dave meslin, KC
@meslin
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guardian of two cats, father of one humanoid, uncle to dozens. author of one book. Born at 330ppm CO2.
Eugenia, Ontario
Joined February 2009
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
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Pinned Tweet
PUBLISHED: The inaugural Ontario Municipal Democracy Index!
Voter turnout, gender balance, BIPOC representation and UX Design. Where does YOUR city rank?
Get the full report from
@ArmstrongStrat
or
@UnlockCanada
:
➡️
➡️
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1. Three weeks ago, I ordered a box of boxes from
@PkgWholesalers
, via
@amazonca
. Specifically, I ordered a package of 25 boxes, each 6x9x6:
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2K
Got together with some neighbours and transformed a local intersection with chalk & leaves, revealing a surplus surface area of 2,000 square feet which could be re-designed as a parkette, new sidewalks, and much shorter/safer crossings. 🌳🚶🏽 More:
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This photo is perfect, and sums up exactly who benefits from cutting council in half. Seven men. (No women) Two are sons of former politicians. Another has three politicians in his fam: two uncles & grandpa. Smaller gov = an insider’s game, dominated by a very narrow demographic.
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@PkgWholesalers
@amazonca
@AmazonHelp
13. I've now received a total of 12 bags of granola + 4 Harry Potter coasters. I've reached out to
@PkgWholesalers
, but they brushed me off. I think I'm gonna take
@m_layton
's advice and just go to a damn store. You know, a physical place, with things in it. Things you can see.
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Just got a call from
@CPC_HQ
asking me to contribute $400 to help stop the Liberals from allowing ISIS fighters into Canada. 🙄. And here we thought it was Bernier who was going to campaign on Islamophobia. What a cesspool of cynical scum the Tories have become.
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So... do the Ontario Conservatives not have a platform? I'm working on a report card today, comparing all the platforms (for
@UnlockCanada
). And I can't find any platform at all for the Tories.... ??
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Today's polls: "Two thirds of voters don't like Doug Ford's Conservatives"
Today's media headline: "What is the secret to Doug Ford’s popularity?" 😂
#FirstPastThePost
😾
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Just read this in the Toronto Star: "Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives are firmly in majority territory, with 38% support".
Majority. 38%. Only in Canada could such a nonsensical statement be true.
How long do we have to tolerate a voting system that inverts public opinion?
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After
@ElizabethMay
's performance tonight it would absolutely irresponsible for the
@globeandmail
to exclude her at their debate.
#macdebate
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1. Eight years ago I produced a graph showing how Toronto's post-amalgamation population size, in comparison to the number of City Council wards, leaves us with a crisis of under-representation:
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@PkgWholesalers
@amazonca
8. Today I figured out the problem. The granola company and the coaster company buy THEIR boxes from the same people I'm trying to by mine from. And the barcode scanners at
@amazonca
are picking up the old sticker - from the box company!
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@PkgWholesalers
@amazonca
9. So each time I was getting the wrong order, I was also getting ONE correct box. So now I'm thinking I should just order 25 packages of 25 boxes, ship the sea salt granola back to
@amazonca
in plastic bags - and just keep all the boxes. For free.
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All three opposition leaders in Ontario have now committed to reversing Doug Ford's ban on ranked ballots. So, essentially, he's burning up a lot of political capital... for nothing.🤦♂️
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If I was asked to design an election process that would guarantee low levels of participation, I would include ten simple elements. First, I'd hold the election in the middle of the work week, unlike the dozens of countries that hold elections on a weekend or holiday.
#Onelxn
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Today, the son of a former cabinet minister threw Canada’s constitution in the trash, enabled by the daughter of a former prime minister. Meanwhile the son of another PM, who is now himself our PM, is ‘disappointed’. Maybe we should stop electing our leaders’ children?
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My neighbours cut ten feet off their shrub, and replaced it with a community bench!! ❤️
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4. This is what the chart will look like, if Doug Ford implements his proposal to bludgeon our Council:
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1. A short thread for anyone in Ontario who cares about road safety, tourism, natural beauty, light pollution, astronomy, mental health, lobbyist accountability, wildlife habitat, democracy, and/or death. First, a headline:
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"Proportional Representation" is literally a synonym for "election". All it means is this: The outcome of the election actually reflects what people asked for. That's it. Not very radical! The fear-mongers will try to confuse you. But to oppose PR, is to oppose democracy.
