Fair Vote Manitoba

FVM is non-partisan. We advocate for #ProportionalRepresentation in Manitoba. Honor Treaties 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10; Metis homeland. Join us: [email protected]

[Fair Vote Manitoba @MBFairVote]

A sovereign people must cast a sovereign vote.

A vote that counts is a sovereign vote.

[Fair Vote Manitoba @MBFairVote]

Demand proportional representation.

[The Breakdown @TheBreakdownAB]

Alberta's gerrymandering Cole's notes...

The UCP report ignores the mandate given by the legislature and gerrymandering south of Airdrie with the west side of Calgary getting screwed and Lethbridge getting super screwed.

#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

[The Breakdown @TheBreakdownAB]

Alberta's gerrymandering Cole's notes...

The UCP report ignores the mandate given by the legislature and gerrymandering south of Airdrie with the west side of Calgary getting screwed and Lethbridge getting super screwed.

#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

[Fair Vote Manitoba @MBFairVote]

Proportional representation can't be gerrymandered.

Demand a vote that counts.

Will other provinces follow suit?

#abpoli

[The Breakdown @TheBreakdownAB]

Albertans don't get to see the new commissions maps for a few days, but Nenshi made it clear today that the Gerrymandering is real.

#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

[Fair Vote Canada 🗳️🍁 @FairVoteCanada]

From the Abbotsford News, B.C. and federal elections show how first-past-the-post distorts outcomes, giving parties more seats with fewer votes.

We need proportional representation because cooperation brings better health, economic, and climate results. https://t.co/IOASXY0GHg

[ProRep Coalition @ProRepCoalition]

Tyranny of the majority is bad, but tyranny of the minority is worse.

It's far better to force the largest minority to compromise than to let them wield unchecked power.

Just sayin'.

[Mouvement Démocratie Nouvelle @MDNinfo]

Nous sommes bien heureux de lire que la réforme du mode de scrutin a été discuté lors de cette rencontre!

[Fair Vote Manitoba @MBFairVote]

So with voters staying home, voter turnout plunges and democratic legitimacy gets questioned.

With proportional representation German voter turnout in the winter 2025 election reached 82%. That's as much as Australia gets with mandatory voting, without mandatory voting.

FPTP elections suck.

[Anthony Koch @Anthony__Koch]

Too many political strategists/politicians don’t understand that “motivating the base” too much means motivating your opponent’s voters to show up too. Negative polarization.

It’s not just about giving your voters a reason to vote, but giving opponents a reason to stay home.

[Fair Vote Manitoba @MBFairVote]

BC election with proportional representation

Conservatives – 45 seats (48.1% vote share)

NDP – 35 seats (37.4% vote share)

Green – 10 seats (11.5% vote share)

Independents – 3 seats (3.5% vote share)

The government could be headed by a Conservative led or NDP led coalition.

#bcpoli

[Fair Vote Manitoba @MBFairVote]

At the AGM pass a resolution for a vote that counts.

Give Albertans a sovereign vote; an unmolested cast without fear or favor.

Grassroots members of the UCP are held hostage for fear of electing the NDP.

Proportional representation gives voters more choices and matches seats to votes. Let's say an Alberta First party gets 25% of the votes cast all over Alberta. Then 25% of the MLAs sitting in Edmonton would be Alberta Firsters.

A sovereign vote liberates separatist votes from under the jackboot of the UCP and lets them elect MLAs.

[Brian McClelland @McCBri]

Whether this post is correct or not, it should be sufficient to take a pledge of loyalty to the UCP Membership, as the grassroots members vote for the UCP Board of Directors, not all Albertas.

This is not how politics works, in a bottom up organization. Smith is not the Queen of the UCP, she is the UCP's chief servant, and as Premier a servant to the public.

Perhaps the entire board of the UCP needs to be replaced?

[Fair Vote Manitoba @MBFairVote]

You say something like The UCP does not own the Alberta First vote but thinks it deserves unconditional support.

The UCP holds you hostage via a winner-take-all vote.

You have nowhere to go.

You can stay home and join the largest group of voters, those who Do Not Vote, or you can pass a motion for a vote that counts at the AGM and break free.

With proportional representation, your votes will count. A vote that counts is a sovereign vote; a vote not held hostage under threat of the NDP. There's no vote split.

IF Alberta First gets 25% of the vote, it gets 25% of the seats.

[Erik Thorvaldsson @erik_thorvalds]

Nine Thoughts on UCP President Rob Smith’s Remarkable Letter to the Membership.

1. Rob Smith acknowledges Alberta sovereigntists are indispensable to the @Alberta_UCP, among its most dedicated volunteers and organizers. Then he declares @ABDanielleSmith’s leadership beyond question.

