By Liz Rowley, leader of the Communist Party (Ontario)
John Tory's right‑wing platform went down to defeat October 10th. Ontario voters used their common sense to reject a platform crafted by the Big Grey Machine which launched Brian Mulroney and the neoliberal agenda of free trade, privatization, deregulation, corporate tax cuts, and the assault on labour, democratic and civil rights in Canada.
The next issue of People's Voice will examine the Ontario election. For now, one aspect of the campaign closely watched across the country was the referendum on the proposed Mixed-Member Proportional Representation system (MMP).
Support for this democratic electoral reform fell far short of the 60% yes vote required to pass. At 37% across the province, it didn't make 50% either. The main reason was public ignorance: most voters didn't know there was a referendum, and had no idea what either MMP or First Past the Post were.
Given the job of informing the public, Elections Ontario failed miserably. Literature was not put out until after the writs were issued in September, leaving little time for consideration. Further, the message was not about the pros and cons of the two systems. All the provincial funding went into the publishing and distribution of a leaflet telling voters to inform themselves, with nothing provided for the YES campaign. Of course the "NO" campaign was very well funded - just how generously the public will find out next summer, long after the dust has settled.
The YES campaign had little more than $100,000, all of it raised from individuals and some trade unions, and a small donation from the CPC (Ontario), to fight a province‑wide campaign that spanned three summer months and the election campaign. There had never been a broad public debate on proportional representation and most voters were uninformed. In September, a vast campaign of disinformation began, led by luminaries like former Liberal MP Sheila Copps, who at one point made the incredible claim that changing the voting system was like changing a trade union constitution, and should require at least a 60% yes vote to pass (and maybe higher).
The main attack was on the list MPPs, who would not be elected, but appointed by party insiders, according to the NO campaign.
In fact, the list candidates (including those elected as MPPs), like the candidates nominated in geographic ridings, would all have to be legally nominated by the leaders of each party. The difference is that each party would be required by law to inform Elections Ontario (and the public) of the process used to nominate the list candidates. Parties would not be required to make public how their candidates nominated in ridings were selected, though these are often determined by how deep the pockets of the candidate and supporters are (or by appointment). They're not usually determined "democratically", let alone transparently.
Another argument was that list candidates would not be accountable, since they had no riding or constituency. The fact that list MPPs would set up office in the areas where they received the highest vote, as experience in other countries with MMP showed, had little effect.
The NO campaign had the resources to get their message across, and a strategy to throw as much crud at MMP as possible, with the expectation that some of it would stick. Meanwhile the YES side did not have anywhere near the resources needed.
But from a starting point of near zero, the YES campaign secured a solid base of 37% for future campaigns, which Larry Gordon of Fair Vote Canada says started October 11th.
Noting that majority governments have been formed with less than 37% of the popular vote under the current undemocratic first‑past‑the‑post system, YES organizers had this to say: "Well, 37% voted for MMP and the press called it a resounding defeat. Only 42% voted for Mr. McGuinty and the press call it a resounding victory. That's first‑past‑the‑post for you...
"Had the referendum been limited to voters between ages 18 and 34, we would have easily exceeded the threshold... The younger generation is clearly not going to tolerate the antique machinery of a bygone era. Electoral reform is now on the agenda of the nation, and skeptics, such as Professor Nelson Wiseman, concede that the introduction of proportional voting is now just a matter of time."
In two years, voters in BC will have another referendum on a different version of electoral reform, and a charter challenge to the current first‑past‑the‑post system is in the works. The cat's out of the bag.
The CPC (Ontario) fought hard to support passage of MMP, despite all the obstacles: the 60% threshold, Regulation 211 which tried to gag political parties from speaking on this issue, and the Referendum Act which effectively smothered public debate on electoral reform. For the Communist Party, our 50‑year demand for PR is finally getting traction. It's a democratic reform long overdue.
The question now for PR supporters and advocates is to find the shortest path to implementation, and the broadest base of support. The struggle continues.