PEI Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform?

Some news from back home on the Island that should be of interest to those following electoral reform in Canada.

As I've noted the new PEI Liberal government promised to "set up a Citizens' Assembly" in the "Accountability" section of their winning platform. But what's really interesting about this story is that the group promoting this event. Included in that group are both key supporters of the Yes for MMP Coalition from the November 2005 plebiscite, like Ron Kelly who's quoted in the article, and Ivan Macarthur and Gordon Cobb, the masterminds behind the No campaign.

All of the people I've met in that group are really capable leaders, so I'm excited to work with them to show the PEI government how to stage a citizens' assembly that improves upon the processes undertaken in BC and Ontario.

I'll have to prepare a paper for this upcoming conference I think. I look forward to hearing other Island leaders' thoughts on how to best design an electoral reform process that engages and educates Islanders.

I'm a bad blogger

As usual, I haven't been the best blogger. But I have been a pretty busy guy the past month. I've been doing much more travelling than normal.

First, it was a trip to the Fair Vote Canada AGM at Ryerson University at the start of June. It was great to be inn a room with such a diverse group of people concerned about the health of Canadian democracy. I've been at the last four FVC AGMs and this one was by far the best. A good sign for the upcoming Ontario referendum this Fall. In particular, it was great to see a much younger crowd than normal. I think Ontario university and college students can expect to hear about MMP and how it can improve our democracy this Fall.

Then, it was back home for a quick visit to PEI to pop into Fanningbank, the lieutenant governor's beautiful old mansion in Charlottetown and see my Dad get sworn in to the new provincial government, as Minister of Education and Attorney General. Needless to say, I was very proud of my Dad that day. For my entire life, Dad has provided a positive example as someone who uses their talents to contribute to the community. He's got a bit more power and responsibility now, but I know he'll bring the same intelligence, hard work and integrity he's brought to other projects in his life to his new job.

I won't comment on PEI politics too much (being a good son) but maybe I'll find the time this week to discuss the Ghiz government's first smart strategic move.

Then I spent about a week in the greatest city in the world (well at least of the few I've been to before). Well technically, we never left Manhattan, but did get to see the sights, some wicked art and a hilarious Broadway show.

I wish I could have been back for the recent legislature opening in PEI, but have been commuting to Toronto the last couple of weeks for my job. But I'll be back with much more about that over the next three months.

Winds of change blowing on PEI

First, a big victory for the Liberals and premier-designate Robert Ghiz after a very-well run campaign. According to this Guardian story, the magnitude of the victory even surprised its architect and star performer.

For detailed election results, the Elections PEI website is world class.

Looking at my predictions, it turns out that I was way off myself. Looks like 4 seats was the floor for the Tories, I just picked the wrong ones! Never thought my middle school soccer coach/Provincial Treasurer Mitch Murphy would lose in District 20 but I stand corrected. If there's one Cabinet minister I was sad to see lose, it's him.

Props have to be given to the PEI Greens under the leadership of a woman I know well - Sharon Labchuk. In their first election, they beat the PEI NDP, both in popular vote and in terms of votes per candidate. Sharon's a tireless Green (deep, deep green) activist and been doing excellent (and prophetic it seems) work on the health and environmental effects of industrial agriculture on PEI for years.

It was clearly not a good election for the PEI NDP who were passed by the upstart Greens. From this political junkie's vantage, leader Dean Constable had a admirable campaign. The NDP was in the media with what appeared to be a well thought out platform (and campaign plan). I know the party is concentrating on building for the future so if they ran decent campaigns and trained some volunteers and identified lots of the 1600 votes they won, it was was a strong building block for future success.

As for Premier Binns, I'd love to ask him if today he wishes that he had done more the cause of proportional representation during his time in office. Because had the plebiscite passed in November 2005, it's likely that the standings in the next legislature would include an opposition of a dozen MLAs rather than four (all PCs and perhaps one Green). Thankfully the Liberals have promised a Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform(see here), so we can expect the debate on electoral fairness to continue to develop on PEI.

Finally, I must say I'm so happy for the MLA-elect in District 22. Obviously, I've learned a great deal from my father. My interest in politics and community service was instilled my emulating my Dad. He's a smart, hard-working person who genuinely cares about his community. He's worked hard for them as an educator and community volunteer and I know he will do the same in historic Province House and in the government caucus.

It's late but I'll try and type out a more detailed analysis on the dynamics of the campaign tomorrow, but from a dedicated observer of PEI politics - this one's been a doozy!

PEI election wrapup/prediction

I last dropped in just before the PEI election, which is going on as I type.

