Voting System Reform in Canada

Fair Vote Canada Multi-partisan Group formed in 2000 People from all regions, all walks of life, all points of view, all parties Strict focus on implementing a fair voting system Education

1 Minute Democracy Quiz 1. Every vote is equal – it doesn’t matter who you support or where you live 2. Election results are fair – what we say at the ballot box is what we get 3. A party must win a majority of votes to form a majority government 4. Government is always formed by the party that wins the most votes

1 Minute Democracy Quiz – Con’d 5. Voters who oppose the government are always represented in Parliament by one or more opposition parties 6. Canada has more women in parliament than either Turkmenistan, Laos, or Eritrea 7. Canada ranked 108 th in voter turnout in the 1990s 8. Most older European nations use antiquated 12 th century voting systems, while Canada uses a modern 20 th century voting system

Canada’s Current Voting System Single Member Plurality – Winner take all, First Past the Post (FPTP)

How Does FPTP Work? Within a riding or district, candidate with the most votes wins the riding or seat Party with the most seats forms the government Question – What is a majority government in Canada? Government with a majority (50%+) of the seats Do they receive the majority of the popular vote? No, very rarely

Examples of FPTP 1 riding 2 candidates Simple, candidate with most votes win Winner will always have majority of the vote

Examples of FPTP 1 Riding Multiple Candidates Winner just needs the most votes, not majority of votes Winner rarely gets majority

Problems with FPTP Candidates elected with less than a majority Rarely results in true majority – phony majorities More votes for the losers than winners Wasted votes!!!! 6 Million in average federal election Distorts results Fewer Women Elected – 20.6%

Problems with FFTP – cont’d Favours large parties Regional disparities – a regional party, like the Bloc can do very well with a relatively small vote Promotes strategic voting Lower Voter Turnout

Distorted Results of FFTP 580,000 people voted for the Greens and elected 0 members Less than.5 million people voted Liberal in the Maritimes and elected 22 members In 2000 in Ont 2.3 million votes for Liberals elected 100 members, 2.2 million votes for other parties elected only 3 members 1993, the Bloc forms the official opposition but is fourth in popular vote 1993 – Bloc and Reform win their regions but more voters vote for other parties. Country is splitting!!!

Distorted Results – 2006 Election 20% of Albertans voted Liberals but no Liberals Elected 24% of Torontonians voted Conservative but elected 0 conservatives BQ received 42% of the vote in Quebec but received 67% of the seats NDP received 18% of the vote and received only 10% of the seats

Average Votes Per Party to Gain a Seat 2004 Election Bloc1 = 30,966 Liberals1 = 36,675 Conservative1 = 40,350 NDP1 = 111,397 Green0 = 580,816

Other Voting Systems Majority systems – runoff or alternate vote systems – Still result in distorted results, can be worse than FPTP Proportional Representation

What is a Fair Voting System? All votes are equal As many votes count as possible Majority Rule

Proportional Representation – What is it? A voting system that results in parties receiving number of seats in proportion with the popular vote they receive – every vote counts A party receiving 40% of the vote will receive 40% of the seats

Knocks Against PR Government stability – PR generally results in coalitions or consensus governments – Most PR countries are very stable – Netherlands prime minister – ‘Decisions take longer, but we get them right’ Small parties will rule – Parties going against their platform must face the electorate – Government will represent the majority

Knocks Against PR – cont’d The 2 I’s – Italy and Israel – Chaos will rule – 80+ countries using PR systems successfully – Italy and Israel would be special cases under any voting system Proliferation of small parties – Has not been the case – 5% requirement "democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.” Churchill

PR Voting Systems Several different PR Systems List Systems – proportion of the vote applied to party lists (Sweden) Mixed Member Proportional – Mixed system of FPTP and party lists (Germany) Single Transferable Vote – Voters vote in districts and rank the candidates (Ireland)

Mixed Member Proportional Combination of FPTP and lists Larger ridings combined into larger districts Fewer FPTP elected members Voters get 2 votes, 1 for FPTP member and 1 for party Riding member is elected with FPTP system Proportionality is achieved by applying proportion of vote to the lists to adjust party members within districts

MMP Sample Ballot

Who is Using PR Today? Almost everyone!!!! 80+ countries Canada is one of the few countries still using FPTP Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Serbia, Sweden, Scotland, Norway, Australia, Wales… Most new Democracies!!!

2006 Federal Election Results Under PR Conservatives % of the popular vote: 113 seats (not 124) Liberals % of the popular vote: 93 seats (not 103) NDP % of the popular vote: 59 seats (not 29) Bloc % of the popular vote: 31 seats (not 51) Greens - 4.5% of the popular vote: 12 seats (not 0)

What is Happening in Canada Lots of activity within the last 5 years BC citizen’s assembly PEI - Referendum Quebec - legislation New Brunswick – legislation and referendum Ontario – proposed citizen’s assembly

Ontario Liberal Government committed to voting system reform Have committed to a citizen’s assembly similar to BC but should improve on it Referendum in 2007

Other Provinces PEI – proposed a MMP system – Referendum in Fall 2005 only 37% supported change New Brunswick – Proposed MMP system. No date on referendum or implementation Quebec – Proposed MMP system

Federal Government Lots of talk but little action so far Part of the party platform for the NDP and the Greens Liberals appointed a person responsible for democratic renewal Law Commission of Canada report recommended PR (MMP)

Answers to Quiz 1. False – Number of votes required to elect a member can be different for different parties and regions 2. False – Distorted results of FPTP 3. False – Majority governments rarely get a majority of the popular vote 4. False – NDP in BC, PQ in Quebec 5. False – Liberals in NB won every seat with 60% of the vote 6. False 7. False – Canada ranked 109 th not 108 th 8. False – Most European countries use 20 th century voting systems. Canada uses a system developed in the 12 th century

Take Home Exercises Ask your parents if they understand about our voting system and what they know about PR Visit for more informationwww.fairvote.ca