The Purpose of a Parliamentarian Rick’s rant touches on an issue that in my mind is frequently problematic and that issue is do we really know what the actual role or purpose of our parliamentarians are? This becomes an issue on election day where voters ignore their local representative options because they are more interested …
A Call for Open Democracy There is a push by average citizens of the world to create an internet environment that is open and accessible. This takes the form of creative commons licensing, open data initiatives and other important projects. A question that I return to repeatedly, knowing there is clearly an appetite for it …
As both the NDP and Liberals redefine what they are about, and the Conservatives reinforce what they are about, there are several things I want to see the parties look seriously into during this period of potential reform to our political environment.
Later this month New Zealand will go to the polls not just to decide on a government but also to determine whether or not an electoral system adopted 15 years ago should continue to be used in that nation’s elections. The government has done an amazing job on the referendum, putting out videos, fact sheets and a host of other materials to help explain the options the people of New Zealand are being presented with.
In nerdy corridors where people discuss things like electoral system design, it is almost accepted as fact that proportional representation would solve the problem of the decline in voter turnout faced by many countries in recent years. Immediately after yesterday’s provincial election where a historic number of Ontarians did not cast a ballot, I heard …
Online voting certainly has its drawbacks but our system as it stands is not flawless. In the end I feel the increased use of technology in elections while not necessarily inherently a good idea is at least worth considering.
From the man himself, Steven Brams explains the application of Approval Voting in American elections, a system I believe we should adopt in Canada.
Electoral financing regulations must ensure politicians and the parties they belong to are accountable for the way in which they conduct themselves on the public stage, particularly during elections when they are most visible. The easiest way to do this is by no longer allowing them to run off with blank cheques.
Those most likely to vote are people who grew up in families where civil issues were discussed around the dinner table and as a result the engagement that began within the relationship of parent and child created a future for that child where civic awareness and voting were part of one’s identity.
