Provincial Referendum

There's been a lot of hype over the referendum question being posed in today's election. Should we stick with the current First-Past-The-Post system? Should we migrate to the proposed Mixed-Member Proportional way of doing things? Both sides have been arguing long and strong for many months now, and there's great passion for both sides of the issue. All this vehemence and hurrah, however, has overshadowed a fact that should be far more conspicuous and is perhaps far more important: this is Ontario's first provincial referendum in 83 years. 83 years??!!

It was October of 1924, and Ontario was facing a big decision: Wet or Dry? Would folks favour the continuance of the Ontario Temperance Act, or should beer and spirituous liquor be sold "in sealed packages under government control"? We all know how that one went.

And since then, apparently, local history has been oh-so uneventful. Nothing worth bringing to the voters and tax-payers for consideration, nothing our sad little perspectives should be allowed to direct, and certainly nothing worth soliciting a decision on.

So my suggestion for our next referendum question: "Should a referendum question be posed each and every time voters are asked to come to the polls?" I know which way I'd vote, and I suspect I'm not alone.