Canadian Federalist Party

NEW STRATEGIES FOR OUR NEW CANADA:

ESSAY: Canadian Electoral Reform (3500 words)

This is a frst DRAFT

CANADIAN ELECTORAL REFORM

(Re-Inventing Democracy)

Canadians will be asked politely for a new definition of democracy, or at least a change in our perception and understanding of “Canadianized Democracy.”

Few may truly understand the political, philosophical and psychological processes we follow that define how our political leaders will be chosen to represent us. I certainly can merely walk along the shoreline of our minds as Canadians. But once we change how our forefathers decided how we should elect our leaders, we will embark on a new Canadian Mindset concerning our future laws and regulations. In fact, this should be positive and constructive for our Nation of Many Nations, but there is a giant pothole ahead.

1000 CULTURES

After analyzing the five leading electoral processes, according to Samara Canada, I certainly don’t want us to copy the electoral processes of any other country. Canada is unique and must represent a unique interpretation of the fullest democracy we can think off.

We are a nation of over 1000 cultures. We have a universal Canadian Spirit of Goodness. Thus, we want to create a Democracy that respects each other, accepts our responsibilities to each other and sets aside our spiritual differences.

New Beacon for Democracy

To design a Democracy to be FAIR and JUST, we must overcome our fears and clear our minds and search for what will work best for our wonderful country of peoples from around the world. The time has arrived when Canadians will be asked for their decision to be a shining new beacon for Democracy in this world. (“Even though there is still talk at this point, it appears the government has already chosen a system like Germany and New Zealand named “Mixed-Member Proportional, MMP.”)

Canadian Perspective of Democracy

It is rare we bother to look into our election rules and the possibility of adopting different ones. However, there is a national feeling of impotence in personally being able to influence our national, or other level, politics. But we see unelected leaders running parties and even legislatures. We see politicians ignoring public opinions and minorities asserting themselves and creating distinct new cultures. In a basic democracy where the 51% are supposed to prevail in all matters, Canada has moved far beyond this narrow perspective of our democracy.

External interactions and special interest groups are high active in affecting our future definition of democracy. We must not ignore that Russia says it has a Communist Democracy. Political labels have no philosophical foundations anymore. Even a brief glance at the rest of the world should alarm Canadians as to how widely democracy and the elections that supposedly protect it have been abused.

Many Differences

At the core of the election rules debate is a duality balance between the range of ideals brought to parliament and the distribution of power across all factions. The Left or the Right may presently hold more seats than their popular vote may award. This though has nothing to do with how we vote, it is due to how the government draws borders around the ridings of people. In fact, cultural domination of ridings separates us while strengthening the influence of a culture. This is why Canada’s multi-culturalism is more a mono-culturalism in many ridings across the country. We have many differences.

From a social perspective, this is usually the way people like to live… within their own cultural group. By and large, this is Canada’s dominant social structure. Our larger cities contain a very broad cultural mix and thus more cultural diversity within ridings. There are actually invisible cultural barriers around our cities that have been set in place by the smaller more homogenous cultures. There is often a focus of THEY are different vs. inside the cities where the feeling is WE are different.

There is also a strong wariness by the majority cultures in Canada as they see major sacred cultural values being set aside by minority groups buying Political Party favours with their blocks of votes. Democracy doesn’t mean the majority wield absolute power in Canadian politics anymore.

This should not be seen as good or bad. It is the natural outcome of the cultural expansion within Canada. Nevertheless, it has been a test of the true Canadian Spirit in Canada’s heritage majorities. Perhaps our key issue is that we often think of this as a democratic experiment, when in fact the experiment can’t be cancelled. We are already on this path of NATIONAL PARTY DOMAIN, wherein the minorities can use their votes to negotiate things the majority might refuse.

CANADA CULTURE

In fact, what we have is a SECULAR DEMOCRACY, where the minorities have equal rights to revise our laws to accommodate their cultural values. The power to enforce their rights rests in the people they can put into parliament through political alliances. The Canadian political parties are best seen as agents of groups of cultures who will carve up Canada and stake out territory for its special interest allies. None of the existing parties places the long term interests and goals of our nation ahead of everything else. The Green Party, an issue based environmental party has this ideal long term vision, but it hasn’t been able to adopt a full national agenda and platform. (The CFP’s goal is to be a CANADA CULTURE FIRST PARTY rather than a DIVERSIFIED CULTURES FIRST PARTY.)

