Save our voice

It’s no secret that Northern Ontario’s voice barely registers as a whisper down at Queen’s Park.
The current election campaign certainly hasn’t done anything to dispel that complaint. The two main contenders for the premier’s job—Dalton McGuinty and John Tory—are busy arguing over public funding for faith-based schools and the merits of selling Ontario beer and wine in corner stores; with scant mention of how to create jobs in the north or revive the forest industry.
Heck, even Elections Ontario can’t bother to spell Fort Frances correctly on our voter registration notices.
Given our hoarse voice already, it makes no sense to support electoral reform that would muffle it even further. But that’s precisely what would happen under the proposed Mixed Member Proportional system.
Presently, Northern Ontario has 11 seats in the 107-seat legislature, or just about 10 percent. Under the MMP, the number of seats directly elected by voters will be reduced to 90, meaning our region probably will lose two seats to maintain its traditional 10 percent share.
That, in turn, will mean even larger ridings for some (perhaps Kenora-Rainy River being merged with Thunder Bay-Atikokan?)
But there’s more. Under MMP, 39 additional seats will be filled from so-called party “lists” based on the percentage of the popular vote each party garners during the election, which then would leave Northern Ontario with just nine guaranteed seats out of the 129 total (well below 10 percent).
But wait, you say? Maybe some of the “list members” will hail from Northern Ontario? Not too likely, but sure, perhaps. But even if they did, these members are accountable to the party, not actual constituents, so they certainly wouldn’t be sticking up for the north if that went against party policy.
Let’s not weaken our voice. Vote “no” to MMP on Oct. 10.