I want to hear what Frank has to say!

Poor Frank... left out in the cold. And, left out of the leaders' debate... AGAIN!


Please sign the petition to help get Frank included, even if you aren't a supporter of the Green Party. They got 11% of the popular vote! What more do the televisions networks want!?!

The petition is available at http://www.letfrankin.ca/

A bit about my research

My friends and family are always wondering about my research thesis. So, I've copied below an abstract that I've written about the my research. Note, that not all of what has been said here is completed yet, and I haven't analyzed any of my data... though that is going to happen soon. Please feel free to comment or ask questions!

TOU and Vulnerable Households: A case study of electricity consumption behaviour
Through the Smart Metering Initiative in the Canadian province of Ontario, all residential households will be converted to a time-of-use (TOU) rate pricing system for electricity by the year 2010. Although TOU rates are designed to be cost-neutral for the average consumer, research suggests that TOU rates may affect consumers differently depending on their socioeconomic characteristics. In an effort to understand the effects of TOU rates on lower-income and senior-headed households, researchers from the University of Waterloo conducted a collaborative study with Milton Hydro throughout the Summer and Fall of 2007. Ten expert interviews were conducted with Ontario professionals working in government, environmental non-profit and citizen advocacy organizations in order to provide context for the study. Time-differentiated electricity consumption data were then collected from 201 units in affordable housing and senior housing complexes in Milton, Ontario between May and October 2007. Researchers determined if the households were expected, given their then-current electricity consumption patterns, to have their electricity costs rise or fall as they moved from the traditional ‘flat rate’ pricing system to the TOU pricing system. They also determined the household response to TOU rates by calculating the proportion of electricity shifted to off-peak periods or conserved during on-peak periods as a result of the introduction of the new pricing system. This research emphasizes the relationship between energy policy and environmental equity and demonstrates the influence of socioeconomic characteristics in energy conservation behaviour.

A crucial time to cast your vote

One of the biggest environmental decision facing Ontarians in the next month is the referendum on electoral reform. Under the current first-pasted-the-post electoral system, parties like the Ontario Green Party only have an outside chance at winning a seat in the provincial legislator. Even though they represent about 10% of the popular vote, since they've never gotten the majority of the votes within one district, the provincial Greens have never had any of their candidates elected. Under the proposed mixed member proportional system (MMP), if 10% of Ontarians vote for the Green Party, than 10% of the seats will go to the Greens!

Obviously, I'm in favour of the new system. I've summarized some of the arguments for and against the new system:

Arguments for MMP:
-more choice - choose the party and the candidate
-fairer results - 10% means 10%!
-stronger representation
-eliminates "wasted" votes (know that your vote will count towards something!)

Arguments against MMP:
-17 fewer local ridings (is thought to be less representative)
-39 politicians not chosen specifically by voters
-22 more politicians and their staff at Queen's Parkand vote-counting system

Arguements for FPTP:
-hmm....?? (honestly.. the official site for the "No MPP" campaign just bashes MPP and but doesn't say anything that's good about FPTP)

Arguments against FPTP:
-less representation (only the "most popular" in each riding wins)
-distorts the will of the voters
-produces phony majority governments
-fails to produce accountable governments
-results in low percentage of elected women and visible minorities

To get this new electoral system is going to be tough! They've set the stakes pretty hight. This MMP will become law only IF:

a) 50% of the voters in 64 electoral districts vote for Mixed Member Proportional
AND
b)At least 60% of all the referendum ballots across the province choose the alternative system recommended by the Citizens' Assembly.

EVERY VOTE IS CRUCIAL!!!!

To learn about how and why MPP was selected check out this video.



To learn about how the electoral system will work check out this video.