Apparently, we can knock on doors, raise money and elect federalists. We simply cannot determine the direction of the party we helped build.

That is not unity. That is political subordination.

2. Albertans voted on a nonbinding referendum on a referendum. They did not vote on Danielle Smith’s leadership.

The 75% who voted to remain in Canada did not grant her immunity from accountability inside her party.

A referendum on Alberta’s constitutional future is not a coronation of Danielle Smith.

3. Janet Brown’s polling found 53% of intended UCP voters supported Option 2, versus 40% favouring Canada.

Rob Smith is confusing the Alberta electorate with the UCP electorate.

We are not some fringe on the periphery. We are the majority constituency within the party, its grassroots, volunteers and rural heartland.

The party cannot treat the people who helped deliver its majorities as political guests in their own home.

4. Rob boasts that 65 constituency association boards passed motions supporting Smith.

“That settles it.”

Does it, Rob?

Did Sixty-five boards really do so?

Would be a pity if one of the sixty-five called for a review.

If Smith enjoys overwhelming member support, why fear a review?

The UCP is supposed to be a democratic institution, not the personal property of whoever happens to lead it.

5. Rob insists sovereigntists are welcome and needed. Danielle Smith invites those still advocating Independence to find another party.

Which is it?

We can volunteer, donate and vote as instructed, but must abandon any ambition to influence party direction?

That is the federalist reservation. We are not going back.

6. Rob invokes the spectre of the NDP and 2015. But if preventing a Nenshi government is paramount, why alienate a substantial portion of your electoral coalition?

Smith apparently believes she can repudiate sovereigntists politically while retaining them electorally.

Voters aren’t party property. The danger in 2027 may be a leader whose former base stays home.

Demanding that disillusioned supporters fall in line is not a strategy for winning an election.

7. Rob recites government achievements as though they settle the leadership question.

They do not. Accomplishments belong to the party, its legislators, its members and Albertans. They are not Danielle Smith’s private property.

The UCP is bigger than one individual. Good government and continued confidence in its leader are separate questions.

8. The UCP emerged from Alberta’s conservative movement, including the Wildrose tradition. It is not Danielle Smith’s personal political vehicle.

Independence advocates have every right to join, contest nominations, elect boards, shape policy and seek the leadership.

The Parti Québécois showed what an institutionalized sovereigntist movement can achieve. Alberta First must learn that lesson.

We intend to participate fully in determining its future.

9. We lost the October referendum. We accept it. But more than half a million Albertans voted to begin a process toward a binding Independence referendum.

That is no extinct movement. It has a rural heartland, a political network and a future.

Rob says it will take ALL OF US to win in 2027. He’s right.

So why marginalize the very people you need?

You cannot demand our labour while dismissing our convictions. You cannot order unity into existence, or declare a leadership question settled by a referendum that never asked it.

Alberta First is not going back to the federalist reservation.

The real danger is leadership that no longer understands its own electorate, and an establishment that mistakes voters’ silence for consent.

[LCER @Labour4PR]

“We should judge voting systems on how they work over the long term, not on a snapshot of whether they favour our own party or a particular opponent at a particular election.”

✍️ Luke Akehurst MP @lukeakehurst in @politicshome

https://t.co/zqZcyXO7EY

[Fair Vote Manitoba @MBFairVote]

Our winner-take-all way of voting leaves out a viable option for separatists.

Held hostage by one party they can not form their own party lest they split the vote and elect the other party.

In communism you can vote for any party you like, but there's only one choice. What's another word for the two-party system winner-take-all creates?

Let Albertans cast a free and fair vote for any party of their choosing with a fairvote.

Demand proportional representation. Don't be held hostage.

[Erik Thorvaldsson @erik_thorvalds]

LETTER FROM UCP PRESIDENT ROB SMITH TO UCP PARTY:

Good evening, fellow UCP members,

Albertans have SPOKEN!

And as the governing party, we MUST listen!

About two-thirds of Albertans voted in last week's referendum, one of our largest turnouts ever. On Question #10, 3 in 4 Albertans chose our leader Premier Smith's vision: a stronger Alberta within a united Canada.

That also means 1 in 4 Albertans, including many UCP members, wanted to open the discussion on independence.

They are NOT to be ignored.

These are folks who love Alberta, just like the rest of us. Many of them are among our most dedicated volunteers, knocking on doors and making phone calls for UCP candidates in every riding. They are welcome in this party. We need them.

But the result is clear, and we must respect it.

You've likely heard about a handful of constituency associations asking for a Special General Meeting to request a leadership review. That is their right under our rules, and it has received A LOT of press.

