We really don't know what to say. Yesterday we learned that Premier Ford and his government are introducing a bill at Queen’s Park that would, without a breath of consultation or any credible justification, strip Ontario municipalities of the ability to use a ranked ballot for their own elections. 

RaBIT’s board is meeting tonight to come up with a plan to fight back, which we’ll share with you shortly. Given that the provision to repeal ranked ballots is hidden at the end of a bill called the Supporting Ontario's Recovery Act, 2020 that is mostly concerned with the COVID-19 pandemic, we believe that the government can’t be very proud of this move. If we can make enough noise and show the government that this will be a costly political move for them, we can get them to back off.

In the meantime, Jesse Helmer, the Deputy Mayor of London, Ontario - the first jurisdiction in Canada to switch to ranked ballots for their elections - has just launched a petition calling on the Government of Ontario to reverse course and withdraw this attack on local democracy. We encourage you to sign his petition and share it widely on social media and with your networks. 

As always, thank you for your continued support. We managed to beat back attempts at city council to scuttle ranked ballots and, with your support, we'll push this provincial attack back as well.