Dear electoral reform committee, your mandate and my vision need proportional representation, which makes this the most important two minutes in my life.
I've had fierce conversations about why civilizations rise and fall. Author Chris Harmon says that civilizations rise when citizens “remould society around the values of solidarity, mutual support, egalitarianism, collective cooperation and a democratically planned use of resources.” Civilizations fall when citizens fail to maintain these values.
Let's focus on the value of the democratically planned use of resources. As an environmentalist, I was frustrated when a wage slave would step in between me and the tree I wanted to hug. Then I realized that the tree would not need hugging if the wage slave's owners were not free to undemocratically use that resource in ways that externalized costs on the poor and the environment, and then use the profit to amplify their voice in government.
As citizens, the best way we can maintain our values is if our voices are proportionally represented in government. Give Canadians the opportunity to remould society around our values. On December 1, identify proportional representation as the one electoral reform that offers effectiveness and legitimacy, engagement, accessibility and inclusiveness, integrity, and Canadian-made local representation.
Thank you.