VOX POPULI

Canada’s vast “silent majority” recognize this corruptive “FAVOURITISM” political structure and tend to have somewhat negative disgust towards the governments of the past 20 years. Special interest groups dominated our politics while our economy slowed down, our social progress indices began to reverse and our foreign diplomacy became impotent. In the 2015 election, where the media ignored the populace, the command from them for positive change and progress must not be denied.

The statement the majority of voices made was, “We will command our governments!” This “vox populi” was deafening to every Canadian Spirit in Canada. Throughout our history we have exercised this common voice to change the members of parliament.

But to change the parameters that determined our democracy so far, we need to now define where the fulcrum between majority rule and cultural rule should be anchored. Alternatively we should create our own party of individuals from every culture willing to serve their CANADA in integrity, selflessness and humility. These are the kinds of political leaders our nation will follow and support throughout the foreseeable future. These are the people the CFP will welcome with loving arms.

Ranges of Lifestyles

However, we must also be prudent in this highly inflammable world. We cannot just lay down our defenses as our Democracy could easily come under attack from within or from without. We must not err too much on the side of representative government, especially in a world where values, beliefs and perspectives can easily run to extremes or encourage ignoble lifestyles. Our parameters of these must be drawn soon and minorities should always respect the beliefs and values of the majorities and vice versa. Rebellions against each other will only hurt our nation, not build it for everyone.

Our era is opening the doors to more widespread ranges of lifestyles across Canada. Mutual respect must imbue our National Spirit. Nevertheless, just as in our biblical Canadian marriages, women and men are equal, but if there is a disagreement, the men must make the decision. (We all know which one he should make.) In the same way, majorities and minorities are equal, but if there is a disagreement, the majority must make the decision for the government.) If we don’t have the support of the majority of Canadians we can neither move ahead nor defend ourselves. All we can do is argue and debate in hot air that breeds fire into our spirits and sickness into our nation.

Humble Nobility

So what do most Canadians want? I can only guess, but perhaps some of the following is true and accurate?

We want our Canadian leaders to be men or women of humble nobility in spirit and possess a deep love of every Canadian.

I don’t want to go on record on the Transgender debate, but to be honest and truthful to my fellow Canadians I suppose I should share my beliefs on this issue Canadians are trying to resolve to most people’s satisfaction:

Nation of Nations

Already the persecution of these people and the LSBG communities around the world is increasing. Canada is a country of refugees from war, starvation, poverty, religious persecution, racism, prejudice, government oppression, tyranny, gangsters, sickness and natural disasters. We must teach our people how we can live together in harmony and to leave our outdated and false prejudices behind as we join together in building a fully diversified society admired the world over. Such noble ambitions are integral to the “Canadian Spirt” we all share.

How often have you and those closest to you said, “We will agree to disagree.” Is not this the glue that helps us stick together? Canada must never become a Theocracy, but surely our Native and Judeo-Christian Heritages can accommodate every human spirit willing to love one another unconditionally. We certainly don’t need to redefine many of our secularized laws and institutions according to values and beliefs that conflict with our past generations.

It is not a Theocracy to have the GOD of Christianity at the apex of our secular Constitution. HIS scriptures are our guide and mentor so that we have noble foundations and benchmarks for our human political progress. Thus, the fabric of our CANADIAN SOUL has been woven out of this biblical tapestry. As diverse humanity this is the clothing we wear over our character, our uniform, our armour. We are ALL PEOPLES searching for harmony in our lives amongst each other.

All of this is at the core of Democracy in Canada, the Nation of Nations.

FIRST PAST THE POST

Thus, how do we choose leaders who are able and willing to wear our mantles?

Although political parties were always intended to represent the beliefs and views of distinct groups, most have degenerated into conduits of special interest groups without underlying community values, noble beliefs and self-less service. They swing to and fro in their promises and offer no accountability for their exercise of powers.

This is what we have attained so far from our Historical First Past the Post (FPTP) electoral process.

The election of 2015 resulted in a great under valuing of some principles and issues dear to the heart of a large majority of Canadians. The popular vote gave the Green Party of Canada, a national issues based Party, a disproportionately low number of seats in parliament. Many other important elements of our fabric were also revealed, but this one certainly highlighted some weaknesses in our present election regulations.

Celebrity Political Campaigns

One of these is that Canadians want big important issues that concern large communities of the electorate to be significantly represented in parliamentary debates. A second is that it is not certain in Canadian minds that our traditional old parties with national agendas, be the only forums for discussion in parliament. Parties with significant numbers of adherents should be heard.

