Let's talk about democracy... 

It’s been a while since we’ve been in touch… We at RaBIT have been working over the past while to figure out the best way forward for our small, grassroots advocacy organization, and to be honest, it’s been tough. It’s kind of a rough time for democracy groups at the moment: there are so many important issues that affect everyone’s day-to-day life which take people’s attention these days that it feels hard to pay attention to this one. No one person can pay attention to every issue; RaBIT continues to focus on this one because we believe a healthy democracy is an important foundation for so many other things in our daily lives. 

And democracy is making the news again. Over the past few days, thanks to some comments made in social media about whether people with more money should get more votes in our electoral system, and whether elderly people should get votes at all, people are talking about how our democracy works again. 

Just today, there was a piece in the Globe and Mail talking about some of the reasons why some votes count more than others in federal elections, and there was a piece in the Toronto Star about how we need to protect and strengthen our democracy. 

We at RaBIT know that one of the ways that we can help strengthen our local democracy is to use ranked ballots: more votes will end up counting in the results, which encourages more voting; ranked ballots encourage friendlier elections, which invites more diverse candidates; and all of that encourages more engagement not only in our elections, but in our government and how it works. 

It’s a small change that can have a big impact. And we need your help to make it happen. 

Help us out by signing our petition, signing up to volunteer, or make a donation. You’ll hear from us more in the coming weeks and months as we gear up for the municipal election and beyond, and we hope you’ll join us!

Your friends at RaBIT