Focus on electoral reform
ALLAN BENNER
POSTMEDIA NETWORK
While some argued that Canada’s first-past-the-post electoral system is working fine, and doesn’t need to be changed, for others it’s a dinosaur that needs to change.
About a dozen people joined Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey at Welland Civic Square for a town hall meeting Friday on electoral reform, giving constituents an opportunity to discuss the issue now being considered by the federal government.
“People don’t like change very much,” said Fiona McMurran. “And one reason people who still want the first-past-the-post is that’s what we’ve always had.”
However, since Canada was founded almost 150 years ago, McMurran said a lot of changes have been made to how Canadians choose their political leaders.
“When we come now to 2017, we are this extraordinary multicultural diverse nation that really has a position in the world as being that. It just seems to me that first-past- the-post is like this dinosaur that doesn’t reflect who we are,” McMurran said.
In addition to the the current system, Badawey provided people at the meeting with alternatives to consider, such as proportional representation, single transferable voting and mixed member proportional systems.
Leanna Villella, who ran in the last federal election representing the Conservatives, said she’s researching the various options being considered for electoral reform, and she’s keeping an open mind on the issue.
Villella, however, prefaced her comments saying “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”
McMurran responded with: “It’s not working, Leanna. That’s the point.”
When a political party wins a majority with fewer than 50 per cent of the vote, “you have over 50 per cent of voters, whose votes essentially don’t count,” McMurran said.
If the 2015 election had been based on the popular vote rather than first past the post, she pointed out that the Liberals still would have been elected – but they would have been a minority government, with more representation from other parties.
Meeting participants were also asked their opinions about ways of increasing voter turnout, such as implementing online voting, or making voting mandatory and fining people for not filling out ballots.
Opinions were split on that topic, too. While most agreed that voting should be mandatory, people had opposing views about using the Internet to vote.
Welland resident Ron St. Louis said Internet voting might help increase voter participation, especially among younger voters.
“The youth vote would probably come in much stronger with that, because they love technology,” he said.
“I’m dead set against computer voting,” Larry Rosnuk from Port Colborne said. “This is a major crime in the world right now: identity theft.”
Rosnuk, however, also pointed out that electoral reform may not be enough.
“If we go to democratize the system here and do proportional voting, why in the world would maintain an unelected Senate?” he asked.
“You opened a can of worms,” Badawey told him.
The Liberal backbencher assured meeting participants that their opinions would be considered in any decisions that are ultimately made about how future elections are run.
“Don’t think for a second that what we say here is going to be left here,” he said. “The whole purpose of this is for me to be your voice up in Ottawa.”
Prior to the discussion on electoral reform, Badawey met with residents to talk about their opinions regarding climate change.
He said the meetings were only the beginning of public consultation processes on various topics, and future meetings would be organized in the months to come.
Student to return to court
The fate of a 23-year-old university student, who arrived at a RIDE spot check with 16 grams of heroin, is now in the hands of a local judge. Graham Cerminara pleaded guilty Friday in a Superior Court of Justice in St. Catharines to charges of possession of heroin for the purpose of trafficking and failing to comply with police demand to provide a breath sample. Defence lawyer Ron Brady told Judge Joseph Henderson his client does not have a criminal record and a pre-sentence report would assist in the sentencing process. “I think a proper assessment would be beneficial,” Brady said. The judge agreed and postponed sentencing until Jan. 9. On Sept. 25, 2105, court heard, Cerminara drove up to a police RIDE spot check near Westchester Avenue in St. Catharines. Police became concerned as the car did not have its headlights on and questioned the driver, at which time the officer detected the odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle. Police asked Cerminara to provide a sample of his breath for analysis but he refused. When he was searched, court was told, police found 18 dime-sized baggies of heroin as well as digital scales and more than $2,300 in cash. A St. Catharines man’s claim that police pulled over a car he was in for no reason other than to check up on him did not sit well with a local judge. “I do not believe his evidence,” Judge Joseph Henderson said Friday in a Superior Court of Justice in St. Catharines before delivering a guilty verdict against Patrick McKinnon. McKinnon, 32, had pleaded not guilty at an an earlier date to charges of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and refusing to comply with a court order. Court heard McKinnon was a passenger in a van that was pulled over by police near Queenston Street in St. Catharines on July 12, 2014. Two police officers testified the van was stopped because the driver wasn’t wearing his seat belt. Two cans of beer were found under the front seats of the vehicle and a small amount of marijuana was discovered in a cavity in the centre console. McKinnon testified he hadn’t consumed any alcohol and didn’t feel the driver was impaired. He wasn’t aware of any marijuana or beer in the van and maintained he and the driver were wearing their seat belts at the time of the traffic stop. Defence lawyer V.J. Singh argued at trial the police officers fabricated the story about the seat belts, beer and pot in order to keep tabs on his client. McKinnon was under a court order at the time and was not to allowed
Traffic stop leads to drug bust
to consume any alcohol or nonmedically prescribed drugs. The defendant was initially arrested for breaching a court order. While being booked in to the police station, court was told, he was observed trying to hide a bag under his foot. The bag contained five grams of heroin. McKinnon is scheduled to return to court Jan. 9 for sentencing.
New multi-day passes available
Niagara Health is offering new passes at its gated parking lots in Niagara Falls, St. Catharines and Welland. The new multi-day H PASS became available as of Friday. The H PASS, which is in line with the ministry of health and long-term care’s new directive, offers discounted rates for frequent visitors. The pass is a preloaded card available for five, 10, or 30 uses and is valid for one year from the day of activation. The card has many features including, unlimited in-and-out privileges within a 24-hour period, it is transferable between patients, visitors and vehicles, it is valid for consecutive and non-consecutive days, it can be used in any parking lot open to patients and visitors, and it is non-refundable. “We are always looking for new ways to improve and make our services more convenient for our patients and visitors,” said Angela Zangari, Niagara Health executive vicepresident finance, in a release. With the introduction of the H PASS, Niagara Health will no longer offer weekly passes.