Another somewhat undiscussed issue is why and how the mass media failed to understand how and why Canadians voted. There is a significant disconnect between the majority and minorities’ perspectives in Canada. The lack of neutrality of our national media channels led them to bias their analyses and prospective outcomes. This is a phenomena encountered throughout the world nowadays. The “silent majority” is often silenced by the media, or at least marginalized. Leadership vs. Candidate mass media coverage has drifted into expensive celebrity political campaigns in place of grass roots political representative leadership elections. This can’t help but transform our governing into autocracies and hierarchies controlling our society.

Broad Factions

The stories represented by our national election data rarely get told after the elections. But the chart below tells us quite a bit about who Canadians are and where our more common Canadian Spirits dwell. The common cultural political identities certainly reveal themselves, as they should.

CANADIAN ELECTIONS

PARTY	2015		2011		2008		2006
	% VOTES	% SEATS	% VOTES	% SEATS	% VOTES	% SEATS	% VOTES	% SEATS
BLOC QUEBECOIS	4.7%	3.0%	6.0%	1.2%	10.0%	15.9%	10.5%	16.6%
CONSERVATIVE+*CA	31.9%	29.3%	39.6%	53.9%	37.6%	46.4%	36.3%	40.3%
GREEN/ *Reform	3.4%	0.3%	3.9%	0.3%	6.8%	0.0%	4.5%	0.0%
LIBERAL	39.5%	54.4%	18.9%	11.0%	26.2%	25.0%	30.2%	33.4%
NEW DEMOCRATIC	19.7%	13.0%	30.6%	33.4%	18.2%	12.0%	17.5%	9.4%
OTHER	0.8%	0.0%	0.8%	0.0%	1.2%	0.3%	1.4%	0.3%

Over these past four elections, the Bloc Quebecois has lost more than 50% of its elections support. This signals that separatism is not for now and our French cultures want to bet on Trudeau-the-younger. Their social beliefs and values are anchored in their left leaning philosophical heritage. These Canadians value their distinctive Francophone culture greatly, but after being run over by so many Anglophones after 1812, they naturally felt their culture and customs and values were threatened. The invisible apron they wear could equally represent an invitation to a shared meal or a protection from outside germs.

But, equally divisive is the absurd imported snobbery and paternalism possessing many of the Anglo-elite (and not so elite) business and political leaders since Confederation. Their supporters appear to vary between a reliable 30% core and an activist extra 10% of our country. The dilution of freedoms and oppression of controls and regulations added by the conservative governments is not welcome restraint to the free nature of the Canadian Spirit. But cultures nurtured by class structure assume they must be “parental” caregivers, while remaining entitled to their inheritances. With our global economies becoming so inter-dependent, Canada certainly needs to keep our capital rich cultures liquid and confident in our future. Those with vision understand that the world is about to accelerate our Technological Age and Canada could well become the spearhead for all Democracies.

The Liberals cannot govern Canada without Quebec, although their appeals to minority cultures and their special interest groups fit well with the Gallic love of renaissance in our francophone cultures.

Of course, the New Democratic Party never recovered from the 2011 blinding lights of the media to see that our francophone majority cultures had no other cultural values choice. It was also a present to the NDP to see how well the party expressed its gratitude. Loyalty in Canadian politics blows with the wind. After all. “We all sailed to get here and we’ll keep on sailing!” Going forward, the NDP appears to have lost all its traditional constituents and has none in the future. Our cultures and social fabric have changed and around the world their founding principles no longer apply or work. Yet many of their core values are noble and important to Canadians. Equality of opportunity and an equality of distribution of wealth will always be noble virtues of the Canadian Spirit.

50%

No one appears to pay any attention to the rest of the political spectrum in Canada. We don’t know that over 15 parties have been registered, (not including the CFP at present). We have about 1% of voters who choose to be outside the parties. Sometimes we have brave citizens who are elected as independent members of parliament. In fact, I believe this 1% is truly closer to 50%!

A significant majority of Canadians feel completely unqualified to know who to vote for. Our problem is we don’t know who to vote against! Democracy doesn’t guarantee a choice from many desirable candidates, but instead, we must choose the least undesirable. (For a Christian: Spiritually, the joke is against us, as the Devil has us choosing someone we don’t particularly understand or want with our “choice of leaders”, “Democratic” voting power.)

So, most of Canadians have felt unable to vote for someone in which they have confidence. Often the candidates themselves do make truthful connections with their constituents, but there is often a cultural values character card hidden within the deck. Unfortunately there is still a great deal of inter-cultural abrasion blowing into our sails. This certainly speeds up the CATAMARANS flying the DIVERSIFIED CULTURES FIRST kaleidoscope of small flags.

