Category: electoral reform

  • Was the Demise of Electoral Reform Inevitable?

    After answering, more than a few times, what I thought of the prime minister’s decision to abandon electoral reform, I decided to put my thoughts  to paper.  Some tentative reasons for the demise of electoral reform were published in the Ottawa Citizen on February 3.            

  • Electoral Reform should focus on Principles not Systems

    I’ve been asked to be an expert witness at  the ERRE (The House of Commons Special Committee on Electoral Reform) on July 28 where I will be elaborating on my thoughts in this column on the importance of focussing on principles in the debate on electoral reform.  I will also be discussing what citizens’ assemblies […]

  • Who should decide if we have ranked voting in Kingston?

    Mayor Paterson of Kingston recently posted an on-line poll to ask Kingstonians what they thought of the prospect of ranked ballots for municipal elections. While I think it’s a good idea for the Mayor to solicit feedback on such an important initiative, such polls can easily be hijacked by those in favour or opposed to […]

  • Electoral Reform at the Manning Centre Conference

    On February 27, I was asked to speak on a panel about electoral reform with former B.C. MLA, Nick Loenen and Conservative critic for Democratic Institutions, Scott Reid at the Manning Centre Conference in Ottawa. Nick made the case that single transferable vote would be the best option for any reform while Scott argued that there were many […]