By Steve Jalsevac
OTTAWA, September 5, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – REAL Women of Canada vice-president, Gwen Landolt, has authored a REAL Women statement today warning against adoption of a new proportional representation (MMP) voting method proposed in an upcoming Ontario election referendum question. She states that the new procedure, if implemented, “will undermine our democratic system of government” and give feminists much more undeserved political power.
MMP, says Landolt, “will produce two classes of politicians: those elected by the voters (90 MPP’s) and those appointed by the political parties (39 MPP’s). Those appointed by the parties will obviously adhere to the party’s ideology because their appointment will be dependent on it. Consequently, these MPP’s will not be interested in the views of the public or any of the public’s lobbying efforts.”
The long experienced Canadian pro-life, pro-family leader explains that the political parties’ lists of the 39 appointees under MMP would be contrived to provide a “superficial diversity” but “there will be absolutely no diversity in regard to their political views.”
Landolt also notes that MMP systems usually result in elections “followed by weeks of closed-door deal making among parties to form a government.” “A result of this secret deal making”, she warns, “is that it creates unstable coalitions in order to form a minority government, often with a brief shelf life.”
“Apart from the small parties”, special interests groups, such as feminists, will be the main beneficiaries of MMP as, says REAL Women, “the major parties will certainly place them at the top of their list for appointments.”
Landolt explains, “Feminists, as part of a special interest group, have worked long and hard for the introduction of the MMP voting system, knowing that it will strengthen their special interest voice in government, since they often have difficulty getting nominated and elected on their own.” These women, she adds, “will not represent ‘women’ at all.”
The statement concludes, “Hopefully, this troublesome referendum to change our voting system will not succeed.”
See the complete statement (pdf format)
ONTARIO REFERENDUM ON MMP VOTING PROCEDURE
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007_docs/RealWomenonMMP.pdf