|
|
Strengthening Accountability Through
Democratic Reform
Innisfil Enterprise
May 16, 2007
By Peter Van Loan, MP, York-Simcoe
Last week, our Government focussed on our
agenda to renew Canada's democratic
institutions. This is one of our five
priorities as set out by the Prime Minister
on January 4 of this year.
As the Minister of Democratic Reform, it was
my job to take the lead. The week saw three
new items of legislation launched by me, as
well as efforts to focus on existing Bills
already in the Legislative process.
Monday, we focussed on our proposal to limit
the terms of Senators to eight years,
instead of the current term limit of up to
45 years. The unelected Liberal Senate has
had this Bill for almost a year now, finding
all kinds of ways to obstruct and delay its
passage.
So, we decided to circulate birthday
invitations to the media, letting them know
we plan to hold a birthday party for the
Term Limits Bill on May 30. Not
surprisingly, the media continue to largely
hide the story of Liberal Senators
obstructing any reform. This is remarkable
in view of the strong public consensus in
favour of modernization of the Senate.
On Tuesday, I announced a Bill proposing to
clean up campaign finance, removing the
influence of big money from the political
process. The need for this was highlighted
by the loans from wealthy individuals to
Liberal leadership candidates like Stephane
Dion - loans which had the Liberal
candidates mortgaging themselves to the tune
of over $3 million. The loan amounts would
have been illegal as donations - but the
loan avenue provides a loophole for big
money that we want to close.
On Wednesday, I announced the Expanded
Voting Opportunities Bill, designed to
increase voter turnout after years of
decline. It does this by adding two
additional days of advance voting in
elections, including the Sunday before a
Monday election day, with voters able to
cast a vote in their own neighbourhoods that
Sunday.
On Thursday I appeared before a Senate
Committee as a witness on our Election
Integrity Bill, which will actually require
voters to show identification when they
vote. (You are probably surprised that isn't
already required).
In a bizarre twist, the Liberal Senators
spent most of the time grilling me on an
amendment to the bill that the Liberals and
Bloc Quebecois had added at the House of
Commons Committee. The amendment, which
provides for voter's birthdates to be made
available to political parties, was actually
opposed by the Conservatives at Committee -
we simply allowed it to proceed after we
lost that vote, in order to maintain
non-partisan support for the Bill. This is
just one of many situations where the
Liberal Party keeps changing its position on
an issue, making it tough to govern in a
Minority situation.
On Friday, I announced the Democratic
Representation Bill, designed to restore
fairness to the House of Commons. Under the
existing formula, Ontario, Alberta and
British Columbia are badly underrepresented.
After the next redistribution of seats (to
be based on the 2011 census), if the formula
is not changed, a riding in the three
growing provinces will have an average
population of almost 30,000 more people than
an average riding in the rest of Canada.
Our Bill seeks to restore the principle of
representation by population - that of one
person, one vote, with each vote having the
same weight. This will result in an increase
in the number of seats for Ontario, Alberta
and BC, while protecting the seat counts of
the other provinces.
Our week of strengthening accountability
through democratic reform offered solutions
that are modern, realistic and achievable.
We are seeking to strengthen our democracy,
and in the process strengthen Canadian
unity, and trust in our democratic
institutions. I am proud that I had to
opportunity to develop and propose these
important initiatives as Canada's Minister
for Democratic Reform.
>>> Read More
Articles <<<
|
|
