Friday, October 12, 2007

Told Ya so

Ian Urquhart: "Let's hope this is last we hear of MMP".

Toronto Star editorial: "Ontario has now joined British Columbia and Prince Edward Island in rejecting proportional representation and choosing the status quo. That should be all the answer the advocates of electoral reform need."

You've got to love that -- BC voted more than 55% in favour of STV, but because it didn't meet the arbitrary level of support the government said was required, the Star describes it as "rejected". I'm beginning to wonder if the Star is even capable of not lying to it's readers on this issue.

And it's time to go back to bashing Ian Urquart:
This is a valid argument only if the principle of "proportionality" – that each party's seat count should be directly proportional to its popular vote – is seen as trumping all other concerns, including accountability, tradition, simplicity and stability.
Funny. Three of Urquhart's four concerns would be satisfied by a one-party state in some countries. In China, there's a long history of undemocratic rule, which is awfully simple and stable (6,000 years!) So: is Ian Urquhart three-quarters of a Communist?

And just to be clear, yes, Ian is opposed to any proportionality: "But, please, no more talk of MMP or its ilk." These are bad, bad people. They don't want any talk of silly concerns like voters getting the outcomes they vote for. Blech.

2 comments:

Oxford County Liberals said...

Actually, I believe BC's vote was 58% in favour of STV, which makes the Star's claim even more ridiculous.

I've wrote Ian, asking him to tell me what he'd do to reform the current system, since he hates PR of any type apparently. I asked him in the context of the fact only 52% of eligible Ontario voters came out to vote.. and as a result.. only 22% of eligible voters were needed to give the Liberals a majority government - and I pointed out I was a Liberal supporter.

So, it will be interesting to hear if he thinks that there's still nothing wrong with the current system.

Oxford County Liberals said...

Update: Ian in his email states that he believes that any form of PR is a cure worse then then disease.