The significant margin of defeat of the MMP proposal suggests that Ontario voters don't see the voting system as a big issue at the moment -- unlike BC, where the proportional proposal was heavily discussed and got majority support (though not enough of a majority). The Ontario result may in part be the result of four years of middle-of-the-road Liberal government. While many are dissatisfied with the Liberals, they have not, since the health premium, instituted policies that are *intensely* opposed by a lot of voters -- unlike the previous NDP and Conservative governments. So there is ...

10:45 - As I'm watching the results come in, I have to think it's sad irony that, on the night that the MMP proportional representation concept has been rejected, the results show just how much some kind of proportional representation is needed. The Liberals have dropped about 5 percentage points in the popular vote, but have kept almost exactly the same majority as they had before, possibly even increased it. The Greens, meanwhile, have jumped over 5 percentage points and took something like 8% of the vote, but will have no seats and no representation in ...

I haven't seen lot of information about some of the details of the MMP proportional representation system that is being voted on in the upcoming election, and I recently started to try to imagine some of its possible outcomes. The basis of the MMP system is that there will be 39 "list" members of the legislature who can be assigned to parties that are under-represented in the number of constituencies they win, compared to their percentage of the party vote. Invariably, in a system such as Ontario's with more than two parties, the winning party wins a disproportionately ...

The Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation (TCAT) has posted the walking and cycling survey responses of of the mayor and all the winning councillors on one page. The page will be available for the four years of the next city council, so that the new council can be held to account and the actions of the mayor and councillors can be compared to their words.

One story that needs to be discussed about the just-completed municipal election is the inadequacies of the voters' list. A comprehensive, up-to-date voter's list should be a cornerstone of an election, and therefore of the democratic system. But there are signs that it was woefully out-of-date and incomplete this time around. I witnessed some of the problems myself working as a scrutineer in a downtown polling station. An astonishing number of the people who came to vote were not on the list -- one of the other scrutineers estimated that one out of every two voters who arrived were not listed. ...

A week ago, the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation (TCAT) (note - I'm one of the organizers) held a press conference to highlight the importance of cycling and walking issues in the civic election, and bring attention to its candidate surveys (mayoral, councillor and trustee). There were three great speakers: Glen Murray, former mayor of Winnipeg and now Chair of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, Dr. Alan Abelsohn of the Ontario College of Family Physicians, and Gil Peñalosa, former commissioner of Parks, Sports ...

Here are some walking and cycling related thoughts from Spacing's "Political Party" event featuring the two leading mayoral candidates. We asked David Miller this very specific question: Although the official plan calls for Toronto to become a pedestrian-friendly city, at the moment when streets are rebuilt, the city rarely does anything to improve the street for pedestrians. Will you change city processes so that pedestrian improvements are considered and implemented in all street reconstructions and new developments, as a matter of course? Miller simply replied "Yes." This is major -- it would mean a very different approach to ...

A constant problem in municipal elections, as Dale Duncan wrote in an earlier post, is working out who to support for school trustee. Well, the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation has just released a trustee election survey on walking and cycling issues to help you make that tough decision. The education system plays an important role in encouraging Toronto’s youth to walk and cycle -- schools are one of the first and most important destinations for young people when they begin to travel in the ...

The responses to the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation (TCAT) Active Transportation survey are now on line on TCAT's website. Toronto voters can now see where candidates for Councillor and Mayor stand on taking concrete steps towards making Toronto a city where cycling and walking are safe and enjoyable, and play an important role in the city's Transportation system. The TCAT Active Transportation survey consists of 18 questions that ask candidates to let Toronto voters know where they stand on key initiatives that the next ...

The Parkdale-High Park Residents Waterfront Group is sponsoring a "Walk to the Waterfront" with seven councillor candidates in Ward 14 in order to highlight the problems residents face with walking access to the waterfront. Everyone is welcome. The walk takes place Monday October 16 at 1 pm (rain date Oct. 18). It starts at the South-East corner of King and Dunn. For questions, contact green22-at-sympatico.ca or 416-538-1285. The walk follows in the footsteps of a successful similar walk with provincial candidates during the recent by-election in the area. According to organizers, the three candidates who participated often referred to the problems with ...