Call for electoral change

Looking at the political evolution in Canada, is like watching a country self-destruct.

We became a sovereign country about 156 years ago, but in name only.

The late (prime minister) Pierre Elliott Trudeau, consulted the provinces, and adopted the British North America Act (BNA) as our constitution, forever denying us our human rights to have democratic governments.

We now have a King who is the commander-in-chief of the Canadian armed forces. We (continue to) have a prime minister instead of a president, and Canadian senators are randomly appointed, not democratically elected.

Our current prime minister, Justin Trudeau, promised the people a proportional ballot but did not deliver.

Today he is promoting alternative, ranked, run-off, preferential ballots that will continue to give him the unfettered power of a dictator.

Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper re-wrote the Conservative Party of Canada’s constitution to erase any semblance of democracy.

Orders-in-council have replaced orderly debate in our Parliament and provincial Legislatures, and budgets have become spending guidelines that are violated on a regular basis.

Spending billions of dollars fighting COVID, tendering little clarity or debates on where all that money went, is a classic demonstration of an administration out of control. Our colonial political system was designed to give political leaders complete control of the political process, like dictators in third-world countries.

The fact two political leaders today can deny 38 million Canadians their basic human right to have representative democratic governments is absurd. Our current MPs could stop this destruction today, but do not dare. Party discipline has awarded party leaders the power to remove democratically elected MPs.

The people have been shut out of the political process, while corporate Canada “owns” the incumbent government.

Justin Trudeau wanting our guns has nothing to do with public safety. It has everything to do with not wanting to face an armed opposition to his political ambitions.

Pursuing an electoral voting system that will give all Canadians fair and equal representation in our governments, Fair Voting BC and Springtide Collective for Democracy Society filed a petition with the Supreme Court of Ontario.

The petition is challenging how our current colonial electoral system consistently is violating our human rights to have democratic governments, by awarding the winning party a majority of the seats in any election, often with only one-third of the popular vote. The case is scheduled to be heard Sept. 25 - 27. It will be interesting to see the colonial justice system’s interpretation of our human rights.

Andy Thomsen