I see where the examples of commissions outsite the Republic of Oilberta, use judges as part of the decision making system. Perhaps our Premieress will adopt that system once she convices Ottawa that only she should choose who is a judge in Alberta. As she says, that way they would understand the unique values of Albertans.
I think this government sees the 'common values of Albertans' as being what the UCP. APP and the other supporters value. Danerous stuff for democracy.
As someone captured by the gerrymandered map there’s not a hope in hell I want the radicalized alt right of my rural riding potentially overwhelming an urban vote.
Win fair Dani, try not screwing around with everything you touch
Of all the bad news in the world, I was the most crestfallen with yesterday report that DS appears ready to rig the elections through US style gerrymandering. She has to be stopped. But the official opposition seems rather...impotent?
Thank you for not using any LLM-generated images in this article! It's good to finally see you using ethically sourced images. I am sure the article text is likewise un"assisted".
I agree with your reasoned arguments with the exception of your statement regarding " consideration of 'whose votes count for more or less.' Those concerns are not "esoteric " or necessarily "partisan" but fundamental to the principle of one person-one vote. Anything that undermines that brings the democratic process into disrepute, always. The Commission argued in its interim report that strict aderhence to proportional representation open the system to gerrymandering a la the U.S. Guess what? The slavish devotion to so called "effective representation " in Alberta has not prevented gaming the boundaries, now or in the past. Having each electoral district assigned the same population won't necessarily prevent gerrymandering but it will make it more obvious and possibly harder.
I suggest that you read the Commission's mandate and framework section of its preliminary report. Canada since before Confederation has never strictly followed a one person-one vote concept like the U.S. does, for a number of reasons set out there. Some of those reasons I can understand. Some I disagree with. But it's quite startling to see the history laid out with its weight of precedent. It's important to take it into account when advocating something closer to not diluting one definable group's vote.
Originally intended in a convoluted way to compensate for the reporting delays that were part of the 18th century travel infrastructure between the states, millions of Americans would agree with you that the Electoral College is now an anti-democratic anachronism. When and how the political will will be generated to eliminate it is anyone's guess.
I see where the examples of commissions outsite the Republic of Oilberta, use judges as part of the decision making system. Perhaps our Premieress will adopt that system once she convices Ottawa that only she should choose who is a judge in Alberta. As she says, that way they would understand the unique values of Albertans.
I think this government sees the 'common values of Albertans' as being what the UCP. APP and the other supporters value. Danerous stuff for democracy.
As someone captured by the gerrymandered map there’s not a hope in hell I want the radicalized alt right of my rural riding potentially overwhelming an urban vote.
Win fair Dani, try not screwing around with everything you touch
Great analysis. Alberta should no backtrack by going down the USA path of partisan gerrymandering.
Corruption, corruption, corruption.
This should be required reading for all Albertans.
Of all the bad news in the world, I was the most crestfallen with yesterday report that DS appears ready to rig the elections through US style gerrymandering. She has to be stopped. But the official opposition seems rather...impotent?
Thank you for not using any LLM-generated images in this article! It's good to finally see you using ethically sourced images. I am sure the article text is likewise un"assisted".
I agree with your reasoned arguments with the exception of your statement regarding " consideration of 'whose votes count for more or less.' Those concerns are not "esoteric " or necessarily "partisan" but fundamental to the principle of one person-one vote. Anything that undermines that brings the democratic process into disrepute, always. The Commission argued in its interim report that strict aderhence to proportional representation open the system to gerrymandering a la the U.S. Guess what? The slavish devotion to so called "effective representation " in Alberta has not prevented gaming the boundaries, now or in the past. Having each electoral district assigned the same population won't necessarily prevent gerrymandering but it will make it more obvious and possibly harder.
I suggest that you read the Commission's mandate and framework section of its preliminary report. Canada since before Confederation has never strictly followed a one person-one vote concept like the U.S. does, for a number of reasons set out there. Some of those reasons I can understand. Some I disagree with. But it's quite startling to see the history laid out with its weight of precedent. It's important to take it into account when advocating something closer to not diluting one definable group's vote.
The "3/5's rule" that delegates electoral college votes proves that the US has never adhered to "one person, one vote" either.
Originally intended in a convoluted way to compensate for the reporting delays that were part of the 18th century travel infrastructure between the states, millions of Americans would agree with you that the Electoral College is now an anti-democratic anachronism. When and how the political will will be generated to eliminate it is anyone's guess.
If you reread the comment carefully you will discover I have referenced the exact sections of the report you mentioned.
Independence, as in totally apart from any political involvement, is a must in determining electoral boundaries.
Just some additional perspective…
https://politicalodor.substack.com/p/the-algorithmic-gerrymander-precision?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
An air traffic control idiom can be applied to electoral district re-distrubution. Crack 'em and stack 'em is apt in this case.