wyly

I disagree, we vote for the party not the individual...Ignateiff wasn't rejected his party was, liberals lost everywhere...ignatieff is highly qualified for the job of MP I doubt very very strongly he was rejected because of his ability, rob anders on the other hand is a repugnant human being yet he wins repeatedly despite his lack of ability...

Timg- and what do we have now with fptp? a minority of the poulation 39.5%(cpc) imposing their minority view on the majority of the population ... in a PR system that 39.5% would need to reach a consensus with a proportion of the electoral representatives that give them 50%+ of the electorate...be it liberals greens, bloc or Ndp or any combination that works...real democracy in action not a dictatorship of the minority...

it would be awesome...but status quo is self serving the powers that be don't give a crap what us minions think...how do you propose raising the level of debate?

there are a number of different PR systems pick one or invent one that works better to address your concerns... patronage of party hacks? you mean like rob anders who even when his own riding executive sought his ouster he was protected by the PM? patronage of party hacks, the senate? canadians rarely vote for the individual, we vote for the party regardless what clown they choose to have run in our riding...it's rare we reject the parties choice based on individual character, rob anders as an example once again...local candidates run on the "party line" not their own merits...

andwho pissed in your's...you posted a flippant baseless generalization not in keeping with the spirit of the debate and I gave it the response it deserved...

liberals and ndp are both progressive but that's irrelevant anyway it doesn't matter if a liberal would vote cpc..., it's the denial of adequate democratic representation that matters...saying "status quo" is good enough isn't good enough, it can be better...

but you believe in conspiracy theories and astrology so your opinion isn't really relevant in the world of reality...

yes they are democracy is alive and well and thriving...you must be confusing democracy with economics, that would need to be in a different thread ... britain doesn't have provinces...

the 40% represents progressives of all sorts, Liberals, ndp, greens...4 out of 10 people have no voice in alberta, and adding 6 more federal seats to alberta's total skews the lack of representation even more( and the probability is high that the provinces lone ndp riding will be gerrymandered when the seat reallocation are done)...it's the exact opposite of what happens federally where less than 40% popular vote equals a majority government, equally skewed....the fptp system has a huge democratic flaw...

so status quo is acceptable? as you pointed out those who benefit from it have no interest in changing it...I'm counting on the NDP to change if they revert to "status quo" I'll never support them again, I'll go green party...there are PR systems all over globe that work perfectly fine, democracy flourish there, minority governments are common but they're governments of compromise that reflect true majorities...

so we shouldn't look to improve democracy?

it would need to be effective too,....and then we'd end up with american style political gridlock...dump the senate, one chamber with some sort of PR electoral system...

you misunderstand my point...I live in a province that due to fptp approximately 40% never has a representative in the HoC, and this has been going on for decades...how does permently shutting out 40% of the population become democratically acceptable? how does giving a majority government to a similar 40% seem democratically acceptable ? the electoral process of fptp does not reflect an accurate political viewpoint of albertans...

and if my country was occupied and my family was forced to live under apartheid system for 40 years I'd be resisting as well....it's strange that when civil resistance breaks out anywhere else we support from the right wing for these movements(syria, libya etc) and those engaged in battle are hailed as heroic freedom fighters...meanwhile palestinians are branded as terrorists for resisting a decades long occupation...

yup, I'm going to throw that at him and see what he comes back with...as I said to him at the time was if an MD can't do abortions for religious reasons then he/she shouldn't have become a Ob-Gyn and chosen dermatology instead...

sure but it's agreed to ahead of time...it's the employer who is responsible...the same would apply to me if I hired a devout christian that could not work on sundays...the work expectations should be discussed up front before someone is hired and both need to agree...

that would be a reasonable compromise...

not all predators are rapists but it is something they work up to...I've been in gyms where there are predators that come only to stare at the women (and I'm not talking about normal male glances) I've seen them and they are indeed creepy...my daughter tells me of predator that stalks her gym he has repeatedly "accidentally" he claims entered the women's change rooms, complaints about the behaviour do nothing because it's a public coed gym and there is no evidence that it is deliberate...

we shouldn't do it for anyone regardless of religion, if the job conflicts with one's moral/religious beliefs then find another job...

on the surface they appear the same but gyms are an exception due to sexual predators...

i had a similar discussion with MD friend recently...an MD he said should be able to refuse treatment for personal/religious reasons such refusing birth control to single women or refusing abortions...my answer was no they shouldn't, they took a job serving the public and had no right to pass judgement based on religious grounds...those MDs should have picked different specialties that wouldn't require them to those moral judgements, they get paid out of the public purse they must provide the service... so if you're going to provide a service to the public it must be supplied to everyone equally, if it conflicts with your religious/moral beliefs find another career that doesn't...

according rankings in ontario and alberta catholic schools rank no better than public schools...

laws are based on behavioural customs of sapiens required for the group to survive...all social animals have their rules of behaviour what man has done differently is write them down

you need to be more clear in how you define electoral systems, there are many of variations of PR systems around the world ....a super riding to me means a city like where I live would be one riding with 10 MPs, seats are awarded by percentage of votes 10% for each seat....with that 40% of calgarians would have a voice/representative in government, many for the first time in their lives...there's an interesting contradiction among fptp lovers...they think it's perfectly fair and democratic to award a majority government to a party that polls less than 40% of the popular vote, and yet sees nothing wrong with an undemocratic electoral system that permanently shut out 40% of the population from government for generations...

the issue of electoral reform in BC wasn't really rejected in two referendums, it won the first by 58% of the the vote but the government set the limit at 60%, in a 2nd vote what was rejected was STV, so the replacement system was defeated but not the need for change...there are a number of PR systems that can be used but they need to be examined, explained and understood before there is a referendum....