Democratic Renewal. At its very core Democracy must be fair and also perceived as fair

Transcription

1 Democratic Renewal At its very core Democracy must be fair and also perceived as fair

2 Democracy... Every vote should count Every voter should be represented equally MLA s should represent all their constituents The playing field should be level Democracy should be fair Is it?

3 Does every vote count? How many votes does it take to earn a seat in the PEI Legislature? It depends... Liberals needed 1,860 votes/seat Progressive Conservatives needed 3,407 votes/seat Greens needed 8,850 votes/seat New Democrats needed >9,000 votes/seat

4 Is every voter represented? In May of this year on PEI 81,986 citizens voted 33,478 voters (40.8%) voted for the current government 48,508 voters (59.2%) voted for another party In October, Canadians defeated a 39.6% majority government and replaced it with a 39.5% majority government. We have recently elected majority governments across Canada NB 42.5%, NS 45.7%, ON 38.65%, AB 40.6%, PQ 41.5%, BC 44.1%

5 Do MLA s Represent their Constituents? 100% 75% Vote by District - PEI 2015 MLA s voting with their Party, may not be representing their constituents well. In most cases (21 of 27), the majority of constituents voted for someone else. 50% 25% 0% Voted for MLA Didn t vote for MLA

6 How are elections financed?

7 Funding PEI Political Parties Who can donate? What are the limits? Why donate? Anyone from anywhere can donate any amount. Corporations, unions, associations, municipalities, foreign nationals, special interest groups... There is no requirement to be a citizen or even an actual human being in order to support a political party on PEI There are very generous tax credits involved Corporations and other non-citizens may donate to forward their agenda or promote their interests

8 How much do elections cost? Reimbursement of $184,183 for election expenses to each party in Districts where 15% of the vote was earned Elections PEI spends a further $750,000 (approx.) on the election itself A very large cost is tax credits offered to donors of political parties the credit ranges up to 75% and is about $800,000 Bringing the total cost of elections to about $1,735,000 from tax payers and an additional $750,000 from donors

9 How does PEI compare? $15 $12 $9 PEI $11.63 In the absence of spending limits, it is possible for the affluent or a number of persons pooling their resources and acting in concert to dominate the political discourse, depriving their opponents of a reasonable opportunity to speak and be heard, and undermining the voter s ability to be adequately informed of all views. Supreme Court of Canada, 1997 $6 $3 Avg. $3.34 w/o PEI $0 MB PE BC PQ NB NS ON SK NL

10 How level is the field? Spending Votes $/ Vote Rebate/vote LP $918,891 33,478 $ $ 2.42 PC $559,256 30,664 $ $ 2.64 NDP $67,874 8,994 $ 7.55 $ 1.26 GP $ 26,128 8,850 $ 2.95 $ 1.30 Should we consider a smaller spending limit of $4 per elector? Liberal $11.21, PC $6.82, NDP $0.83, Green $0.32

11 Was 2011 much different? Spending Votes $/ Vote Rebate/vote LP $941,068 38,315 $ $ 2.11 PC $569,282 29,950 $ $ 2.69 NDP $19,032 2,355 $ 8.08 $ 0.00 GP $ 15,295 3,254 $ 4.70 $ 0.00 Instead of $3,000 for 15% of the vote, let s use the per vote subsidy. A $2.25 per vote subsidy will keep election costs from soaring.

12 How much does it cost? Politicians make the rules around election finance and it s a very sweet deal - for political parties. Much better than for donations to Charities. Donate $250 to a political party and get $150 back. Donate $250 to a Charity and get $27.95 back. Every donation over $250 is public. These are some from Cavendish Farms Corporation, Dieppe $4, Bell Aliant, Charlottetown $5, Island Excavators (1985) Ltd, Crapaud $3, Cox & Palmer, Charlottetown $5, Canadian Beverage Association, Toronto $3, Wang Wenge, Charlottetown $6, McInnes Cooper, Charlottetown $ 3, Canadian Tire Corporation Ltd, Toronto 3, Cox & Palmer, Charlottetown 7, Bell Aliant, Charlottetown $3, Canadian International Capital Inc., Halifax $2, UFCW Local 864, Bedford, NS 2, Corporations cannot vote and should not participate in Democracy. Federally, the donation limit is $1,500 - only voters can donate.

13 We can do better. No Corporate, Association, Municipal or Union Donations Firm, reasonable donation limits $1,500 maximum A fair per vote subsidy for campaign reimbursement True Proportional Representation (not ranked ballots) MLA s to represent every constituent, not just their party Democracy must be fair and also perceived to be fair In the event of a tie, the incumbent should step down

14 Thank you, Most of this information, including the donor lists is freely available on the Elections PEI? web-site. I am; Darcie Lanthier 15 Mermaid Lane, Mermaid, PEI Darcie.Lanthier@gmail.com