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So sad to hear that Metroland will be shutting down the printed versions of 70+ Ontario weekly papers. This is a policy failure, and we all saw it coming from miles away.
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8. Our democracy is on life-support. A leader who claims to be "for the people", yet was actually rejected by a majority of those people, is moving ahead like a bulldozer to erode democratic representation even further. We need to fix our broken system. We deserve so much better.
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Welcome to the 13th edition of
#LegoMyVote
! Today, we're looking at Canada's 2019 federal election. We'll start with the popular vote. Here's how Canadians actually voted at the ballot box:
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@PkgWholesalers
@amazonca
10. UPDATE: So, after my thread was posted, I got a nice message from
@AmazonHelp
, asking me to contact their support team. Following a 40 minute online chat, I was told: "You had been delivered wrong items because there was some error but now you will get the proper items."
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@PkgWholesalers
@amazonca
@AmazonHelp
11. I responded, with honesty: "The error has been fixed? It wasn't fixed the first three times.. so I'm skeptical!"
@amazonca
responded: "You will get the correct item. I do not want any more hassles for you. Please do not worry. " So I re-ordered the
@PkgWholesalers
boxes...
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In response to
@fordnation
's plan to ban ranked ballots, I'm reaching out to the other leaders in the legislature (
@StevenDelDuca
,
@AndreaHorwath
+
@MikeSchreiner
) asking them to confirm if they'd bring ranked ballots back in 2022, if elected. Stay tuned for their answers!
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@PkgWholesalers
@amazonca
6. Two days later, I got a box delivered to my house with - I kid you not - a package of Harry Potter coasters.
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BREAKING: Please share. Ontario MPP
@MitzieHunter
is introducing a Private Members Bill today, that would save ranked ballots for 444 municipalities! 💥 More details to come...
#CouncilSoWhite
#RankedBallots
#ONpoli
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Once again, the largest voting block in Canada is - BY FAR - the group that stayed at home. This is a massive rebuke of Canada's bullshit obscure electoral system that stifles new voices, crushes innovation, obliterates diversity and exaggerates support for two dinosaur parties.
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7. Doug Ford was rejected by 66% of Toronto's voters when he ran for mayor in 2014. Then, just a few weeks ago, his party was rejected by 60% of Ontario voters. Yet he's now is a position of power allowing him to dominate both the legislature and council, with an iron fist.
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Hangin out in Stoufville this afternoon w/
@janephilpott
! Canada desperately needs more Independent voices in Parliament, so I’m excited to see Jane,
@Puglaas
&
@MPCelina
re-imaging what an MP’s role can be. 🇨🇦
#Westminster
#338Voices
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@PkgWholesalers
@amazonca
7. I returned the item and, for reasons I can't fathom, instead of asking for a refund I again asked
@amazonca
to send me the correct order. Yesterday, I got another box of granola.
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🤐 📺 As long as TV networks are censoring a major publicly-funded political party supported by hundreds of thousands of voters, they should expect their live feeds to increasingly look like this:
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1. This is the most important thread I've written in years. Please RT. Two years ago, London City Council became the first government in Canada to ditch First-Past-the-Post. The results were astounding. Take a moment to watch this short video:
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Londoners should be proud. The first government in Canada to ditch first-past-the-post!! The switch has begun.
#LondonLeads
!!
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@PkgWholesalers
@amazonca
2. When the delivery arrived at my door, it was a box of Chocolate Sea Salt Granola packets.
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THREAD: So this fellow asked me what would have happened in Toronto's election last night - if we had a ranked ballot. My ADHD impulses compelled me to drop everything I'm SUPPOSED to be doing this morning, and I spent the last hour calculating a hypothetical runoff...
@meslin
In a ranked ballot situation, if 75% of each of Hunter and Matlow’s voters choose Chow as their 2nd choice, and 75% of each of Saunders and Furey’s voters choose Bailão,
Does Chow still win? Or does that math push Bailão to victory?
