by Michele Murphy

“…it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
~ Winston Churchill

Canadians have, at the very least, agreed to settle with democracy. But are all democracies created equal? Does how we execute our democracy determine the fairness of it?

Canada’s last federal election in 2011 saw the Conservative Party of Canada become the ruling party of Canada–with just 39.6% of the vote. To be more specific, that’s the confidence of 39.6% of the only 61% of eligible voters who actually voted. So in reality, our government is the declared first choice of less than 25% of the Canadian electorate. 

What can a party with the confidence of only 25% of eligible Canadian voters do with that little support? As it turns out – pretty much anything they want.

Under Canada’s current voting system, known as First-Past-the-Post (FPTP), the Conservatives, with 39.6% of the vote were granted 54% of the seats in the House of Commons, a majority. As a voting block, the Conservatives can pass any vote or over-rule any vote in the lower house that they see fit. And they do. 

Wendy Bergerud, local president of the Greater Victoria branch of Fair Vote Canada, has long been saying enough is enough, and now she is being joined by an increasing number of Canadians and elected officials from across party lines. ”Fair Vote Canada has been working for more than 10 years to get electoral reform on the political agenda and it is a great step forward to now have the support of the federal NDP as well as the Green Party”, says Bergerud.

First-past-the-post-voting originated in the 12th century and was adopted from Westminster. Now, some 900 years later, most major democracies have tossed it out in favour of some form of proportional voting. 

The idea of democratic reform is nothing new in Canada. In BC a change to the system got as far as creating a Citizens’ Assembly to determine what type of proportional voting system the province might replace FPTP with, and then held two referenda. 

The Assembly determined that the most suitable form of proportional representation for BC would be Single Transferable Vote (STV). The province then took that to the people and while more voters than not wanted the change in the 2005 referendum – the vote came in just 2% shy of the demanding 60% support that then-BC government required – a later referendum saw less support.

What happened? According to political strategist and communications specialist, and then president of the NO STV campaign, Bill Tieleman, “In brief: the giant STV ridings scared off voters, as did the incomprehensible STV voting system.”  

According to members of the Citizen Assembly, there were many factors that contributed to the lack of public support for STV, not the least of which was the communication strategy of the YES campaign and its failure to meet the challenge of explaining the benefits of the new, somewhat complicated, voting system.

Fast-forward to 2014 where a national conversation on proportional representation (PR) is emerging leading up to the 2015 federal election. This past December NDP MP Craig Scott put forth the following motion in the House of Commons: 

That, in the opinion of the House: (a) the next federal election should be the last conducted under the current first-past-the-post electoral system, which has repeatedly delivered a majority of seats to parties supported by a minority of voters, or under any other winner-take-all electoral system; and (b) a form of mixed-member proportional representation [MMP] would be the best electoral system for Canada.

While the motion was predictably defeated – with no Conservative support, and only 16 of 31 Liberal MPs in favour of the change – it was supported by all NDP and Green MPs and it has reignited the conversations about having fairer representation in our governments. 

Along with the motion has come a commitment from Canada’s Official Opposition that they will, should they have the power as a result of the 2015 election, make 2015 the last unfair federal election in Canada.

How does the average voter make sense of all this? 

“Voters simply need to understand that what we have does not serve them well. The majority of Canadian voters do not have the government that they voted for. And Canada is one of the few major democracies left that is hanging onto this archaic 12th century system that serves only those that are in power. Countries all over the world are enjoying democracies that actually reflect the values and choices of their electorate. We can do better.”

And, if you’re thinking that this is a political ploy that will work well for the parties proposing it, Victoria MP Murray Rankin explained, “No. In fact, had the last federal election used proportional representation, despite our momentous electoral gains, New Democrats would have had slightly fewer seats in Parliament today.”

This article is the first in a series of SVO articles on proportional representation. As SVO is at its best when its content is written by the Saanich/Peninsula/Sidney community, we encourage you to contribute to this series. Please consider adding your voice to the conversation.

You’ll find our submission criteria HERE

For more info:

Why Proportional Representation?

Council of Canadians Supports Fair Vote Canada’s Declaration of Voters’ Rights

MacLeans – The Case for MMP 

Vancouver 24hrs – NDP Backs Loser in Prop Rep  (the comments are worth reading)