Those of us in the CANADIAN CULTURE FIRST (CCF) canoe with the giant Maple Leaf spinnaker, want to pull up all our cultures together, and alongside each other we’ll create an unstoppable national harmony amongst us. Every one of us will make it our belief that the spirit and values of our nation will stand alongside our spiritual and cultural beliefs and values in harmony with all Canadians. Our “Canada First Declaration” must be made TRUTH in our souls. What we are attempting to do is to take Canadian Nationalism to a higher plane of nobility.

Common sense, which we all have, knows that if we love each other then we are going to serve those we love like we do with our children. It is this service to each other that multiplies and resonates within our Canadian Spirit. It not only keeps us close together but it also warms our hearts and blesses our lives. This Canadian Spirit is shared by most Canadians where ever they are, eh?

The goal of the CFP is to find ways to teach us how to respect and begin to appreciate one another’s cultures. We need to agree to subsume any cultural preferences we might have in order to allow harmony between cultures. Canada’s 1960’s CULTURAL REVOLUTION contained many of these seeds for our National Spirit.

THE CFP CANADIAN SPIRIT GOALS

LOVE OUR GOD.
LOVE and RESPECT one another.
SERVE one another.
SEEK WISDOM, UNDERSTANDING & TRUTH.
UNFETTER one another.
FORGIVE one another.
BE RIGHTEOUS and HUMBLE.
DEFEND OUR NATION.
SEEK OUR FUTURE.
LOVE OUR COUNTRY.

Thus far, we have visited key areas that define the criteria that must be enabled through the selection process for our representatives in parliament. These are values and principles that our voting regulations must not obstruct or allow to be diverted.

The Upper House comprises an appointment process for elders with a long-term guidance mission. Canada has had its share of Upper House functionality issues that have brought into question its viability as an important government institution. From a political structure integrity context, Canada’s Upper House is certainly a necessity. However, membership qualifications and tenure amendments might indeed be worthwhile. But it could be vulnerable under a Diversified Cultures First (DCF) mandate.

We might also glance at the political reality wherein the present process often produce minority governments. With so much cultural diversity, this will certainly be repeated more frequently if our representatives are culturally bias vs. nationally bias.

What we want is to keep culture out of our governing bubble and replace it with a CULTURE OF CANADIAN NATIONALISM. We want to take the Canadian Spirit of our OLYMPIC ATHLETES, all for one and one for all, and invite all Canadians to join THE SPIRIT.

I’m hoping my mind will now bring me to the actual answer to how we vote and how we translate it into seats in parliament.

(FPTP) First Past the Post certainly can be easily corrupted by cultural gerrymandering of ridings. This process highly favours the DCF and other minority interests who can bribe parties for their votes. This is also internally poisonous as politics becomes imprisoned by Favouritism and elites expand their power, money and influence even further.

(MMP) Mixed–Member Proportional, the apparent current favourite of the Liberal majority government (Dec. 2016), is strongly biased towards the large big budget parties. People vote for their member as well as their choice of party. This forces either expanding the seats to add party members in proportion to the popular vote. Fewer but larger ridings and multiple members from some ridings enable this. It limits minority governments and produces fewer party options. More cultural representations within ridings dilute cultural favouritism somewhat.

This redesign of voting and seat allocation certainly opens the floor of the House of Commons and gives a forum to some radical elements. It would be a very bold gamble that quite a few European governments regret. The mass media’s adulation of radicalism, and the Open Internet, expose Canada to increasingly radical cultures and often deceptive agendas.

Radicalism is certainly a common thread in our heritage, but the militant varieties spawning around the world nowadays should remind us of conditions preceding both world wars. If the Liberals naively pursue such diversity, we will certainly expose ourselves to serious risks and tumult. The policies these parties are negotiating in Europe nowadays would take us far from the “Liberalized” Canadian Democracy we would want.

If the CFP were to recommend Canadian Electoral Reform, we would not focus upon changing our Heritage Voting System, but we would focus upon the character and principles of parties and candidates. Cultural development would be left up to each culture within the framework of our Canadian Culture. Liberties and freedoms would not be defined by new cultural criteria other than those acceptable to all Canadians, including the majorities. This may be somewhat subtle to many Canadians, but it is vital to our future harmony.

Another REFORM would be to conduct more REFERENDUMS to determine the preferences of the majority of Canadians. An attempt would be made to identify key policy strategies where REFERENDUMS would be required by our constitution.