Just trying to understand the process.
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5. On this Mothers Day, spend a few moments pondering how and why our political system seems to be rigged in favour of certain demographics - at the expense of others. Then think about what we can do to fix it. 🌹
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This is - hands down - the most significant thing I've seen written about voting reform in Canada since the Citizens Assembly reports in BC ('04) + Ontario ('07).
I welcome
@MichelleRempel
to our movement, joining fellow tories Hugh Segal + Guy Giorno.
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6. City Council is the opposite: Every vote is a free vote and Councillors are expected to represent their constituents each and every time. Municipal government is designed explicitly to be closer to the people, with two-way feedback happening in-between elections.
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Who is advising Trudeau on voting reform? His proposal for federal ranked ballots is absurd. We'd be shifting from one broken/obscure system to an even more obscure system. Only 2 countries in the entire world use ranked ballots to elect single MPs: Australia and Papua New Guinea
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“Nothing is more important than vaccine distribution right now”. “....That’s why I spent the last few months focussed on wetland destruction, dismantling local democracy and building more farmland sprawl.” 🤦
We have to work together to get these plans in place, to get this vaccine distributed as quickly as possible. Nothing is more important right now.
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A proposal for
@CanadianGreens
:
This would be a great time to explore Co-Leadership. The "Single Leader" model is kinda stale, a lousy remnant of monarchy. With 2 or 3 co-leaders you could have gender balance, racial diversity, geographic spread + intergenerational leadership.
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THIS JUST IN:
@Kathleen_Wynne
has formally + publicly endorsed our call for fair debates! Now we're waiting to hear from
@AndreaHorwath
&
@fordnation
. Kudos to
@ontario_liberal
for showing leadership and a true commitment to democratic principles.
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OMG!!! Kingston voted 63% to ditch First Past the Post!! Change is coming. I'm so proud of the
@123YGK
team, all our supporters, donors and volunteers and especially our team captain
@baronin140
!!
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With
@fordnation
trying to ban ranked ballots in Ontario this week, some of you might be wondering "What exactly does a ranked ballot look like?" For educational purposes, here's a great example of a well-designed ranked ballot:
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@PkgWholesalers
@amazonca
5. I shipped it back, cancelled the order and asked for a refund. Then I re-ordered the item, starting afresh. I figured it was a one-off glitch, and a new order would be fine. .... right?
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1. This is CLASSIC Toronto. 🤦 Any reason to avoid innovation, to embrace inertia, to celebrate mediocrity.
Plan to bring ranked ballots to 2022 Toronto election falters as city clerk calls for pause
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@PkgWholesalers
@amazonca
3. I was frustrated, but mistakes happen. So I went onto
@amazonca
and saw that I could send the package back, for free! I clicked on the "wrong item shipped" button, and asked them to re-ship the correct item.
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Members of Canada’s Parliament voted this morning, to elect a Speaker of the House. Did they use First-Past-the-Post? Ha! No way. Why would anyone use a discredited broken system that distorts results?! They used a ranked ballot, with an instant runoff. 😹
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“I’ve enjoyed sitting as an Independent. I haven’t lost my voice.... I’ve FOUND it.”
“No one influences my vote now, except my constituents”. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
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"Do you want young people to vote? Give us a system where our vote counts."
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Hey, so it's
#LetsTalk
day here in Canada. Ok. I've recently emerged from my 3rd major depressive episode. Lots of crying, self-loathing, emptiness... Lasted 8 months (again). Feeling stable now. I'm on 20mg Cipralex/Celexa + exploring Internal Family Systems therapy. Onwards!❤️
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Today, 60% of voters in Ontario rejected the Conservative government. But our farcical ״election system״ retuned Doug Ford to power anyway, with a fake “majority”.
I’ll be posting a detailed analysis tomorrow, using LEGO & donuts! 🎥🍩
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In Dec 2018
@TheTorontoSun
referred to
@DesmondCole
as "angry past-his-15-seconds-of-fame”. Hmm. Roughly 51 million seconds later, Des is one of Canada's best-selling authors. Meanwhile the SUN continues to rank as Toronto's least-read paper, an outcast within a dying sector.
