Voting system also to blame
Break up Liberal `old boys club'


By June Macdonald
Published November 21st 2006 in Toronto Star

Tom Axworthy paints a sorry picture of the state of the representation of women in Canada. He is right when he states that the parties are the culprits in not nominating more women, but our dysfunctional voting system is also a partner in crime.

 

Most countries with a good percentage of women (representatives) elect them under a form of proportional representation.

 

Our present system can be modified to add an element of proportionality, which will have the benefit of nominating not only more women but also other under-represented groups as well.

 

Just a minor error, Canada is not 42nd in the world — that is the rank of Pakistan. Canada weighs in at 44th.

 
IRV Soars in Twin Cities, FairVote Corrects the Pundits on Meaning of Election Night '09
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers.  Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections;  the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.

And as pundits try to make hay out of the national implications of Tuesday’s gubernatorial elections, Rob Richie in the Huffington Post concludes that the gubernatorial elections have little bearing on federal elections.

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