Here are the facts. Under our rules, that meeting requires motions from 22 constituency associations. More than 65 constituency associations have instead passed motions supporting Premier Danielle Smith, with more to come before Remembrance Day.

That settles it.

There will be NO UCP leadership review before our next General Election.

Danielle Smith is our leader... today... tomorrow... and the foreseeable future.

I am thankful for this. I believe most of you are too.

Last Wednesday, Premier Smith asked for our support... and our UNITY as conservatives.

We know the alternative.

We lived it from 2015 to 2019, under the job-crushing, anti-energy NDP.

It was awful.

We cannot repeat it.

So let's focus on our many areas of agreement. There are far more of those than areas of disagreement. Let's work TOGETHER to win the 32nd Alberta General Election on Monday, October 18th, 2027, with a bigger majority than we have today.

Nothing is more important than that.

More than 6,000 of you are registered for our AGM at the BMO Centre in Calgary, and we're likely to hit 7,000 by the time we gather starting Friday, November 27th, to debate policy and kick off "Campaign '27".

A record 4,600+ members rated all 135 resolutions this year, more than twice as many as ever before. The resolutions going to the floor are now available at https://t.co/DIdltBohk4. If you have questions about where your resolution ranked, reach me at [email protected].

And to the thousands of members who volunteered as scrutineers last week, covering as much as 98% of polling stations: "thank you... from the bottom of my heart". You ensured democracy prevails.

It's going to take ALL OF US to win bigger next year.

ALL. OF. US!!!

UNITED conservatives. Always...

Cheers,

Rob Smith, President
UCP Board of Directors

[Fair Vote Canada 🗳️🍁 @FairVoteCanada]

Great commentary in the CBC about BC's historically low voter turnout and the role first-past-the-post plays in that, with commentary from Fair Vote Canada.

We need proportional representation so everyone feels they have a voice in our democracy. https://t.co/eVj8SlazSe

[Fair Vote Manitoba @MBFairVote]

City Hall could focus on electoral reform to bring back the electorate.

Striking a citizens' assembly to study low voter turnout and voting reforms is a good start.

Multi-member districts and run-offs in the mayor's election may come up as recommendations.

@danlett @cupe500

Electorate gives up on civic elections – Winnipeg Free Press https://t.co/Y1u6e5WrS5

[Fair Vote Manitoba @MBFairVote]

Too bad.

Only two parties allowed.

UCP has you hostage.

Proportional representation let's you free.

[David Parker @david_parker]

I want a provincial government that reduces spending, not one that increases it.

[Fair Vote Canada 🗳️🍁 @FairVoteCanada]

CTV News highlights B.C. Conservatives winning 69% of seats on 48% of the vote as turnout dropped below 50%, with comments from Fair Vote Canada's @RyanMatCampbell.

Moving to proportional representation ensures your vote reflects your power in Victoria. https://t.co/CVXzcpjUhq

[Fair Vote Manitoba @MBFairVote]

Kudos to host David Cochrane on Power and Politics Monday October 26, for mentioning the difference between seats and voter support that went to the winning party in the BC election.

We sure wish Thomas Mulcair heard another remark Cochrane made. Although Mulcair said otherwise, Canadian voters aren't "good at" voting for a specific election outcome. Cochrane clarified this on his show too. Good on him.

It's important to understand how elections do and don't work.

@ThomasMulcair @lraitt @robertbenzie @VassyKapelos @BrianGallantNB @powerplay @pnpcbc @davidwcochrane

[Fair Vote Manitoba @MBFairVote]

Have you tried organizing to give every Albertan sovereignty over their own vote?

A vote is a vote is a vote.

Voters need to cast a vote without fears of vote splitting.

[David Parker @david_parker]

For over five years now. I have been working on a theory about political organizing. I have tested in the field. I have trained the completely unexperienced in the methodology. I am now convince that it works, and that almost anyone can do it. The last step is mass production.

[Fair Vote Manitoba @MBFairVote]

Albertans need a vote that counts instead of being labeled spoilers for the UCP.

Proportional representation is just a level playing field for all parties, big, small, left in right.

Let Albertans elect the government not a winner-take-all vote system.

[David Parker @david_parker]

I laugh when people say I have failed. There will probably be over 8,000 people attending the UCP AGM. Many of them there only to hold the powerful accountable. That never would have happened without me. Alberta is changed forever, one way or another.

[ProRep Coalition @ProRepCoalition]

"#ProportionalRepresentation... is receiving important energy and attention. ...[A] poll... suggests Americans are open to changing winner-take-all elections to ones where like-minded voters can elect candidates in proportion to their voting strength."

https://t.co/pWhbYZO3BQ