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If Toronto used ranked ballots there would be a very interesting and dynamic mayoral race this year. Instead, many qualified and willing candidates will get pushed out, to prevent "vote-splitting". It's happening right now in backrooms: an invisible, elite-driven "primary". 😭🗳️
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“I think the best public policy and laws are created through a minority situation, because people, parties, members of Parliament have to co-operate in order to pass laws”. ❤️
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5. Some are comparing our local council to provincial or federal govt, saying "If they can manage with 25 seats, why can't Council?". The answer is simple: Queen's Park and Ottawa are partisan legislatures, where elected members have almost zero influence. Every vote is whipped.
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Hey, anyone in TO wanna help shutdown the US consulate on Monday morning? ✊🏿✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏻
#MuslimBan
#MuslimBanProtest
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10. Lastly, I'd use an obscure and discredited voting system that forces people to vote strategically, rewards negative campaigning, and creates either unstable minority governments or fake majorities that most voters didn't ask for.
#OnElxn
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I’m working on a project called the Municipal Democracy Index, ranking Ontario’s largest cities based on a series of quantifiable metrics related to how power is shared / distributed and the degree to which local democracy is accessible, responsive and representative...
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Hanging out tonite at
@janephilpott
’s campaign HQ. So refreshing to see a non-partisan re-election campaign in Canada! History in the making. 🙂
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Often when advocates for electoral reform criticize the outcome of an election, we're accused of being sore losers who simply don't like the outcome. So I just wanna say now, 2 weeks in advance, that if ANY party wins a fake majority I'll be calling it a scam. Tune in on the 8th:
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On Monday, I’m giving my vote to my teenage son. He’s smart, thoughtful, pays taxes, and will be affected by today’s policy decisions for the next 80 years.
Follow
@Vote16Canada
to join our growing movement!
⏩
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Wow - The top four candidates for Toronto mayor have ALL pledged their support for ranked ballots in the 2022 election! Maybe 2018 will be Toronto's last broken election? Great work
@TorontoRaBIT
!!!
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1. Five US cities held referendums yesterday, asking voters if they want to switch to ranked ballots. And all five voted YES! Not surprising, since we have the same track record here in Ontario, winning every referendum so far. US DETAILS:
@AMOPolicy
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VIDEO: Three voting systems, all explained with LEGO: <--Facebook
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Kinda stunning that
@CityNews
chose three white men to be the pundits for a debate that is already dominated by three white men.
#MacDebate
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Amalgamated Toronto has never had a female mayor, a Black mayor, or a mayor from Scarborough.
These are just three of the many reasons I'm supporting
@MitzieHunter
for Mayor.
She's bold, smart, fun and effective.
It's time.
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4. I would prevent young teenagers from voting. That way, they'll develop an early habit of disengagement during their most formative years. In Ontario, a sixteen year old is considered old enough to have sex with their MPP, but not old enough to vote for them.
#ONelxn
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This photo is pretty funny too. The gender breakdown of their facial expressions is priceless. (3x😜) + (3x🙄)=?
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2. You may notice that the gender balance of our Provincial and Territorial leaders, in 2019, is roughly 13:0
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Very excited to see
@StevenDelDuca
's promise to allow municipalities to use ranked ballots for municipal elections. But his proposal to use ranked ballots for provincial elections is misguided, half-baked & misinformed. I strongly urge
@ontario_liberal
to re-consider this move.
NEW:
@StevenDelDuca
promises sweeping electoral reform — including ranked ballots — if
@OntLiberal
win June 2 election. Says he will quit if he fails to deliver that in the first term.
#onpoli
#topoli
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This week in North American democracy:
US President: STOP COUNTING THE BALLOTS
Ontario Premier: STOP USING RANKED BALLOTS
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This is huge.
@Kathleen_Wynne
just announced a commitment giving all cities the option of using ranked ballots!!
http://t.co/IDEDqTRsRz
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As America begins to recover from 4 yrs of attacks on democracy, decency & truth, the
@OntarioPCParty
is about to become the first and ONLY government in Canada to BAN a common voting system that was already in use. With zero consultation. LEARN MORE:
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It's shocking how many intelligent people continue to spread the Big Lie that modern proportional elections in Canada would give Maxime Bernier power. Germany's election last night shows exactly how it works: Racists win seats, but are then ignored and excluded by the other MPs.
