Reloaded: Electoral Reform Needed In Canada?
Continuing from this previous post, as well as additional food for thought in furthering the discussion on the matter, I hereby yield the floor to a former NDP leader (incidentally, the only time I voted for the NDP, and him as that party's leader, was in the 1988 elections):
Results highlight need for electoral reform
Stable coalition would be better than unstable minority government.
by Ed Broadbent
October 14 was a bad day for Canadian democracy — more unstable, unrepresentative government.
If Tuesday's vote had taken place with an electoral system such as those in the vast majority of democracies, Canadians would now have the prospect of a stable centre-left coalition government, with a majority of seats in Parliament representing a majority of the popular votes.
Instead, we will continue with a right-of-centre government rejected by a substantial majority of Canadians, elected by a mere 38 percent of the people, with not a single MP from Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal. Federalist parties got more than 50 percent of the votes in Quebec, but the Bloc Québécois received two-thirds of the seats.
When, oh Lord, will we wake up? Why do we persist with a 19th-century electoral system designed for two parties long since rejected by more than 40 multiparty democracies throughout the world? When a party with just over a third of the vote gets to govern, and one party, the Greens, doesn't get a single MP although nearly a million people voted for it, is it any wonder that only 59 percent of Canadians bothered to vote on Tuesday, the lowest turnout in our history?
We need change, and we need it soon. Most European democracies have successful systems of proportional representation. And a system such as those in Germany, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales would work well in Canada, combining proportionality with an individual MP for each district. Our Parliaments would be both more representative and more stable.
If seats represented the proportion of actual votes, the Liberals, New Democrats and Greens would have a majority of seats (161) and, following the European pattern, would combine to form a government, with each party having seats in the cabinet and a program that actually reflects how a majority of Canadians voted.
Instead of the instability that comes from our "minority governments" headed by one party based on a minority of votes, evidence shows that most majority-based coalition governments are stable over time precisely because the parties involved have a direct stake in the durability of the government.
Europe's most stable democracies have some form of proportional representation. Their elections are no more frequent than our own, and the need for consensus encourages greater civility in political debate.
As all Canadians know, the Liberals, New Democrats and Greens did agree on a number of economic measures, on social policy, the environment and protection for families in the current economic crisis. Since a majority of Canadians voted for these parties, they, not the Conservatives, should be determining our political agenda. Such democratic conditions work well elsewhere. Why not in Canada?
(Keep reading ...)
Stable coalition would be better than unstable minority government.
by Ed Broadbent
October 14 was a bad day for Canadian democracy — more unstable, unrepresentative government.
If Tuesday's vote had taken place with an electoral system such as those in the vast majority of democracies, Canadians would now have the prospect of a stable centre-left coalition government, with a majority of seats in Parliament representing a majority of the popular votes.
Instead, we will continue with a right-of-centre government rejected by a substantial majority of Canadians, elected by a mere 38 percent of the people, with not a single MP from Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal. Federalist parties got more than 50 percent of the votes in Quebec, but the Bloc Québécois received two-thirds of the seats.
When, oh Lord, will we wake up? Why do we persist with a 19th-century electoral system designed for two parties long since rejected by more than 40 multiparty democracies throughout the world? When a party with just over a third of the vote gets to govern, and one party, the Greens, doesn't get a single MP although nearly a million people voted for it, is it any wonder that only 59 percent of Canadians bothered to vote on Tuesday, the lowest turnout in our history?
We need change, and we need it soon. Most European democracies have successful systems of proportional representation. And a system such as those in Germany, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales would work well in Canada, combining proportionality with an individual MP for each district. Our Parliaments would be both more representative and more stable.
If seats represented the proportion of actual votes, the Liberals, New Democrats and Greens would have a majority of seats (161) and, following the European pattern, would combine to form a government, with each party having seats in the cabinet and a program that actually reflects how a majority of Canadians voted.
Instead of the instability that comes from our "minority governments" headed by one party based on a minority of votes, evidence shows that most majority-based coalition governments are stable over time precisely because the parties involved have a direct stake in the durability of the government.
Europe's most stable democracies have some form of proportional representation. Their elections are no more frequent than our own, and the need for consensus encourages greater civility in political debate.
As all Canadians know, the Liberals, New Democrats and Greens did agree on a number of economic measures, on social policy, the environment and protection for families in the current economic crisis. Since a majority of Canadians voted for these parties, they, not the Conservatives, should be determining our political agenda. Such democratic conditions work well elsewhere. Why not in Canada?
(Keep reading ...)
Learn more about voting reform at these fine websites:
ReplyDeletehttp://stv.ca
http://fairvote.ca
http://www.citizensassembly.bc.ca/public
WS: thanks for the links - much appreciated.
ReplyDelete