Disappointing
It looks like P.E.I. voters have voted against changing the province's electoral system. According to the CBC, "by the end of the night, Islanders had voted 63.99 per cent against reform, while 36.01 per cent voted yes."
The CBC characterized the 64% as an 'overwhelming No vote'. Meanwhile the Star noted that this was the second time a province had 'rejected' electoral reform, with B.C.'s 58% vote in favour of reform being characterized as a rejection (when only 6% higher and it would have been an 'overwhelming' endorsement!) The Star's coverage makes me wonder what would have happened if Campbell had set the threshold at 90% in B.C. and 87% had voted in favour. Would the Star still report it as voters rejecting change? I know, I know, I'm just cranky cause the 'Yes' side lost in P.E.I.
Anyway, reform was always going to be a tough sell in an old-school small-c- conservative province like P.E.I., especially with all the politicians doing what they could to ensure a 'No' vote, but I was still hoping for the best.
Oh well, just have to keep battling. Eventually Canadians will embrace change for the better, it's just going to take some work to hurry the process along as much as possible.
If you want something to cheer you up, this great introductory post on electoral reform by the Idealistic Pragmatist might do it. If not, the Carnival of Schadenfreude (next post down) is bound to bring a smile to the lips of anybody not named Conrad Black (or Barbara Amiel, perhaps).
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Update: On yeah, I forgot to mention, the Federal government fell today (and it can't get up).
The CBC characterized the 64% as an 'overwhelming No vote'. Meanwhile the Star noted that this was the second time a province had 'rejected' electoral reform, with B.C.'s 58% vote in favour of reform being characterized as a rejection (when only 6% higher and it would have been an 'overwhelming' endorsement!) The Star's coverage makes me wonder what would have happened if Campbell had set the threshold at 90% in B.C. and 87% had voted in favour. Would the Star still report it as voters rejecting change? I know, I know, I'm just cranky cause the 'Yes' side lost in P.E.I.
Anyway, reform was always going to be a tough sell in an old-school small-c- conservative province like P.E.I., especially with all the politicians doing what they could to ensure a 'No' vote, but I was still hoping for the best.
Oh well, just have to keep battling. Eventually Canadians will embrace change for the better, it's just going to take some work to hurry the process along as much as possible.
If you want something to cheer you up, this great introductory post on electoral reform by the Idealistic Pragmatist might do it. If not, the Carnival of Schadenfreude (next post down) is bound to bring a smile to the lips of anybody not named Conrad Black (or Barbara Amiel, perhaps).
----
Update: On yeah, I forgot to mention, the Federal government fell today (and it can't get up).
posted by Declan at
Monday, November 28, 2005
2 Comments:
I'm really quite bummed about this. I expected the No side to triumph in the end, but I at least wanted a razor-thin margin like in B.C. This was just demoralizing.
Ah well, there's always Ontario. And at least there, the Powers That Be are relatively sympathetic (or at least not actively promoting the one outcome). Thanks for the link, anyway.
By
Idealistic Pragmatist, at 8:11 PM
I think what you'll find is that the closer it gets to an actual change, the colder the feet of the government in power will get. I hope I'm wrong with respect to Ontario, but I guess we'll see.
By
Declan, at 12:39 PM
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