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This is the first of two posts written after the conclusion of the Peoples’ Social Forum (PSF). The second post is about the use of language when discussing “democracy”. 

Why did FVC attend the Peoples’ Social Forum

I just returned from five days in Ottawa as a participant in PSF. It was an amazing get-together of activists, leaders (we’re all leaders) and luminaries from across the social movements. There was a lot of positive energy. And of course, many of the contradictions of Canadian politics also played out at the PSF as organizers brought together very diverse elements of civil society including marginalized groups. 

I attended as part of the Fair Vote Canada (FVC) contingent (although the views expressed in this post are my own). We concluded a few months ago that the PSF would be a great opportunity to talk to a lot of people about proportional representation. After all, Fair Vote Canada is part of the pro-democracy social movement that is growing across Canada and ought to be present with the other movements.

Just as important, the PSF was an opportunity to position democratic voting reform as a game-changer — not just for individual voters but especially for the social movements which have a huge stake in government legislation, policy and budgets. Our participation was situated in the context of FVC’s current campaign “Let’s Make 2015 the last unfair election.” We thought our theme dovetailed with one of the PSF’s major objectives — to plan for the defeat the Harper Conservative government in the 2015 election. 

FVC’s activities at the PSF

With a contingent of about 25 FVC volunteers over the course of the four days of the Social Forum, we spoke one-on-one with more than a thousand participants and got our message out to many more in various workshops and Assemblies. Many, if not most of our volunteers were bilingual as were our printed materials. 

  • On the morning of Day one – August 21, FVC E-D Kelly Carmichael led a workshop called “Why Social Movements need Proportional Representation.” It provided a detailed overview of what’s wrong with first-past-the-post, the different PR models and the connection to civil society’s aspirations. It was attended by about 75 people. 
  • For the first time, FVC livestreamed the workshop which brought a few more people in. FVC now has its own “TV station”. The webcast wasn’t perfect but it was a good first try. You can watch the presentation and discussion by going to the link above. Start with the video on the right. 
  • We established our “base camp” at our outdoor literature table which operated for most of Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  
  • That afternoon, we pulled out our banners, went to hear Naomi Klein speak, joined the march attended by thousands and rallied on Parliament Hill. 
  • More than 800 people signed our “Declaration of Voters Rights“. Our goal is to have at least 100,000 signatures by the time the 2015 election rolls around. Please sign if you haven’t done so already. We’re currently at about 37,000. 
  • We created a PSF-focused flyer — “Social movements need proportional representation”.
  • We drafted a three-part resolution to help focus the discussion. We presented it at the “Social Movement Assembly on Democracy” and it was also discussed in three or four other Assemblies. The three “resolves” were to:
    1) call on the leaders of all parties to amend the Canada Elections Act to guarantee the citizens of Canada equal effective votes and representation in the House of Commons in close proportion to votes cast;
    2) call on social movements to launch a massive education campaign to raise awareness among their members and allies about the pressing need for proportional representation;
    3) call on movement leaders and organizations to not support or encourage any party or political leader who refuses to honour and champion the demand for democratic voting reform after the 2015 election. 

We were tremendously encouraged by the ease with which most people were prepared to sign our Declaration. As we suspected, many participants were already supporters of equal votes and proportional representation. While their understanding of the details of proportional representation were uneven, they were in agreement with the principles.

Our major challenge

Our biggest challenge at the PSF (and in general) was to persuade people that the demand for democratic voting reform was a unifying and enabling demand that could be adopted by most if not all social movements. That makes fair voting is a strategic demand upon which their future successes may very well ride. Proportional representation was potentially within sight if the social movements actively championed the cause before the next election. We were not suggesting in any way that movements drop what they’re doing but that they augment their own campaigns by introducing fair voting into their mix. 

FVC needed to demonstrate there was indeed a critical path towards implementing proportional representation after 2015. As leaders in the democratic voting movement, it is our responsibliity to not just talk about PR, but identify how we’re going to get there. 

With the federal NDP and Green Party already in full support of PR (and the Conservatives firmly opposed) that critical path is to push the Trudeau Liberal Party off the fence. Are they democrats or are they not? Will they declare themselves before the next election so that voters are fully aware of their options? Should there be a opposition majority in the next Parliament, are they prepared to enact democratic voting?

Are social movements prepared to up the ante with the Liberal Party and tell them unequivocally that there will be no support for them in the next election if they are unwilling to democratize Canada’s voting system? Our fear of a Harper re-election should not lower our sights on what the future ought to look like. 

As I suggested on this blog last week, this is the time for bold action that takes us beyond the rhetoric and limitations of “taking it to the streets.” Of course that is important but unless we have a clear vision and clear demands, what exactly are we taking to the streets? Our message should be heard loud and clear by all political parties including our allies. 

The results

We had great success when it came to talking to participants, getting signatures for our Declaration on Voters Rights and distributing literature. However, I cannot say that Fair Vote Canada met its more ambitious, broader movement-building objectives at the Social Forum. Despite widespread support from hundreds of individual participants, our message was not re-inforced by any of the leaders that we heard speak at the PSF, including those who we know support PR. That was yet another lost opportunity. 

Despite our best efforts to elevate PR into an unifying, strategic demand for social movements, there was not even a mention of electoral reform in the PSF final “Call to Action” let alone a strategy for getting there. That was an even deeper disappointment. Is it that some people don’t get it? Or that they don’t want to get it because they don’t agree? 

As happens so often, Canada’s undemocratic voting system was the elephant in many rooms at the PSF. Are we entering into yet another election where the links between undemocratic and unfair election results, horrible social policy and Canada’s post-feudal, winner-take-all electoral system are not made? I hope not.

The road ahead

Defeating Stephen Harper’s Conservatives will be satisfying. However, without an NDP majority, how many years are the social movement leaders prepared to wait for democratic reform? Are we putting all our eggs into that (desirable) outcome as our strategy for reform?

Without cranking up the pressure on Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party now, to make proportional representation an election issue — well before the writ is dropped – we are unlikely to see any positive change from the Liberals when it comes to democratic reform.

The squeaky wheel sometimes gets the oil. Those who set their sights low are appeased with half-measures. Those who provide unconditional support are usually taken for granted. 

Coming soon – Part 2 – Language matters when talking about democracy

Gary Shaul

Gary Shaul is a life-long Torontonian and retired Ontario civil servant. He's been involved with a number of issues over the past 45 years including trade unionism, proportional representation, Indigenous...