Monday September 29, 2014 – 11am
Posted Sep 29, 2014 10:25:14 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
11:00- Ex-PM Kim Campbell pitches reform to boost gender parity
Lori Turnbull, Political Scientist at Dalhousie University
Former prime minister Kim Campbell says all federal ridings should run two candidates, including a woman, as a way to create instant parity in Parliament but that proposal ran into some opposition from some voters on Sunday. In Canada, 76 women were elected in the 2011 election, bringing the number of female MPs to 25 per cent of the 308 federal seats. Even though women have been more successful in getting elected to the House of Commons, Campbell said it’s going to take generations to reach gender parity at the national level without an intervention. She suggests one man and one woman for every riding. “You know the idea of gender parity is nothing radical in the world. Even France passed a gender parity law,” she said. Turnbell though, says a relatively old idea that’s being given new attention in Canada and that could serve as an antidote to an ailing participatory democracy: mandatory voting. In some ways, this is sad: democracy is in such abysmal shape in Canada that people are talking about using the law to compel participation. But perhaps it’s not such a bad idea. Those who previously abstained would be forced to cast ballots and they might think, “I’ve got to vote anyway; I might as well find out what this is all about and make an informed choice.” If these things were to happen, democratic morale might actually get worse – even as voter turnout soars. Then mandatory voting becomes a troublesome mask for the reality of voter apathy. If mandatory voting were to be implemented without a serious education strategy that explained to citizens the genuine rationale behind it – to invigorate democracy in Canada – then the whole thing would become another elite-driven exercise, and a cynical one that does little more than attempt to legitimize an election result with a turnout that is high because it’s contrived. My hope is that if we pursue mandatory voting, we take the time to do it right. The stakes are too high not to.
11:30- Canada revoking passports of those fighting with extremist groups
Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Canadians who travel overseas to join extremist groups can expect to have their passports revoked, the government is warning. Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said that Ottawa has begun revoking travel documents for those who travel to places such as Iraq and Syria to fight with the Islamic State and other militants groups. “Yes, I think it’s safe to say that there are cases of revocation of passports involving people who’ve gone to Syria and Iraq already,” Alexander said on Friday. “I just don’t want to get into the numbers, but multiple cases.” While Alexander did not disclose the number of passports invalidated, it was reported that there was roughly 30 Canadians fighting inside Syria and Iraq and over 150 more worldwide. “Given the barbaric nature of the groups operating now in Syria and Iraq, and their unscrupulous tactics, we need this kind of measure to prevent people from going down this misguided path, and to deter young people from even thinking about it,” he said to Postmedia. The minister also said that persons who hold dual citizenship may have the Canadian citizenship revoked on the grounds of terrorism. These powers were given to the Canadian government this year. The move represents a serious step by the Canadian government in the fight against the Islamic State. Without a passport, these citizens will not be able to return home, effectively stranding them in Syria and Iraq.
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