First is a three-step recipe to weaken the power of party leaders, so that MPs can freely represent your wishes, rather than the leader’s wishes. After all,

If a Parliament must be bound to its leader, why bother with a Parliament at all? Why not just elect a “glorious leader” every four years and save the money we pay for MPs?

Second is this: proportional representation, which I believe would dramatically change the seat breakdown in the House of Commons and the popular vote. If voters know that every vote truly counts (so long as their party reaches a certain small threshold), they will be far more likely to vote their true preference. Green voters in a Tory riding will start voting Green; Tory voters in an NDP riding won’t hold their nose and compromise on Liberal–”Strategic voting” will no longer hold such appeal. The result will be a Commons much more closely reflects the wishes of Canada.

Read it for yourself, then have some fun and pay Fair Vote Canada a visit.

In fact, one commenter says s/he did a similar thing, but also gave Jack Layton at “10″ rating and all other parties zero.  The result, they say, was still Liberal.

Whether the Ceeb intended this result or not, it needs to change.  What a horribly flawed application.

Here’s Mercer’s tweet from yesterday: Ok hell i will rent massey put the camera’s in place and moderate the Harper Iggy smackdown. #elxn41 #cdnpoli

What a beautiful thing it would be, making for an amazing marriage of wit, humour, and genuine politics.  It would cut through the BS – be sharper than most things we read or see every day, with far more clarity and higher stakes for both leaders.  And it would absolutely spark interest in the election.

Sometimes comedy just does the news better.

Click on the link.  Look at the graph. Pretend you don’t know who each line represents. See those two lines crisscrossing each other near the bottom? You would think that if one of them is included in the leaders’ debate, the other should be too.
But thanks to Canada’s undemocratic voting system, one has 48 seats, the other has zero.  There is simply no argument for excluding Lizzie May.  Let her in.  She represents plenty of Canadians, and unlike the BQ, the Green Party has coast-to-coast appeal.

From the article:
“[The Canadian Civil Liberties Association] believes very strongly that women should have the right to choose what happens to their bodies,” said Ms. Aviv. “But it’s very hard for me to understand how anybody, including the strongest of pro-choice activists, has difficulty with a group whose sole purpose is to educate and persuade women not to have abortions. How that is not an exercise of choice is rather beyond me. I also see this as an exercise of discrimination on the basis of political ideology.”

buying crap made in China doesn’t help our economy. buying things on credit doesn’t help the economy. but then again, is an economy based on obsessive consumption of unsustainable, toxic, and frivolous junk really worth saving? Let’s start over and build up our economy from the local level. If you turn off your TV you won’t be advertised to. If you look outside, you’ll see a community that needs you to get involved. Our world is shaped by the actions of individuals; your part may be small, but it’s important that you do it.

Other highlights, in my half-informed opinion:

Kerry Jang for Council–a shrink with experience in the law and initiative on homelessness.  Fantastic.  Mental health is a hugely overlooked issue for us, so having a fella like him on board would be a great start.

Andrea Reimer–great enviro cred, despite some rumour of opportunism in slating with Vision rather than sticking with her Greens.  Also glad that she pushed for junkfood reduction in schools.  And hey, that spunky smile of hers is rather cute.

Chris Shaw–like Reimer, he had the foresight to see that the Olympic bid would present problems for us.  And this at the time of the ubiquitous “I’m Backing the Bid” bumper stickers.  He’s also part of the Work Less Party, whose manifesto (of sorts) is just what our society’s doctor ordered.

Ken Clement (school)–a First Nations social worker with a long list of health/aboriginal/HIV/AIDS involvements to his name.  I don’t recall any aboriginals in Vancity politics, actually.  Would he be the first ever?  How unfortunate for us not to have more representation from those who were here first.

Eileen Le Gallais (school)–I’m mainly impressed by the range of involvements listed in her bio.  An ESL pre-employment program, the Red Cross, the John Howard Society, restorative justice, Family Court Youth Justice, etc.  Sounds like her heart’s in the right place.

I am glad that the 20th century has finally “gone to sleep”, in the words of REM, but the first 9 years of our new century have been awfully bloody as well.  I continue to stand in awe and admiration for those who have faced death for the sake of others.  Even if I am unsure of the justness or the focus of a particular mission, I am amazed at the sacrifice of those men and women who discern that the cause is just, and then willingly go out into battle for it.  It is a costly undertaking, to say the least.

There are still armed forces around the world, in the “forgotten corners of the world,” working everyday in unglamourous conditions, away from loved ones and the comforts of home, at great personal cost, with courage in the face of fear.  I take my hat off to them, and hope for peace and healing to somehow inhabit our world again.

Could such a critic actually win office?  The race is currently driving me craaaazy.  The margin between the two has fluctuated by thousands, then hundreds, then thousands again, with each candidate alternately in the lead.

I suppose neither of them are sleeping either…

And by the way–congratulations to the President-Elect!  This has been a momentous night, centuries in the making.