1. Voting Systems
How We Vote in Canada

2. News and Announcements
News Article Summary Presentations
TOMORROW!

3. Voting Systems First Past the Post (FPTP)
Proportional Representation (PR)
Referendums

4. First Past the Post (FPTP)
In FPTP systems, the winning candidate is simply the person who wins the most votes.
In theory, a candidate could be elected with two votes, if every other candidate only secured a single vote.
FPTP systems are mainly used in former British Empire countries, like Canada

5. Majority Government
There are two types of Governments that can come out of a FPTP election: Majority or Minority Governments.
A Majority Government occurs when the party who leads the government has more seats than all the opposition parties combined.

6. Minority Government
A Minority Government occurs when the party who leads the government has the most seats, but not more than the opposition parties combined.

7. A Minority Government Is Unstable
A Minority Government is very unstable because the leading party can be out-voted on any issue and decisions cannot be made. The leading party must ally itself with the other parties in order to get bills passed and decisions made.
If the leading party is outvoted in parliament (a non-confidence vote), people lose confidence in the government, parliament dissolves and a new election is called.

8. Proportional Representation (PR)
gives political parties in parliament or legislative assemblies a number of seats approximately proportional to the percentage of votes they received.
PR systems are used in Israel and The Netherlands.

9. Proportional Representation +/-
Positives
Negatives
Every vote counts
Reflects will of voters better
Larger voter turnout
Smaller parties get ideas represented in Parliament
Creates many Minority governments
Slower
Harder to get decisions made
May not be a person there from your local area

10. Referendum
3. Referendum: a process of allowing citizens to decide on an issue or question by means of a direct vote (a plebiscite, or public vote). In Quebec, two referendums on sovereignty took place, in 1980 and in1995.

11. Electoral Reform Organizations
Voting System Reform in Canada

12. Electoral Reform www.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca
Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform (Ontario)

13. Electoral Reform??? Pierre Poilievre:
Minister of State for Democratic Reform, Canada