[Bill, Ontario]

We are going to vote in a new slate of Provincial MP's on Oct 10th. We are also going to vote in a referendum to see if we should change our present system to a Mixed Member Proportional system.
Since it has been pointed out that New Zealand adopted this system recently and some in the agriculture comunity have even suggested that is the reason farming no longer has subsidies in New Zealand I thought maybe answers straight from the horses mouth so to speak might help me.

So I am looking for comments on your voting system good and bad.
I believe you have local candidates and 'list candidates' as is proposed in Ontario.
Is it easy for you to understand?
Are the elected members helpful? Both local and list memebers.
Any other thoughts that you think might be helpful.

Thanks
Bill

[barryp]

You seem to be asking quite a few different questions there.

The official documentation of how the electoral system works here is very good. Thorough yet written in English rather than bureaucratese c/o:
http://www.elections.org.nz/
Consensus amongst independent observers is that the electoral system here is transparent, secure, fair, and efficient.

Elected members are probably more 'helpful' than one gets used to in North America for the simple reason that the ratio of electors to citizens is much higher here. Canada would have over a thousand MP's, and the USA more than ten thousand. Local councillors are much more accessible for the same reason. Small has its advantages.

The suggestion that NZ no longer has subsidies for agriculture, or other intensive government involvement in the sector, is ridiculous. It's the #1 source of hard currency and jobs for the country. Very intricate systems of subsidy were dismantled far before MMP was even considered, and the sector is still subject to dramatic government intervention.

MMP is very recent (15 years old IIRC) and there seems to be no widespread dissatisfaction with it. If it prevents the lunatic fringe from taking over a major party (as happened in the USA), I'm going to be happy with it....

[Bill, Ontario]

Thanks Barry.
As I indicated I suspected the 'reports' we have been getting here about New Zealand were somewhat inaccurate.
Many here in Ontario are afraid of change perhaps because of all the "examples" of trouble with MMP systems that have been spread around so all indications are it will be turned down.
We will know in a couple of days as voting will be all over in less than 48 hours.

Thanks again, I will vote for change.
Bill

[Nick88]

Personally I detest the MMP system. It has allowed the lunatic fringe to take over the govt, despite what Barry has said. It means that NZ will never have a majority govt, and so the minor parties like the greens will always have the power of veto. The tail wags the dog, so to speak.

The party list means that there are a huge number of MPs in power that are incapable of winning an electorate seat, but have gotten where they are by cronyism. It allows alot of jobs-for-the-boys/girls type politics that is very unhealthy, and frankly undemocratic. Many of these people are completely unelectable, and no electorate in their right mind would have them. Consequently they do not answer to an electorate that can throw them out at the next election, so say and do whatever they want.

It was Dr Thomas Sowell, author and senior fellow at the Hoover Institute who said about government, “It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong”.

http://www.nzcpr.com/weekly80.htm
http://www.michaelbassett.co.nz/articleview.php?id=115
http://www.michaelbassett.co.nz/articleview.php?id=35

You may have noticed I am an old fashioned classic liberal/ conservative.