Proposal for Proportional Representation for the Government of Canada

A Proposal for Proportional Representation for the Government of Canada Liberal Party Resolution 31: AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT immediately after the next election, an all-Party process be instituted, involving expert assistance and citizen participation, to report to Parliament within 12 months with recommendations for electoral reforms including, without limitation, a preferential ballot and/or a form of proportional representation, to represent Canadians more fairly and serve Canada better.[i] As a citizen, I am delighted that I am invited to participate in making recommendations for a form of proportional representation. I am also pleased the Minister of Democratic Institutions Ms. Maryam Monsef has stated that Canada can do better than the present first past the post system (FPTP) and she is open-minded with ‘no preconceived notion”  of the best system.[ii] I realize there is a temptation by the party in power not to make any changes to the present FPTP system as it has been very beneficial to them. In the 2011 election, Mr. Harper had a majority  government of 166 seats with 39.6% of the popular vote. (39.6% of the seats would have been 121 of the 308 seats) In the 2015 election, Mr. Trudeau won a majority government of 184 seats with 39.5% of the popular vote. (39.5% of the seats would have been 134 of the 338 seats). Nevertheless there is recognized unfairness in claiming a majority with only 39 percent of the vote. The following charts demonstrate the problem.[iii]              Party % of votes Fair % of Seats FPTP % FPTP Result Green 3.4 3.4 .3 1 BQ 4.7 4.7 3.0 10 NDP 19.7 19.7 13.0 44 CPC 31.9 31.9 29.3 99 Liberal 39.5 39.5 54.4 184 I am very pleased that changes will be made before the next election because the FPTP system results in the majority of Canadians' votes being wasted as they don't actually elect anyone. The principle of  Proportional Representation (PR) is that a party that gets 33% of the votes gets  33% of the seats. The result is a Parliament that's just what the voters asked for, rather than one that only a minority of Canadian voters helped elect. There are many different proposals  to achieve PR, for example; alternative vote, single transferable vote, run off elections if less than 50% majority, mixed member proportional with ranked ballot. There are complications in all of them. This proposal, however, is based on the principle of Occam’s razor  that the simplest is the best;  the voter is presented with a ballot; there is no change from the present as one check mark indicates his or her choice. The candidate who receives the most votes wins the seat.                                                                                                 After the polls are closed, the Chief Electoral Officer will make the following computations and announce the composition of the new parliament.                                             Party % age votes X seats Ideal Seats forPR     FPTP  Results    Seats to be added green 3.4 x 338 = 11  1 10  BQ 4.7 x 338 = 16 10 6 NDP 19.7 x 338 = 67 44 23 CPC 31.9 x338 = 108 99 9 Liberal 39.5 x338 = 134 184 0 The additional seats would be filled for each party with their candidates with the highest percentage of votes.[iv] The candidate would then join the FTPT elected member and based on 2015 results,  there would be 50 ridings where the constituents  would have the benefit of two members of parliament to represent them. The advantages of this proposal  follow: There are no complicated decisions to make: the voter is voting for the candidate of his or her choice. The principal of every vote counting is achieved as the percentage of votes for each party results in an equal percentage of seats.  For example in the following federal election results 3.4% of votes for the Green Party would result in 3.4% of the seats or 11 MPs instead of 1. The additional MP’s required would be selected from those of the particular party who got the highest percentage of votes within that party. So every candidate would strive to achieve as high a result as possible, even in what would be considered a ‘safe’ riding under First Past the Post system.  Having two MPS representing one riding would provide the constituents in that riding with more representation of their views and more efficient services from the local MP offices. At the present time, the demands on our MPs is much greater than most Canadians realize. Two MPs from different parties representing one riding would probably result in more cooperation between MPs and reduce the mindless wrangling that seems to prevent sober thought about various issues. More cooperation and progress tend to result from minority governments, which will result from this proportional representation proposal. Although the 2015 election resulted in the highest voter turnout in two decades almost a third of registered voters did not bother to vote. Knowing that every vote counts will probably improve that statistic.[v] Please contact me for more information or with suggestions for improvement of this proposal. Ross Hermiston Hantsport, N.S. rosshh@live.ca