Electoral Alliance continues to build Cabbagetown resident leads electoral alliance: spoke on Jan. 23

John Bessai —

Hundreds of voters have shown their support for an electoral alliance at two recent Downtown events.

Over 230 people attended the It’s About Time! Action on Climate Change through Electoral Reform town hall on Nov. 28 at the Ralph Thornton Centre.

Moderated by Councillor Adam Vaughan, the audience heard from the Green Party’s Elizabeth May, former federal Liberal leader Stephan Dion and Toronto-Danforth MP Craig Scott from the NDP.

Wing Wo helped organize the successful meeting and was very pleased with the large turnout. She sees the connection between action on climate change and fixing the electoral system to make it more democratic.

“Climate change is an important issue that will increasingly affect the daily lives of all Canadians,” Wo points out, “but not all have put a link to the problem with our electoral system. 40% of votes led to a ‘majority’ government that do not represent all Canadians and certainly not the ones that want action on climate change.”

Proportional representation is what many groups, including Fair Vote Canada, promote. One way to get to electoral change, according to Canadian Electoral Alliance leader and Cabbagetown resident Lynn McDonald, is via “an electoral alliance among the non-Conservative parties” that she calls “the best and safest means of proceeding.”

Another 50 voters met at the workshop on “How to Lobby Proportional Representation” on Jan. 23.

After hearing speakers Kelly Carmichael of Fair Vote Canada, McDonald and event chair John Deverell, many attendees have declared an intent to lobby their MPs on proportional representation in the coming months.

Another multiparty town hall to discuss alliance possibilities is being planned for April. Details—and an audio recording of November event—can be found at www.electoralalliance.ca.