This is a session to discuss ways to build support for electoral reform by the public, media and members of parliament. Interest and awareness increased substantially during the last election, partly due to an election that seemed unnecessary and produced no tangible differences, and partly due to efforts like Pair Vote and the Anti-Harper Facebook Vote Swap group, which together handled 100+ media interviews, had 6,000+ register to swap votes. Social media was the real enabler to connect people and spread the message. More information on the impact of vote swapping available in the full report.

I (Gerry Kirk) launched Pair Vote as an experiment, and was blown away by the response. I want to carry on the effort, and am looking for like-minded people to help with the effort. There are like-minded groups we can connect with, notably the people pushing for the STV voting referendum in BC this May. Were that to pass, we'd have the breakthrough needed to show how proportional representation can work in Canada.

Some ideas for moving forward:

• Build support from MPs for electoral reform, similar to IBelieveInOpen.ca and Change Congress. The effort could be part of a wider effort to get pledges on key points.
• Get more involved in STV campaign.
  
• Continue building grass roots support. Connect people to work together on the issue, raise funds.
• Build a better vote swapping mouse trap. Vote swapping is a great attention getter, makes a strong statement until PR arrives.