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 www.fairvote.ca

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 108th in voter turnout in the 1990s

8. Most older European nations use antiquated 12th century voting systems, while Canada uses a modern 20th 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

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

% of Vote

Candidate 1

Candidate 2

Examples of FPTP

1 Riding Multiple Candidates

Winner just needs the most votes, not majority of votes

Winner rarely gets majority

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

% of Vote

Candidate1

Candidate2

Candidate3

Candidate4

Candidate5

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

Bloc 1 = 30,966 Liberals 1 = 36,675 Conservative 1 = 40,350 NDP 1 = 111,397 Green 0 = 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 - 36.3% of the popular vote: 113 seats (not 124)

Liberals - 30.1% of the popular vote: 93 seats (not 103)

NDP - 17.5% of the popular vote: 59 seats (not 29) Bloc - 10.5% 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 FPTP3. False – Majority governments rarely get a majority of the

popular vote4. False – NDP in BC, PQ in Quebec5. False – Liberals in NB won every seat with 60% of the vote6. False7. False – Canada ranked 109th not 108th

8. False – Most European countries use 20th century voting systems. Canada uses a system developed in the 12th century

Take Home Exercises

Ask your parents if they understand about our voting system and what they know about PR

Visit www.fairvote.ca for more information