OrilliaMatters welcomes letters to the editor. We received the following letter regarding our most recent federal election and the first-past-the-post system.
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Most Canadians agree with the proposition that every vote cast in an election should count equally, no matter where the voter lives or what party they support.
If our voting system complied with this democratic proposition then it would logically follow that the number of seats awarded to each party following an election would correspond, more or less, to the number of votes received by each party.
So! Win 60 per cent of the votes and receive 60 per cent of the seats! Win 25 per cent of the votes - receive 25 per cent of the seats! Simple! Fair! Easy to understand!
Most democracies around the world (close to 100) actually have voting systems that yield such results. It’s called Proportional Representation (PR).
Unfortunately, Canada is one of a handful of former British colonies that inherited a voting system (first-past-the-post FPTP), that evolved in Britain when there were only two political parties.
No country has adopted FPTP voluntarily but, because this system tends to produce results that give an unfair advantage to one of two major parties, they oppose any proposal for change to a more democratic system.
It should be noted that the parliaments of Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales all enjoy proportional systems.
Canada usually has five or six significant parties.
In October, six leaders participated in debates but, as often happens First-Past-the-Post awarded the two largest parties, the Liberals and Conservatives and one regional party (the Bloc) more seats than justified by their votes and significantly under represented the other three.
Election pundits observed that the NDP and Greens had failed to live up to expectations, but that the Bloc had performed better than expected. There was never any analysis of how the voting system contributed to the extremely perverse results.
Here is that analysis:
Alec Adams, Orillia
CEO, Simcoe North Federal Green Party Association
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