the reform

since apparently many people don't know about this... i thought i'd post (this has nothing to do with my complete laziness and inability to come up with anything interesting or witty to say).

we're having a vote in ontario on october 10th. well, actually - we're having two. one, well, i think the result is a foregone conclusion and if we get it wrong - well, we can always have another go at it in four years ... the other one is a much bigger decision, one that is systemic and could change the way our province is run (of course, this would seem to assume that people pay some attention to how the province is run ... but it seems like fewer and fewer do ... either that or i'm just getting increasingly cynical?)

so the decision? well, it's on electoral reform. basically - do you want to continue to have the first past the post voting system we have now 0r do you want to change to a mixed member proportional system whereby the parties get to top up their locally elected members with additional allotted seats so that in the end, each party has about the portion of parliament that the popular vote would suggest they should have. (for more information, click here)

i, myself, haven't figured out how i'm going to vote for this one yet - each side has cons ... especially given our electorate. either way - i think it's important that we look at this issue and vote one way or another. heck, go and vote for the referendum and don't vote for a candidate even - because you can (although, i wouldn't recommend it ... as a citizen of this province, i think it's your responsibility to vote ... and to educate yourself about the vote ... but maybe that's just my pie in the sky ideals).

for the system to change - a majority of districts (i.e., 64 of 107) must vote for the change as well as 60% of people overall.

so there you go - you have over 3 weeks to decide. read up and make sure you go to the booth on election day.