James O'Grady
I am the founder of Unpublished Media Inc., a company I started in 2012. I am also a communications professional and community activist, living in Nepean, Ontario. And, I am a hockey goaltender, political hack and most importantly, an advocate for grassroots, participatory democracy at all levels of government.
Contributor's
Unpublished Opinions
The public consultation format Calgary used to spend the $52 Million is the same approach I...
Dear Editor, I was very pleased to read in the paper this morning (http://bit.ly/11iFnfJ) that...
I’ve made this argument so many times, many times on your site (The Bulldog), but here it is...
This is really good news! The final paragraph in the Mayor's motion is exactly what I said in my...
Dear Sens fans, Help Daniel Alfredsson make his decision on whether or not he'll stay on as the...
Its unbelievable really. The more criticism the Mayor receives for his lack of transparency and...
Comments by James O'Grady
Very interesting. Almost all say no because "it's their land". The women appear to be the most ardent. Pretty much makes it impossible to live together in peace if one side or even both sides refuse to live with one another. The core of their position seems to have been formed around the force used to displace them and the disrespect shown to Palestinians by Israel settlers.
Thoughts?
Don't disagree with most of what you're saying. We need a change in leadership at a very minimum. The world is moving faster than we seem to be.
FPTP hasn't worked since multiple parties started to arise, over 100 years ago. Strategic voting has been a things for a long time. I think it's why the NPD have never formed government at the federal level. Many ridings are often won by less than 50% of the popular vote. Which is what we've seen every election in my 57 years except for Brian Mulroney's first majority government. It was a true majority. But, it has been the only one.
The problem is that this means more than 50% of the votes cast were cast for other parties or candidates. Leading to a majority of the people being dissatisfied with the outcome from the outset. And, of course, as time moves on they become less and less engaged. Low turnout becomes the outcome, which is the opposite of what a strong democracy needs. Corruption loves a vacuum, people need to engage in our democracy. I believe voting is mandatory in Australia. Is that a solution? They also use a proportional system.
I think it would help if we could find some way to better reflect the will of the collective majority in parliament rather than that of the minority. Somehow doesn't make sense to me.
Thanks for the feedback.
Agreed, Thanks for the feedback.