Hi Fair Vote Toronto supporters,
The Charter Challenge for Fair Voting will be heard in the Ontario Superior Court in Toronto next week to prove that First Past the Post is an infringement on Canadians’ right to equal treatment under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Tony Hodgson, president of Fair Voting BC, will be in Toronto for the court hearing and has offered to host an in-person briefing for any electoral reform supporters who might be interested.
Join us at the Northern District Library (Yonge & Eglinton) from 2:00 – 4:30 PM on Sunday, September 24th for an afternoon exploring the arguments behind the challenge and how you can get involved going forward.
Summer Volunteer Recap
It was an action-packed summer for Fair Vote Toronto this year as volunteers came out in droves to help spread the good word of Proportional Representation!
Our team had a presence at three conferences this summer (the Ontario School Board Council of Unions Conference, CUPE Ontario convention and the Elementary Teacher’s Federation of Ontario convention), a Pharmacare Townhall, Toronto’s Pride Street Festival, and a booth at the Markham Wesley Community Centre’s Open House Day. We also hosted two volunteer hangouts at Christie Pits Park for our members to socialize and get to know one another.
Thank you to everyone who dedicated their time and effort at all our events!
First-past-the-post fuels insider deals, bad decision-making in Ontario
In a blistering report, Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk laid out how the process to decide which lands would be removed from the Greenbelt was flawed, unfair, and heavily favoured the developers picked by the PC Housing Minister’s Chief of Staff.
A strong majority of voters already oppose the development of the Greenbelt and the Ford government continues to ignore their voices. What other major decisions are being made with little oversight, purely for the benefit and partisan self-interest of one political party?
Watch: How other countries changed their electoral systems
One of the most common questions people ask is: how did other countries get proportional representation? Take a deep dive into the answer with electoral reform expert Professor Dennis Pilon, who has spent decades researching the real-world politics of how countries change their voting systems.
Democratic Reform in the News
Electoral reform continues to make the news across Canada and around the world. Here is a sample of what is being said:
- The Charter challenge of first-past-the-post could lead to a better electoral system
- Canada’s election laws have sidelined Green voters for far too long
- How American Democracy Fell So Far Behind
- Let’s Start Bringing 80 Million Americans Back Into the Political Process
Citizens’ assemblies have been used over 600 times since 1980, with a huge increase in the last few years. Learn more by visiting DemocracyNext’s CA Guide.