Pro and Anti MMP Campaigns Court Political Scientists

From VOTE FOR MMP:

Vote for MMP – the multi-partisan campaign to support the Ontario Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform’s recommendation of a mixed-member proportional (MMP) voting system in the October 10 referendum – is looking to compile a list of Ontario political scientists who plan to vote for MMP.

The proposed MMP model was developed by the Assembly, a randomly selected group of
voters, after spending last Fall learning about voting systems (under the able direction of Queen’s professor Jonathan Rose) and the Winter months consulting with Ontarians at a series of meetings in every region of the province.

A campaign launched by Fair Vote Canada, Vote for MMP has been organizing since the release of the Citizens’ Assembly report in mid-May to lay the groundwork for a grassroots campaign that engages and educates Ontarians about how changing the voting system can improve Ontario democracy. We would like your help and support in this endeavor.

We already have the endorsement of over 100 prominent Ontarians, including:

- Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett
- Conservative Senator Hugh Segal
- Former NDP leader Ed Broadbent
- Former Liberal cabinet minister Monique Begin
- Former Conservative MP Patrick Boyer
- Former Ontario NDP leader and activist Stephen Lewis
- Sylvia Bakshevin, former CPSA President
- Nathalie Desrosiers, Dean of Civil Law at the University of Ottawa
- Peter Russell, former CPSA President
- Hugh Thorburn, former CPSA President

If you will be voting for MMP, we would love to be able to add your name to a list of political scientists that support MMP. If you would like to be added to our list of supporters, please contact campaign organizer Mark Greenan at mark.greenan@fairvote.ca.

Thanks for your interest and if you would like more information on our campaign, visit our website at http://www.voteformmp.ca/

From NO MMP:

We are conducting a grassroots campaign that engages and educates Ontarians about how changing the voting system may lead to the deterioration of Ontario's democracy. We would like your help and support in this endeavor. We already have the endorsement of many prominent Ontarians, including:'

- Liberal MP Diane Marleau (a former cabinet minister)
- provincial cabinet minister Dwight Duncan
- MPPs Bob Delaney (Lib) and Tim Hudak (PC)
- Former Liberal MPs Aideen Nicholson and Larry McCormick
- Former Conservative MPs Scott Reid and Doug Lewis
- Senator David Smith (Lib)

- Academics who support us include:

Lorna Marsden, recently retired President of York, Joan Mount, former Dean of Professional Schools at Laurentian University; Terry Heinrichs, Chair of Political Science at Glendon College, Peter Woolstencroft (Waterloo), Sylvie Arend, John Crozierand Ian Gentles (all at York's Glendon College) and Graeme Mount ofLaurentian University.

If you plan to vote against MMP, we would love to be able to add your nameto a list of political scientists who oppose this measure, which has profoundly negative implications for democracy in Ontario. If you wouldlike to be added to our list of supporters, please contact me at emahant@yahoo.ca

Thank you for your interest.
Edelgard Mahant
Glendon College