Vote for MMP

I'll be voting Yes in the Oct. 10 Ontario referendum on electoral reform.

Why? Let me think about that.

I suppose because I think we are ruled by alpha-dogs.

They win a majority with something less than %50 of the vote -- maybe as little as 37% as in the 1990 provincial election --

They win a landslide on such a slender basis.

And they think:

'Man, we're good! We can do anything we want!'

(And sometimes they do.)

Or, they don't get a majority. They get a minority with 36% of the vote, say, as in the 2006 federal election. And they think:

'We were that close!'

And then they govern for the next year or two as if they are playing a slot machine. Just the right shove might hit the jackpot.

I'm in favour of MMP because it will make a majority government very hard to attain, given the political ecosystem that tends to obtain in Canada.

I want the alpha-dogs to get into parliament and think:

'Crap! We're going to have to deal with those assholes across the aisle -- forever!'

I want the alpha-dogs to realize they are pulling the sled, not leading it.

(This will sound to some people like sadism. I freely confess it.)