Policy Matters! 🔍🇨🇦

❗️Indeed, with issues like voter turnout and polarization allowing for populists like Ford to come to power, we need to accept that we not only can dream of a better future, but we can push for that dream to become reality! The first step is always taken from the bottom!

PCs form a “majority” government with 43% of the vote: Ontario voters cheated again by first-past-the-post Only 43% of Ontario voters supported Doug Ford's PCs, yet the voting system has given them 64.5 % of the seats and 100% of the power.

🚨After the most recent election in #Ontario, Ford won a third straight majority. Hidden behind populist rhetoric is corruption and harmful public policy. And they won this majority “with [only] 43% of the vote.” Why can less than half the population give a party a majority?
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✊Though AP may not be the perfect solution for the issues that face Canada’s political landscape today, it will certainly help in giving voters a more powerful choice.

The Science of Elections It comes as a surprise to some that there is a science of elections. Its provenance can be traced back to the Marquis de Condorcet in 18th-century France, Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) in 19th-centu...

🤝Researchers have found that AP, along with PR systems more generally, increase voter turnout, reduce polarization, and more accurately represent voter desires. Though AP specifically is largely untested, PR systems see use in dozens of countries, creating stable democracies.
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How do elections work in Latvia? Latvia’s election this Saturday (1st October) has been in the calendar for a while – a referendum is required to dissolve the Latvian parliament early. Such a vote can be called

✍️One such PR system is #ApprovalVoting (AP). Instead of ticking off one candidate at the ballot, voters will tick off all of the candidates they “approve” of, while leaving their undesired candidates’ slots blank.
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A Look at the Evidence Proportional representation (PR) is widely used in countries throughout the world, including most of the OECD. Look at the research on outcomes with PR.

⚖️Ultimately, FPTP takes choices away from voters. But, there are other election styles that, statistically, fare better against bitter polarization. A #ProportionalRepresentation (PR) system of voting choosing multiple candidates instead of being forced to choose just one.
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🎭Since venomous rhetoric between parties is encouraged, populists are emboldened. Political discourse devolves into attacks between two irreconcilable sides, and the loudest wins. As in Plato’s Republic, we may fall victim to choosing the performer over the actual expert.
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⚔️Further, when only one candidate can be chosen, the fight for it will be brutal. Indeed, FPTP elections statistically encourage more political polarization and hostility among sides than non-FPTP style elections.
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📉Example: A winning candidate could garner 40% of the vote, while candidate #2 gets 30%, candidate #3 gets 20%, and candidate #4 gets 10%. That means 60% of this riding did not want this winning candidate, but, since FPTP forces a singular decision, the majority are punished.
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🤷‍♂️However, since FPTP is winner takes all, shockingly often, parties that the majority did not vote for can end up in power.

🏁For voting, #Canada uses the #FirstPastThePost (FPTP) system. It’s simple: voters are asked to mark one candidate on a ballot, and the candidate with the most votes wins.

👥First, an explainer. #Democracy, at its simplest, is a form of government where leaders earn their legitimacy from the people. It takes many shapes, but in Canada, we vote on politicians who represent the interests of large groups, or “ridings,” in government.

❓But, what exactly is voter reform? Why should we make it a priority? And why would it overall strengthen our lives as Canadian citizens?

Democracy in Retreat

🧵Voter Reform and the Hope for a Better Democracy

#VoterReform is a classic #Canadian case of policy flip flops: infinitely discussed, never implemented. But, in an era where the world is seeing increasing democratic backsliding, we must work together to secure our own.
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The more of us say it, the more they must listen. It is not only inhumane to allow our own province to support the authoritarian violence happening in the states, but if we don’t take a stand, there is nothing to stop it from happening here too.

Because we have skin in this game, we should be calling, emailing, and speaking in person with our elected officials to express our horror of the ICE agency, and to demand a ban of all sales, including of armoured trucks, to ICE. You can find who yours is here: tinyurl.com/ycyzdhtb

This is the antithesis of freedom. And instead of shame, allow this to be a call for action. As opposed to guilt, feel angry. Be very angry that our governments, that plead freedom of speech and security of the person, are creating tools of destruction to attack regular people just like you and I.

We as Canadians have far more in common with our fellow American citizens than we do with our governments. Trump, Ford, and the #GOP / Ontario Caucus do not care enough about us as people that they are allowing these weapons of war to be manufactured and used on civilians.

This is a policy failure of the highest magnitude. The fact that so many in the Ontario legislature would not file an injunction against sending these weapons of war to be used on our fellow innocent working class neighbours is despicable.

‘Fantastic’ news: Ford welcomes ICE plan to order Ontario armoured vehicles | Globalnews.ca Reports emerged this week of U.S. government procurement plans to order 20 Senator vehicles for its ICE officers, a move worth roughly $10 million.

Indeed, Premier of #Ontario Doug Ford enthusiastically cheered when ICE chose the Brampton-based company Roshel to supply them their new Armoured Personnel Carriers; the trucks which have thus far helped them with their kidnappings in Minneapolis and elsewhere.
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This should be enraging to us Canadians not only because it is inhumane, but further, because we have a hand in it.

Though it is easy for a Canadian to morally grandstand and think “it could never happen here,” the scary truth is that our elected officials are already enabling it.

Indeed, with ICE’s mandate being to capture anyone they “suspect” is “illegal,” they will continue to do so without end; making up new reasons each time. There will always be a visible minority, and therefore, ICE will always have excuse for violence. Orwellian, isn’t it?
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Further, scapegoating and waging “perpetual war” to garner domestic fealty is a cornerstone of authoritarianism. The Trump regime is after whomever they believe to be an “illegal” immigrant, and this battle is not meant to be won.

Paramilitaries on the March | Brookings Opinioin by Sunil Dasgupta for The New York Times (April 6, 2003)

Of course, this is nothing new. Authoritarian regimes commonly use paramilitary groups to carry out violence and political repression. In many cases, the paramilitary groups are staffed with regular, working-class citizens; dividing and forcing infighting between regular people.
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Analysis | Does military equipment lead police officers to be more violent? We did the research. According to the numbers, yes.

Militarizing police forces already causes more violent encounters with the public, and ICE being given essentially a free pass to badger anyone for any reason enshrines their violence.
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At the time, ICE only had the jurisdiction to arrest convicted foreign criminals, but under #Trump 1.0, they had their cause broadened to include any “suspected” criminals.

A history. ICE was originally a creation of the Bush regime in the wake of 9/11; taking advantage of the very real fear in the American populace to repress civil liberties under the guise of “safety.”
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What can we, as Canadians who unable to directly influence policy in The United States, do to help our fellows in their fight against tyranny? Further, how do we ensure this kind of despotism never encroaches on us?

🧵ICE - Why #Canadians Should Be Angry, Too.

ICE has just executed yet another innocent American. As Canadians, seeing our neighbours fall to authoritarianism is existentially terrifying. Terrifyingly, we have skin in this game, too; and we need to take direct action.

Ottawa's box store parking lots are too big. We can fix that. | Opinion A store that requires hundreds of parking spots creates an environment that’s hostile to humans. Have you ever walked across one? | Opinion

A great way to prevent #Ottawa's continued sprawling is to reduce car-parking maximums for box stores via #OttCity's new Zoning By-law.

Thanks to @ottawacitizen.com for publishing our op-ed with Walkable Ottawa on this. #SustainableCities #Sprawl #CarParking

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