Our of respect for my dear old Dad (whose campaign adventures are chronicled here), I've held my tongue so far, but now seeing as it's almost all over but the counting, I wanted to share some thoughts and some predictions. I've been devoting lots of mental energy to democracy in my home province, so I need to unburden myself.

First, the background. Premier Pat Binns is seeking a record fourth term as premier. If he wins, he would be the only Conservative in Canadian history to win four consecutive elections and would be the longest serving Island premier about 2 years into his new term, which by his demeanour of late, seems more and ore unlikely. Binns has staked his reelection chances on his personality and popularity among Islanders, adopting the slogan "Leadership That Works", after all Wikipedia calls him PEI's "affable and unassuming premier."

His challenger for the Premier's chair is the youthful Liberal leader of the Opposition, Robert Ghiz, 33 year-old son of former premier Joe Ghiz, which as he candidly acknowledges in this good CP piece has been both a blessing and a curse. As the Tory campaign has demonstrated, by its emphasis on the Premier, some Islanders feel the younger Ghiz is not as ready for the job as his Harvard-educated father was. However, if Robert can be as focused and on message for the next four years as he was for the last four weeks, he may go down in history as a two-term Premier as well.

Simply, the Tories have tried to make it about the choice of Premier, while the Liberals, with their (excellent) slogan "Islanders First for a Change" sought to be the beneficiaries of a change of government and frustration with years of Tory government.

The most significant event in the campaign so far was a May 19 poll in the Charlottetown Guardian newspaper which showed the Liberal party with a significant lead and a projected majority government. While still within the margin of error, this was likely the only time in Binns' career that he was 7 points behind the Opposition.

The Electoral Geography

Before getting on to a prediction, I'll review the electoral landscape on PEI (see here for a CBC piece on the swing seats. A cursory look at PEI electoral history shows us that few seats are truly safe. I'd classify the following seats as likely wins for Liberals - Districts 13 (Ghiz), 16, 17 and 18. All of these districts are currently represented by the Liberals and save a very unlikely swing back to the Tories from 2003 results, they will win these seats.

For the Tories, considering the results of the CRA poll, they likely only have about four seats truly safe for them - Districts 2, 4 (the Premier), 7 and 20. However, I'd say that there are another three seats the Tories will win even in a worst case scenario - Districts 5, 10 and 27.

However, based upon past results and the results of CRA poll, which showed a big Liberal lead in Queens County in particular, I'd say there are another 8 likely Liberal wins - Districts 11, 12, 14, 15, 19, 22 (Go Dad! this poor CBC reporter must've been spun right around by Tories at Bakin' Donuts), 24 and 25.

Now this leaves 8 seats as the battleground ridings - Districts 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 21, 23 and 26. If the Tories pull them all off they could still win a bare majority, but I wouldn't bet on it. They might be able to hold off Liberal gains in half of those ridings, but no more. I'll say the Tories could still take four of those seats due to their strength in rural PEI, let give Districts 1, 3, 9 and 26 to the Tories. That leaves these as my final predictions.

Predictions:

Liberals (16) - Districts 6, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25

PCs (11) - Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 20, 26 and 27.

NDP and Greens 0 - On these two parties, as much as I wish they'd be in Province House, frankly, they are marginal to this campaign. The bigger fight is for fair voting in PEI and thankfully, my predicted winner have promised a Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform for PEI (although I can't find the promise on their website).

I'd predict both the minor parties get less than 3% of the vote, possibly even less than 2%. I'd say the odds are even on which one wins more votes, to bug my girlfriend, I'll pick the PEI NDP.

Most successful non-Lib/PC candidate - Larry McGuire in District #7, who I think can take second.

Most successful NDP/Green candidate - NDP Leader Dean Constable in District #12, who could top 10%. If he tops 20%, I'll be wrong with my prediction and this on could go PC. Although I could see Green Jamie Larkin doing well in District #19 and Ryan Pollard for the NDP in District #21.

Well the polls close soon, so I'll end this post. I'll be back later tonight with more thoughts. Interesting things to watch tonight:

- The "bandwagon" effect - will a perceived Liberal win swing lots of seats as undecided voters plump for a government MLA?
- The "leadership" effect - Will Islanders go for "leadership that works"? Do rural Islanders really have something against Robert Ghiz?
- The "change" effect - What percentage of voters vote for change (for parties other than the PCs)? Will the Liberal be able to get most of this vote?
- The map effect - How will the gerrymandered electoral map affect the results? Keep in mind the Tories drew the boundaries to suit their political purposes, so they could very well win a majority with less votes than the Liberals.