(April) 2007r. No 08 (926) - Nowy Kurier

Strona 10Continued from page 1English) re: changing the way weelect City Councillors in Oshawa.I presented that opinion at thatmeeting on April 19th, 2007Demokracja Miejska –przyk³ad OszawyPodczas ubieg³orocznych wyborówdo Rady Miejskiej Oshawyna arkuszach wyborczych nieoczekiwaniepojawi³o siê pytanieczy system g³osowania w okrêgach(Ward Vote) powinno siêzmieniæ na g³osowanie na wszystkichRadnych przez wszystkichmieszkañców (General Vote). Niebyliœmy z ¿on¹ na to pytanieprzygotowani, ale pomyœleliœmy,mo¿e i dobrze g³osowaæ nawszystkich radnych, w ten sposóbma siê wiekszy wp³yw na sprawyca³ego miasta. Zag³osowaliœmyTAK, podobnie jak oko³o 16 tys.G³osuj¹cych (9 tys. by³o przeciw).Frekwencja wyborcza wynios³a25.1%. Rada Miejska Oshawyzamierza uchwaliæ nowy przepis,Bylaw, o zmianie sposobu wybieraniaRadnych. Wszyscy maj¹odt¹d g³osowaæ na wszystkichniezale¿nie kto gdzie mieszka ikogo ma reprezentowaæ. Popewnym zastanowieniu doszed-³em do wniosku, ¿e systemobecny (g³osowania na jednegoradnego z okrêgu) jest lepszy ni¿g³osowanie na wszystkich. Tanowa opcja rozmywa odpowiedzialnoœæ,utrudnia usuniêcieradnego, który nie dba o swójokrêg, a poza tym wybór kandydatareprezentuj¹cego mniejszoœcinarodowe (tzw. ‘grupy etniczne’)jest trudny. „Etnicy” stanowi¹wiêkszoœæ w okreœlonych regionachmiasta, ale nie w jego ca-Councillors: Maryanne Sholdra, Robert Lutczyk, Jozef Kolodzie(j) and NesterPidwerbecki discuss City of Oshawa business with members of the publicMunicipal Democracy - the exampleof Oshawa³oœci. „Trudne” do wymówieniadla ogólno-kanadyjskiego wyborcynazwiska np. s³owiañskiegopochodzenia nie faworyzuje kandydatówze wschodnio-europejskimrodowodem. Kiedy Oshawaby³a mniejszym miastem wszyscyg³osowali na wszystkich radnych,ale od kilkudziesiêciu lat s¹wybory w okrêgach (Wards) cosiê teraz ma zmieniæ. OpróczOshawy (150 tys. mieszkañców),tylko mniejsze od niej NiagaraFalls, Ont. wybiera radnych wogólnym g³osowaniu.19 kwietnia 2007, RadaMiejska Oshawy zorganizowa³aHigh Park + Park Lawn AREAAsk for Special !!!1 Headerdale RoadCall today to set upa viewing appointment!416-252-3857*Free storage lockers*Well maintained,charming lowriseon a quiet residential street* Newly decorated withgleaminghardwood floors* Freshly painted* new windows* On-site laundry facilities* Indoor and outdoorparking available* Friendly on-site staff* Easy access to QEW* Close to Lake Ontario* Schools & shoppingnearby* Close to Bloor Village* Plus Extrawww.nowykurier.comzebranie mieszkañców w SaliCentrum Weteranów im. Gen.W³. Sikorskiego, w którym wzi¹-³em udzia³ wraz z oko³o 200 innymimieszkañcami Oshawy.Niektórzy bardzo ostro protestowaliprzeciwko zmianie systemuwyborczego, a wœród nichPan Bill Longworth, który prowadziw tej sprawie blog(www.oshawaspeaks.ca). Zzainteresowaniem s³ucha³emwyst¹pieñ za i przeciw. Niestetytylko troje uczestników spotkaniamia³o poni¿ej 30. lat i to wliczaj¹cjednego m³odego radnego. Toco stanie siê w Oshawie bêdziestanowi³o precedens do zmianysystemu g³osowania w innychmiastach, a mo¿e tak¿e w ProwincjiOntario i w ca³ej Kanadzie.Uwa¿am, ¿e warto to pilnieobserwowaæ. Poni¿ej zamieszczammoje angielsko-jêzycznewyst¹pienie na spotkaniu mieszkañcówOshawy w Centrum Weteranówim. Gen. W³. Sikorskiego.Submission to the Residents’General Meeting, City of Oshawa,April 19th, 2007By D. W. Kulczyñski, P.Eng.My name is Dariusz Kulczyñski.I am an engineer with OntarioPower Generation, DarlingtonNGS. I am also a Deputy Editorin Chief of “Nowy Kurier” i.e.Polish-Canadian IndependentCourier biweekly. I have lived inWard 5 of Oshawa for almost 20years now.Like many other