Letter: All I want for Christmas is fair voting system for Canada
By Letters to the editor
To The Editor:
The mydemocracy.ca survey that the government has invited all households to take part in, has been designed to confuse and ultimately dodge the vital issue of fair voting (proportional representation) in Canada.
The postcard invites Canadians to take part in the national “conversation” on electoral reform however the survey is the furthest thing from a conversation.
Nowhere in the survey is proportional representation mentioned or our current outdated “first past the post” system.The reason for this is that the federal Liberal party wants to keep our current voting system in place as they feel it will work to their advantage in the next election.
The public survey must be replied to during the busiest time of year, when the last thing most people want to think about is politics.The questions in the survey are worded in such a way that they lead peoples answers. It is full of ambiguous questions and puts emphasis on mandatory voting and online voting (both highly controversial subjects). I suspect this is in an effort to sidetrack the discussion from the vital issue of our votes being fairly represented.
Also and perhaps most telling, there is no space for citizens to submit their comments.
Justin Trudeau promised to get rid of “first past the post” voting during his election campaign.
Of all the election promises made this is the most important as it stands at the core of our right to fair representation.The Canadian public must hold him to his promise.
Please join me in emailing / texting / phoning / tweeting / writing Justin Trudeau and your local Member of Parliament and telling them to keep his promise and establish a voting system where all votes are fairly represented in Government.
Dave Carter
Castlegar BC
