I support a shift to a more proportional representation system.
No electoral system will be perfect, but few can be as
unrepresentative as our current first past the post system, which
works satisfactorily only where there are only two parties.
As more political groupings emerge, the first past the post system
loses its representativeness. Very few Canadian governments have
received an absolute majority -- democracy should represent the
will of the people -- but under the current electoral system we
have governance by minorities. It is scandalous that we have
consistently had strong majority governments with as low as 36% of
the popular vote (i.e. voter support).
A more representative electoral system is needed. There is much
anguished talk about proportionality in election results leading to
a perpetual state of minority governments. That anguish masks the
rather novel thought (at least in today's world) that politicians
have to act reasonably and take account of a variety of opinions
when making decisions, and govern for all the people,
not a select few supporters. Strong willed politicians will have to
be more sensitive and will not be able to make rash decisions
favoured within their own small cliques. The coalitions that
currently happen inside political parties behind closed doors would
become more open and better reflect the will of the population. An
accommodation will be worked out, as it has in so many other parts
of the world.
Proposed changes
I think that an elected legislature should be a mix of constituency
and party representatives. About 2/3 of the legislators elected
directly in constituencies in a first past the post ballot, with
the balance of seats allocated to parties so that parliamentary
make-up better reflects the popular vote. These at large or party
list MLAs could perhaps be selected on a regional basis - say
Vancouver Island, Lower Mainland, and Interior. That way, people
would still have their own representative, plus additional party
representative(s) directly attributed to a given region. The total
numbers of MLAs could remain the same as today, with larger single
member constituencies, or a few additional members - depending on
what population ratio is deemed appropriate.
Voting would be single vote only for the constituency member. The
selection of the party list members would be based on the total
votes cast, with a threshold of 5% of total votes cast in the
province to quality a party for representation in the
Legislature.
Some people suggest that party lists deny voters the choice of
representation since the party selects the candidates. I don't buy
that argument. I don't have a say in who the party nominates as a
candidate in the current system unless I chose to join a party and
get involved in the party selection process. It is only party
members that select those candidates. Members selected for
proportional representation, (party list member) would not be any
different. Those people that chose to get involved will still be
able to participate in the party selection process, however the
party decides to choose candidates.
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