FEATURES
GABRIEL SCORGIE FEATURES EDITOR SPECIALFEATURES.CAPCOURIER@GMAIL.COM
MAKING EVERY VOTE COUNT
Alternatives to Canada’s first-past-the-post electoral system Kevin Kapenda OPINIONS EDITOR
RANKED BALLOTS
PR LIST VOTING Across many advocacy, and political groups’ agendas, including the NDP and Green Party, proportional representation is by and large the preferred alternative to first-past-thepost. International usage of the system also supports that position, with more than 81 countries around the world using some form of
proportional representation. Macanulty is optimistic that the new government will proceed with proportional representation after reviewing ranked ballot voting. “Proportional representation is a system of counting votes that puts voters first. It’s the only way to ensure that all voters are represented [in Parliament] after elections.” While the gist of proportional representation (PR) is rather ubiquitous, variations of the system do exist, including mixed member (MMP), single transferable vote (STV) and PR list setups. PR list voting is when parliaments are elected based on a party’s internal ranking of candidates. The percentage of candidates that are elected from each party will depend its share of the popular vote. STV, which had previously been voted on in two unsuccessful referendums in BC, is when candidates are ranked in large multi-member constituencies, forcing a candidate to receive a fixed percentage of the vote in order to be elected in a given region. MMP is a system that would allow Canada to keep its current FPTP system while also making sure Parliament’s composition is proportionate to the popular vote. This is done by reducing the amount of single member constituen-
cies, and awarding the rest of those seats by popular vote. Schouls believes that MMP would be the best way to conduct elections in Canada if proportional representation is to be proposed by government, after extensive review by the parliamentary committee for democratic institutions. While Schouls would like to see proportional representation in Canada, he believes that any attempt to change our electoral system should be subject to a national referendum. “My view is that if you’re going to change the system, you should consult the public by way of a national referendum.” After all, this would not be out of the ordinary, and does have precedent. Provincial referendums on electoral reform have been held on four Canadian provinces over the last fifteen years. If our voting system is to be changed, Schouls believes it should be greenlighted by the people who own and use it, the electors of Canada. “Ultimately, the electoral system belongs to us as citizens. It’s us who decide who get to office, and I think therefore it should also be up to us to decide how they get there.” As promised during the campaign, Trudeau will quickly establish an all-party parliamentary committee tasked with examining the various alternatives to FPTP, and eventually proposing what system they feel would best serve the Canadian people moving forward. What is certain at this point is that Canada will never use FPTP in federal elections ever again. While Trudeau’s position on proportional representation is gray and muddied, diverse support for that specific electoral system couldn’t be more decisive. Proportional representation in Canada is no longer a question of if, but when.
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With regard to ranked ballots in Canada, there is not much support for the system except from the new prime minister, Justin Trudeau, who expressed an interest in at least exploring the scheme during his early days as Liberal leader in 2013 and 2014. For Schouls, ranked ballots would not be a very substantive reform because the system does not seek to address disproportionality between the popular vote and seat count of third, and smaller parties. “Personally, I
do not feel that a ranked ballot system goes deep enough, because it does not necessarily get you a proportional representation of the popular vote in the House of Commons,” he said. Many candidates in Canada, often win their seats with more than 50 per cent of the vote anyways. Traditionally, it’s a party’s lack of support in certain regions of Canada that leads to them winning a majority government with less than 50 percent of the vote. Iain Macanulty of Fair Vote Canada believes that as long as we have a single member system, whether through plurality or ranked ballot, most voters would not be represented in elections due to a lack of proportionality. “Ranked ballots don’t solve the fundamental problem of first-past-the-post,” argued Macanulty. “In most elections with our system, only 50 per cent of voters are usually represented. The other 50 are not because of our single member system,” he said. “There are two classes of systems. One is proportional, and the other is not. Systems that are not include both first-pastthe-post and single member ranked ballots.”
THE CAPILANO COURIER
Last month, Canadians elected a new Liberal government led by our recently sworn-in prime minister, Justin Trudeau. Among the key proposals highlighted in the new administration’s platform are changes in the way we vote in federal elections. Electoral reform, as it’s commonly referred to, is an issue that has become popular in the years following 2011, when former Prime Minister Stephen Harper won majority government with only 40 per cent of the popular vote. Our current electoral scheme, known as a single member plurality (SMP) or first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, often results in single parties capturing more than 50 per cent of the seats in legislatures, with usually about 40 per cent of the popular vote and no more than half of it. In exchange for his majority, Trudeau promised that this would be the last time in which Canada used a system that many consider to be outdated and unfair to smaller parties. The hard part for the new government starts now though, in deciding which electoral system fits best, and how to go about mandating that change, whether through referendum or parliamentary procedure. Luckily for Trudeau though, two of the four opposition parties in Parliament, already have clear positions on what type of electoral form they want to see when our 2019 election rolls around. With regard to replacing FPTP, there are practically only two options that are widely used around the world. Those two electoral systems are known as proportional representation, which is widely used across Europe, and ranked ballot voting, which is most notably used in Australia. Capilano University political studies professor Dr. Tim Schouls described ranked ballot voting as a system that makes sure each member or representative receives a majority of votes at the riding level. “What a ranked ballot would ensure is that any individual elected in a riding carries at least 50 per cent or more of the popular vote,” explained Schouls. According to him, proportional representation on the other hand, is mostly concerned with making sure political parties’ seats in legislatures match their share of the popular vote, so majority governments cannot be elected by a minority of the electorate. “Proportional representation would be a system that seeks to ensure that the actual seat distribution is consistent with the proportionate share of the vote each party captured.”
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