Improving democracy?
Who woulda thunk it.
Mayor Tory backs ranked ballots for Toronto
Mayor John Tory has opened the door to big change in the way Torontonians choose their city representatives, throwing his support behind ranked ballots in the next civic election.
Tory said this week, for the first time, that he backs ranked ballots, assuming the Ontario government delivers on Premier Kathleen Wynne’s directive to make that option available. A new system has the potential to significantly shake up who gets elected in the city.
“I will be trying to be a leader in the entire process of governance review . . . I think change and reform are needed,” Tory told the Star on Tuesday, elaborating on brief comments he made on a CP24 show Monday.
Requested by the previous Toronto council in 2013, the change would replace the more-than-a-century-old “first past the post” system with one used by a small but growing number of governments and organizations.
Proponents say letting Torontonians mark first, second and third choices and so forth for mayor and council, with an instant “runoff” if necessary so all winners are supported by more than half the voters, could have radical results.
Backers of ranked balloting point to Minneapolis, which adopted the system in 2009 and in 2013 elected a 14-member council that is fully half female — including the mayor — and also features the city’s first councillors of Somali, Hispanic and Hmong descent.
“It’s the most diverse council with respect to ethnicity and gender that Minneapolis has ever seen,” says Jeanne Massey, executive director of democracy education and advocacy group FairVote Minnesota.
..more...
http://m.thestar.com/#/article/news...ections.html?referrer=https://news.google.ca/
Who woulda thunk it.
Mayor Tory backs ranked ballots for Toronto
Mayor John Tory has opened the door to big change in the way Torontonians choose their city representatives, throwing his support behind ranked ballots in the next civic election.
Tory said this week, for the first time, that he backs ranked ballots, assuming the Ontario government delivers on Premier Kathleen Wynne’s directive to make that option available. A new system has the potential to significantly shake up who gets elected in the city.
“I will be trying to be a leader in the entire process of governance review . . . I think change and reform are needed,” Tory told the Star on Tuesday, elaborating on brief comments he made on a CP24 show Monday.
Requested by the previous Toronto council in 2013, the change would replace the more-than-a-century-old “first past the post” system with one used by a small but growing number of governments and organizations.
Proponents say letting Torontonians mark first, second and third choices and so forth for mayor and council, with an instant “runoff” if necessary so all winners are supported by more than half the voters, could have radical results.
Backers of ranked balloting point to Minneapolis, which adopted the system in 2009 and in 2013 elected a 14-member council that is fully half female — including the mayor — and also features the city’s first councillors of Somali, Hispanic and Hmong descent.
“It’s the most diverse council with respect to ethnicity and gender that Minneapolis has ever seen,” says Jeanne Massey, executive director of democracy education and advocacy group FairVote Minnesota.
..more...
http://m.thestar.com/#/article/news...ections.html?referrer=https://news.google.ca/
