Category: Blog
-
Open Letter to Special Committee on Democratic and Electoral Reform re: Local Choice for Municipalities
Fair Voting BC recently partnered with a number of like-minded organizations, as well as with former Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, to write an open letter to the Special Committee endorsing committee Deputy Chair Ward Stamer’s proposal to grant municipalities around BC the power to adopt more inclusive and representative voting systems. The text of our…
-
Fair Voting BC Issues Report Card on Vancouver Candidates
As we head into the last week of this year’s municipal campaign, we wanted to share with you our report card on the Vancouver candidates’ positions on voting reform. In partnership with our friends at the Fair Vote Canada Vancouver chapter, we invited all candidates for mayor and council to respond to a survey asking…
-
Fair Voting BC Issues Report Card on Federal Parties
As we head into tonight’s English language debate, we wanted to share with you our report card on the federal parties’ platforms regarding electoral reform. As you can see in the table below, three of the parties (the Liberals, Conservatives and People’s Party) are essentially missing in action on this file. In our opinion, only…
-
Fair Voting BC Welcomes Reform of Electoral Boundaries Commission Process
Bill 7 – EBC Amendment Act: Fair Voting BC welcomes the recent introduction of Bill 7 – the Electoral Boundaries Commission Amendment Act by the provincial government which removes a controversial clause introduced by the previous government that, in our view, unnecessarily constrained the non-partisan and independent Electoral Boundaries Commission in setting fair boundaries in accordance with the…
-
BC Election Post-Mortem
What a night last night! Now that it’s clear that the final result won’t be known until about May 22-24, we have a moment to reflect on what has happened so far and to speculate about the future. Here are some things we know for sure: Half the Voters Are Still Unrepresented BC voters cast…
-
Reality Check – Does the Conservative Party Really Rely Less on Subsidies Than Other Parties? (Answer: No)
Dear Democratic Reform Supporters: We apologize in advance for a somewhat longer article than usual. If you’re short on time, check out the executive summary and the graphs below: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – Reality Check Shows PM’s Claims Are Incorrect The Prime Minister recently argued that the reason he called for a longer campaign was because…
-
What Was the Turnout in 2013 Anyway?
Update: Now that final voting results have been reported, we have updated the calculations described below. Please check the end of this post for the update. There seems to be some uncertainty as to whether or not the turnout in last night’s election was up or down over 2009. For example, the Huffington Post reports…
-
Christy Clark on the Need for Voting Reform
Why I’m supporting STV Posted 5/7/2009 12:00:00 AM In the last election I voted against STV. I even campaigned against it. The single transferable vote, an idea that was launched by an assembly of non partisan everyday citizens, didn’t appeal to me. At the time, I believed my vote was the right one because I…
-
Campaign Financing Rules in BC and Federally
A Huffington Post article today reported that outside groups spent over $1B in last year’s US presidential election, largely without transparency and oversight. Closer to home, the Vancouver Park Board recently passed a motion calling on the BC provincial government to implement campaign finance reform; their motion was endorsed by Integrity BC, which has a…
-
Time-Sensitive Opportunity for Liberal Party Supporters – Signup Deadline This Sunday (March 3)
Note: This message is particularly intended for people who are open to supporting the federal Liberal Party, but we trust that democratic reformers anywhere on the political spectrum will be interested in hearing about the current Liberal leadership contest and its implications for moving on electoral reform. Groups Endorsing ‘Electoral Cooperation’: You have likely seen…
-
BC FIPA Launches Charter Challenge of ‘Gag Law’
Fair Voting BC was an intervenor last fall when the BC government lost yet another bid to have the Court accept their gag law. However, the Court’s ruling didn’t address our most significant concerns – namely, that the current law imposes unconstitutional restrictions on small entities. The way the Act reads now, any communication with…
-
Fair Voting BC Urges Electoral Boundaries Commission to Ask Government to Consider Proportional Representation and True ‘Rep by Pop’
Hearings Process: The Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission recently held hearings around BC. The primary purpose of these hearings is to receive feedback on the EBC’s proposed riding boundaries, but Fair Voting BC appeared in order to make the case that the primary difficulties with the boundary-setting process arise from the way our voting system works.…
-
Fair Voting BC Challenges Constitutionality of ‘Gag Law’ in Court of Appeal
Fair Voting BC appeared in September as intervenors in the BC Court of Appeal reference case regarding the so-called ‘Gag Law’, in which the provincial government sought a ruling that their extension of third party advertising limits into a ‘pre-campaign’ period was constitutional. In the original case, which was brought by the BC Teachers’ Federation,…
-
August 2012 Newsletter – Engaging Citizens, AGM, Gag Law, Internet Voting & More
Dear Democratic Reform Supporters: We hope you’ve been having a wonderful summer. As our thoughts turn towards fall activities, we have several exciting upcoming events to share with you. Save the Date! Announcing Our Next E-volving Democracy Dialogue on ‘Engaging Citizens’, Together With Our AGM We are particularly excited to let you know that we’ve…
-
April 2012 Newsletter – Vote-Splitting, Dion on PR, E-volving Democracy, Homeland Security, Campaign Financing and More
Dealing With Vote-Splitting: Merger, Coalition or Something Else? Fair Voting BC can’t often comment on merger or coalition proposals because we’re a non-partisan organization, but two recent events – the federal NDP leadership contest and the two provincial by-elections last week – allow us to discuss both right- and left-leaning examples. As electoral reform…
-
March 2012 Newsletter – Mulcair, Robocalls, Senate Elections, Just Say “Phooey”
Dear Democratic Reform Supporters: NDP Elects Leader Committed to Electoral Reform; Online Voting Process Vulnerable to Attack This weekend Thomas Mulcair was elected the new leader of the federal NDP and therefore of the Official Opposition. We are pleased that Mulcair has said that moving to a mixed-member proportional system will be a fundamental plank…
-
Academy Award Nominees Chosen by STV
As people watched the Academy Awards last Sunday, we wonder how many realized that the nominees were chosen by preferential voting – in particular, a variant of the Single Transferable Vote (STV). The Academy Award organization actually uses slightly different rules for their various awards, so we can’t describe just one system, but most nominees…
-
2011 Vancouver Democratic Reform Survey – Responses by Candidate
On October 30, 2011, Fair Voting BC sent a survey on civic democratic reform issues to all mayoral and council candidates in the city of Vancouver. This page presents their detailed responses. We also invite you to check out the press release we issued on November 11, 2011, as well as a list of responses…
-
2011 Vancouver Democratic Reform Survey – (Condensed) Responses by Question
This page presents responses to our Democratic Reform Survey (Vancouver) question by question. For answers by candidate and party, click here. For our press release, click here. Special thanks to Korky Day for collating the following answers.