voters, Ithought that electing allCouncillors by all City Residentswould be a good idea and I votedaccordingly last October. Sincethen, however, I have given theproposal more thought and I likethe system the way it is better.There are several considerationsthat must be taken into accountbefore the new Bylaw changes themunicipal electoral system in ourCity. I believe there are at leastfour important issues, and theyare as follows:#1: The majority of OshawaResidents may vote for aCouncillor that does little for theWard he or she supposedlyrepresents. The responsibility ofthe Councillor would be watereddown if not eliminated. After all,the thing that politicians of allkinds care most is whether or notthey are re-elected. If allCouncillors are elected by thewhole city population, how canthe residents of a particular Wardunseat a Councillor if he/she, Godforbid, allows for major disrepairof that Ward?#2: If a Councillor must run ina Ward as big as a Federal or aProvincial Riding, then he/shewould need to become known toat least five times more peoplethan those residing in his/herWard. This requires a lot of effortand money and municipal donationsare not Tax deductible. Itwould be fair to institute TaxCredits for Municipal Elections’Donations to be deducted off theProperty Tax the same way thatwe can deduct donations topolitical parties. This proposalwould, however, contravene thestatement by the City Council thatchanging the electoral systemwould be “revenue neutral” orhave “no financial impact”.#3: Without providing futureCandidates with some reasonablesource of revenue from Taxdeductibledonations, how wouldthey make themselves known toresidents of the whole City?Would the City buy free TV spotsor Radio commercials for allCandidates? What would thevoters base their decision onunless they really saw andlistened to the Candidate? On thename alone? This disadvantagessuch residents as me if I everwanted to run for office. Outsideof the Polish, Ukranian, Lithuanian,Belorussian and Jewishcommunities my name: “DariuszKulczyñski” is barely pronounceablein English, let aloneeasily remembered. The ethnicpopulation can prevail in someareas of the city but not in the cityas a whole.#4: The proposed system will15-30/04/ 2007 N o 08 (926)deviate from the majority-singleriding rep or “first-past-the-post”English style democracy that hasexisted in Canada since inception.The proposed system wouldcreate a pseudo-slate, similar tothat used in the proportionalsystem. However, the proportionalsystem requires that eachpolitical party submits its slateand, only within each slate, theseats are allotted according to theamount of the votes. This is theway the system works in manymember states of the EuropeanUnion such as Poland. Yet,political parties do not run theircandidates in municipal electionsin Canada. Hence, the proposedpseudo-slate resembles the oneused in the now defunct Communistcountries. For example, inPoland, when it was Communistbefore 1989, there was only oneslate-list of the National UnityFront approved Candidates. Thosewho got most votes on it gotelected unless, of course, theresults were further tamperedwith. This was consideredundemocratic. Without multipartyrepresentation the proposedsystem hardly offers any benefitsassociated with proportionalrepresentation.Acknowledgments: Manythanks to Messrs. Bryon Engelageand Paul Strauss for their ideasand assistance.D.W.Kulczyñski, P. Eng.DRYWALL AND TAPING &HOME RENOVATIONS. WE LISTEN TO YOUR NEEDS2. FIND THE BEST SOLUTION3. PRESENT YOU WITH WRITTEN ESTIMATEWORK COMPLETED TOYOUR SATISFACTIONCALL US FOR YOURRENOVATION PROJECTSCELL: (416) 731-1804Mówimy po polsku