1 VOTER RULES REVERSAL Saskatchewan First Nations voters can have their chiefs vouch for them after all. This is great — it would’ve been pretty racist-looking if Saskatchewan’s indigenous voter turnout went down the toilet thanks to new voter ID rules that just aren’t practical.
2 POSTHUMOUS IS A SHITTY WORD A Canadian-born scientist who was one of the winners of this year’s Nobel prize in medicine passed away last month. He might not be eligible to receive the award as a result. The BBC has more.
3 WE HAZ HOMELESS One disturbing quote in Peter Mills’ Leader-Post story on homeless Reginans: “I couldn’t believe poverty could exist in Canada. I’m from a developing country and it’s bad here.” Another: “There’s an attitude from people who have homes that you’re – I hate to say the word — shit.” There are too many disturbing quotes in this story.
4 WALL STREET’S BIG-DEAL, UNDER-REPORTED OCCUPATION CONTINUES The Guardian has an ongoing blog with the latest news. Also, someone played a very successful prank on protesters about a non-existent surprise concert by Radiohead. “Surprise” indeed.
5 XL KEYSTONE PIPELINE “HOPELESSLY CORRUPT”? SHOCKING. U.S. State Department officials apparently have a cozy relationship with TransCanada lobbyists. Well I’m sure big oil doesn’t have any more clout than the environmental lobby so it’ll all be okay.
6 PRIDE’LL GET YOU EVERY TIME Stephen Harper’s tuff talk about a Conservative provincial government to go with conservative governments in Toronto and Ottawa might have jinxed Thursday’s Ontario provincial election in favour of the not-particularly-likable Liberals. Like the provincial Conservatives needed help, what with a leader who sticks up for homophobes. (It’s stunning that Ontario still has a conservative party after Mike Harris’ reign of terror — kill anyone with tainted drinking water lately, Tories?) Meanwhile, voters go to the polls today in Prince Edward Island EDIT: and the Northwest Territories!, tomorrow in Manitoba EDIT: and next week in the Yukon.
BONUS (UPDATED)! Alison Redford will be Alberta’s next premier. She’s the province’s first female leader. Redford won the leadership contest in part thanks to the Progressive Conservative’s preferential voting system that reflects what voters want better than the stupid first past the post system we’re stuck with in Canadian elections at all levels. You can get an idea how a preferential ballot works from this CTV story:
Redford, 46, delivered a surprising last-minute victory in the Alberta Tories’ leadership race, passing presumptive favourite Gary Mar in the last round of polling. Redford came back from behind to win after placing second to Mar on the preferential ballot. The preferential ballot system sees each voter name a first and a second option. Votes cast for the candidate who placed third were redistributed to the voter’s second option. Mar earned 33,233 (42.5 per cent) of the original votes, with Redford receiving 28,993 votes (37.1 per cent) and third-placed contestant Doug Horner receiving 15,950 votes (20.4 per cent). After Horner’s votes were redistributed, Redford’s 37,104 votes beat out Mar’s 35,491.
I like the preferential ballot. Better voting systems help make politics more representative. Fix it, people.