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ugh. I can't believe
@StevenDelDuca
is moving forward with his ranked ballot promise. This is such a reckless move, and will set the whole movement backwards. I'm so frustrated that his team is doing this with zero consultation. This is even worse than Trudeau's trainwreck. 😿
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(While we're pushing back against Ford's attack on Council, keep in mind that he might be doing this whole thing as a distraction. Since Thursday eve, sex-ed is out of the news as well as cuts to green programs. Don't let him smoke-screen his agenda, as Trump has done so well.)
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Two weeks ago, a far-right AfD mayoral candidate in Germany got 42% for mayor, almost 20 points ahead of the Independent second place candidate. Under Canada's voting system, he would've 'won' with 42%. But today's runoff vote delivered a victory to the independent, 55% to 45%.
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#ldnont
is the coolest city in Canada. First municipality to ditch First-Past-the-Post, and now the first city to officially fight back against the provincial government's attack on local democracy.
London city council will call out Queen's Park, officially. In a 14-1 vote, councillors decided to tell the province they oppose a plan to scrap the ranked ballot option. At 7:25, we'll hear from
@AnnaHopkins11
,
@JoshMorganLDN
+ Phil Squire.
#LdnOnt
More:
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Yep! Sad, but true. Listen, if we aren’t prepared to face reality, and embrace an honest diagnosis, then we’re never gonna see the changes we need in Canada. FPTP is not a voting system. It’s a damaging and dangerous exercise of electoral distortion, exclusion & polarization.
I can't believe that
@meslin
is saying on
@CBCSunday
that elections in Canada are a "scam" . Really Dave?
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In my book, I mock all of Canada's political parties for being scared of their own members. They prefer to hand-pick their candidates, rather than openly/publicly recruit new voices.
@AnnamiePaul
's new "Time to Run" campaign is amazing + unprecedented.❤️
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First, let me say that these types of simulations are ridiculous. Democratic reform, of any type (ranked ballots, proportional, semi-proportional, whatever) don't just chance the math on election night. Voting systems affect WHO runs, HOW they run, and HOW we all vote.
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June 12, 2013: Toronto City Council took a bold step towards 2 crucial reforms that would transform local elections by empowering excluded voices: Voting rights for permanent residents & ranked ballots. 7 years later, neither were implemented. THIS is how insiders cling to power.
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5. This is striking, because London's City Council earned one of the largest mandates in Ontario, well above 50% of the vote. While Ford's government barely got 40% of the vote. The province shouldn't micromanage our local councils, and suffocate democratic reform.
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2. Quick background: While some states + provinces allow corporate billboards to line their highways,
@ONtransport
has, for decades, protected all 400-series highways from billboards. From Windsor to Cornwall, Toronto to Parry Sound, you'll mostly see farmland and forest.
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5. I would prevent all Permanent Residents from voting despite that fact that they live here, work here, pay taxes + send their kids to school. This would ensure that new immigrants aren't encouraged to develop habits of political participation.
#OnElxn
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Priceless. The clown who spent years fighting against municipal ranked ballots is now telling people not to split the vote. 😹
#Karma
.
Voting for Mark Saunders is like voting for Olivia Chow.
Only Ana Bailao can beat Olivia Chow.
Carry on!
Vote Ana Bailao!
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1. So great to see a FULL PAGE dedicated to ranked ballots in yesterday's
@TorontoStar
. One article, by
@jpags
, features
@ArielkeK
and a superb rundown of our just-released
#LondonLeads
report.
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BIG news: My book "Teardown: Rebuilding Democracy from the Ground Up" is being transformed into a television series! ‼️😮‼️
Each chapter will be transformed into an episode, produced by
@moietdave
, airing on
@tvo
in 2024! Stay tuned for updates!
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There are very few democratic countries where a party is legally allowed to take power against the will of the majority. Our voting system is obscure and embarrassing. Join me and
@Fearless_Fred
to hear about our broken democracy - and how we can fix it.
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