority isn’t about to let those in government forget that promise. Continue reading “Fair Vote Waterloo Hits the Ground Running on Electoral Reform”
I don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions. If you want to make a change in your life don’t wait for an arbitrary date on the calendar to start making those changes just because it’s the first day of a New Year. Having said that though, it seems appropriate to take this time to set goals for the coming year, and this year for Politico I have some big goals. To my mind, nothing makes you working harder to achieve goals than making it known publicly that you have a plan, and in the interest of full disclosure, here are five things you can look forward to changing this year on Guelph Politico. Continue reading “New Year’s Directions for 2016”
The government of Justin Trudeau is barely a month old, and it won’t even sit in Parliament for the first time till next week, but that’s not letting some people from wanting those campaign promises to be passed with immediate effect. On the subject of election reform, Fair Vote Guelph is striking while the proverbial iron is hot, and they want you to remind our local MPs of a certain election promise… Continue reading “Fair Vote Guelph Petitioning Longfield and Chong on Reform”
Although not explicitly an election event, it was hard not to feel a political atmosphere afoot at Fair Vote Guelph’s “Your Vote Should Count” event last night. Over 200 people were at the Hope House downtown to see and hear from three of the four major party candidates on where they stand on electoral reform, as well as an informational talk from Fair Vote Canada as to the differences between “First Past the Post,” our current system, and “Proportional Representation,” which can take many different forms. Continue reading “Fair Vote, Candidates Make Pitch for Electoral Reform”
In what maybe the first all candidates meet-up of the season, Fair Vote Guelph is advertising that they have invited the four major party candidates to a forum that they will holding the second week of September. Continue reading “Fair Vote Guelph to Hold Candidates Forum”
After last fall’s round of municipal elections in Ontario, Premier Kathleen Wynne promised to look into the idea of incorporating ranked ballots into the process for the 2018 vote. The idea generated a lot of interest, most prominently from Toronto Mayor John Tory, who recently pressed Wynne to move forward with legislation to approve a new ranked ballot system for Canada’s biggest city. Never one to shy away from progressive thinking and new ideas, concerned Guelphites are now jumping on to the debate and are looking to make ranked ballots a reality for the Royal City in 2018. Continue reading “Ranked Ballot Initiative Launching in Guelph”
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