A Failed Referendum

Reading Voters Roundly Reject MMP from the Globe and Mail clarified my views of the recent Ontario referendum.

Clearly, the title is a good indication of my opinion. The fact that it did not go through was a failure for Ontario.

Now why was it a failure?

How about lack of advertising for one thing...Here's an advertisement about the MMP system, which I know I definitely never saw before the election, nor did I see or hear any other advertisements.

Personally, I had no idea what the referendum was about. I had only heard rumours about there being one, until I asked my friend Andrian (a Masters student in political science) what was going on.

Another issue I have heard many people discussing is that people are afraid of the extra expense of having more seats.

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In relation to other expenses that have been made by the government, this is peanuts. As well, what about all the money that was wasted away with things like Paul Martin's Sponsorship scandal?

I vote to give money for more seats. An MMP truly exercises democracy with the government actually reflecting what the people voted.

Look at how well MMP's are working in places like New Zealand, Germany, the UK et cetera. One important point is that yes, it did take New Zealand two referendum votes before the idea was implemented. So there is hope for Ontario. Maybe for the next referendum, society will be more informed and able to make better choices based on their increased knowledge of the topic at hand.

I believe MMP representation is a logical and fair way for the government to be elected and run.