Maurice Potvin

2015-05-15 22:03:49 -0400

OK, I tried to put this in a link, but didn’t works. I don’t want to take up too much of your time or space here, but I’ll post this below. It’s self explanatory. Read it and comment on it if you like, or just ignore it and go on to the next post:



MAURICE POTVIN’S FORMULA FOR FAIR CANADIAN GOVERNMENT



1) TERM LIMITS FOR ALL POLITICIANS , FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL : Limit all MP, MLA , MPP and Senate seats to two terms maximum, with a mandatory hiatus of at least one term before running again. Politics should be viewed as a service, not a career.



2) MANDATORY EXPERIENCE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR : Politicians who have never built a business or had to hold down a full-time job that actually contributed to the infrastructure or material needs of society should not be considered qualified to tell the rest of us how that society should be built or run. (length and type of experience to be determined)



3) ALL ELECTORAL DISTRICTS SHOULD REPRESENTS THE SAME NUMBER OF REGISTERED VOTERS : Each electoral district should represent, as nearly as possible, exactly the same population. That would mean that electoral boundaries would have to be very fluid, and may fluctuate from one election to the next, depending on shifting populations.



4) DIVIDE PARLIAMENT IN TWO : I propose that a more democratic parliament would see half the seats filled by the winning candidates in each electoral district, and the other half filled by party representation in direct relationship to the popular vote. In other words, half of the seats would be filled by appointment. The number of appointed seats allotted to each political party would depend on that party’s percentage of the popular vote. If a party received 30% of the popular vote, they would receive 30% of the appointed seats. That way, in ridings that were very close in the election, the second place candidate may still get a seat in parliament. Also, seats allotted in that manner would more closely represent the actual will of the people.(total number of parliamentary seats to be determined)



5) A NON - PARTISAN ELECTED SENATE BY REGION , WITH LOCAL VETO POWERS : The Senate should be elected, with the same term limits as those of Parliament. Senate seats should be distributed, not by population, but by Senatorial Districts within Provinces, defined by geographic, commercial and socio/cultural communities (geographic area to be defined). All Senate seats should be non-partisan, with Senators owing no allegiance to any political party, but solely to their district constituents. The function of the Senate should be, in some ways similar to the current function – sober second thought, but their allegiance must be first and foremost to their Senatorial District and those they represent. To that end, each Senator should have the power to veto the implementation of any legislation within the confines of his or her Senatorial District, but only when given a mandate through referendum to do so by their electorate. Cost of the referendum to be borne solely and completely by the Senatorial District. This veto power must be limited, in that the courts and/or an appointed committee of provincial and federal representatives must have the authority to overrule the veto and develop alternatives that address and resolve by negotiation the issue(s) that triggered the veto. But this power to overrule must also be limited. The specific conditions under which the veto may be overruled are: a) if failure to implement said legislation within the specified Senatorial District is deemed to be detrimental to the National interest, or b) it was determined that failure to implement would adversely affect neighboring Senatorial Districts. (number of Senatorial Districts to be determined)



6) SUPREME COURT DECISIONS MAY BE OVER - RULED BY ELECTED BODIES : Where the Supreme Court declares that legislation, passed through both the Parliament and the Senate, violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and strikes down the law, a combined vote of both the Parliament and Senate will have the power to over-rule the Supreme Court by a vote of 50% plus one. The final word on legislation must be in the hands of the elected bodies, not the unelected body.

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