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4- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday September 20, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Candidates agree electoral system outdated By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Women's issues and proportional representation were just a few of the topics tackled by the candidates at Oakville's first electoral debate, held at the Holiday Inn, yesterday. Hosted by the Oakville Chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) and Advancement of Women Halton (AWH) the debate gave each of Oakville's four candidates the opportunity to weigh in on questions posed to them by the public, but under a strictly enforced time limit. On the issue of whether the candidates support a proportional representation voting system, Green Party can- didate Blake Poland was quick to come out in favour of it, noting that it was the only way the voters can truly have their voices heard. "We do face a situation where a minority of Canadians can elect a `majority government' and I do think that needs to change," he said. "I look forward to the day when everyone can cast their vote with a belief in the party they most like without worrying about strategic voting. Strategic voting gives a very false impression of what support is for the various parties out there. There's a lot of people that are holding their nose and voting for who they can." Oakville Liberal MP Bonnie Brown noted that a proportional representation system would give Canadians a much more secure sense of their democracy. "The good thing about proportional representation is that it usually turns up more women in parliament," she said. "I'm happy to report that my party, which has a goal of being one-third women candidates, has already reached women as 36 per cent of the candidates for this election." NDP candidate Michelle Bilek noted that Canada's existing `first past the post' voting system is ancient, dating back to before electricity was invented, and, as such needs, to be replaced. "For a government to be truly democratic, citizens need to know that their votes are going to count," she said. "This is an unfair system and it's made even worse when these elected MPs ignore their voters and switch parties in between elections." Bilek also attacked the senate calling it an undemocratic part of the Canadian political system where members work three days a week, at best. "It doesn't have to be this way," she said. Conservative candidate Terence Young said he is open Bonnie Brown, Liberal Michelle Bilek, NDP Terence Young, Conservative to looking at new methods to elect members of parliament, but also pointed out that the people of Ontario just voted on this issue. "They reviewed it and they voted on it by referendum and they turned it down. So, it didn't seem to be their priority," he said. "I think there are other priorities for democratizing our parliament. Having an unelected senate review everything the elected parliament does and holding it up for months on end for no good reason, is a priority that needs to be dealt with. We want an elected senate in Canada and we want to put a two-term limit on senateship." When asked what they would do to bring about true gender equality the candidates' answers were varied. Brown said the first support- Blake Poland, Green ers of Liberal Leader Stephane Dion were women who negotiated a series of reforms concerning a woman's role in parliament. "The first one he agreed to was that one-third of the candidates would be women and, as I said, he delivered on that and exceeded at that," said Brown. "Another, is a commission on gender equality, which will ensure that every government program is put through the lens of gender based equality assessment." Bilek noted that the NDP is committed to bringing gender equality to every part of Canadian society, from the makeup of the House of Commons to pay equity to childcare. "Some of the strategies that the NDP will put in place to See Government page 12