Ontario electoral reform referendum, 2007
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An Ontario electoral reform referendum to be held in 2007 has been proposed by the Government of Ontario, which tabled legislation to this effect in early 2005, anticipating the May 2005 British Columbia electoral reform referendum.
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[edit] Citizens' Assembly
The referendum would be held, at latest, concurrently with the 2007 provincial election in October of that year. The new system, if approved, would be in effect in any subsequent election. It is not impossible that the referendum could be held earlier and affect the 2007 vote, but this seems unlikely.
The legislation would initiate a citizens' assembly process similar to BC.
[edit] Opposition and support
The BC model was strongly criticized by a number of groups including Fair Vote Canada which called for ten specific improvements including most prominently:
- "Access to a variety of experts: The assembly should have presentations from and ongoing access to a variety of voting system experts, including those with differing opinions. The assembly must be protected from being deliberately or inadvertently steered by staff experts."
- "Flexibility on recommendations: Given the recent reduction of seats in the Ontario legislature, the assembly should be allowed to consider models that involve an increase in the number of MPPs. In addition, if the assembly cannot reach a general consensus on the single best alternative voting system, they should be allowed to present two alternatives, with voters using a preference ballot in the referendum to choose among the alternatives and the status quo."
- "No super-majority required for adoption: Unlike the BC government, the Ontario government and political parties should not impose a super-majority referendum result for adoption of a new voting system. If the Government claims the right to make binding and far-reaching policy decisions based on simple majority rule, the same standard should apply to citizens."
The Green Party of Ontario strongly supported the move to electoral reform of any kind, and of all parties it stands to gain most substantially from any such referendum.
The New Democratic Party of Ontario also supports it as it is legally a subordinate arm of the New Democratic Party of Canada which has advocated similar reform federally.
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario is the only party that stands to substantially lose as a result. It is anticipated that this party would have difficulty winning a majority government (which requires more than 50% of the vote, something which the Tories and Liberals have only received very rarely), and would have trouble under the current circumstances in leading a minority government, as it has no obvious coalition partner among the other two major parties(the Ontario Liberal Party and Ontario NDP). Leader John Tory had yet to make a statement about the reform or his party's view of it. However, it is important to point out that in New Zealand, many more political parties have emerged since the adoption of a Mixed Member Proportional electoral system–parties on all ends of the political spectrum.
It could also be pointed out that the Ontario Tories could hypothetically form a coalition or at least an alliance with the Ontario Green Party since their economic agenda is fairly centre-right and is considered to be Blue Green by most observers.
