Canada’s electoral system is changing. Monkeying with the gears of our democracy is a daunting task but we’re all being asked to help shape our next round of ballots.
Monday night’s meeting on electoral reform with North Vancouver MP Jonathan Wilkinson drew about 130 people, which was a good turnout for a warm night in the waning days of summer. But even with meetings like this happening around the country, it’s still a small fraction of the population that’s influencing the outcome.
There’s a long list of alternatives to our version of first past the post: proportional representation, single transferable vote, runoff or ranked ballots, mixed member proportional or some hybrid of the above.
But there’s also no shortage of resources Canadians can seek out online to learn about them, which governments around the world use them, and what their benefits and drawbacks are.
Even the poli-sci nerds among us have big questions about what the right system is for Canadians, taking into account the lay of the land, geographically and politically.
North Shore Community Resources is also hosting meetings to get Canadians better acquainted with the options on the table on Saturday, Sept. 17 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the North Vancouver City Library and Thursday, Sept. 22, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Capilano University.
When you’re good and ready, visit canada.ca/en/campaign/electoral-reform.html to make your sure your voice is counted. You’ve got until Oct. 7. Much like elections themselves, these electoral reforms are going to be swayed by those who bother to show up.
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