Don Valley West MP Rob Oliphant continues his public meetings into September and October focussed on electoral reform. In a release this week he recalls that the Liberal government in Ottawa promised a new voting system. The prospect of such a thing — in whatever form — has the potential to both terrify and delight partisans. The commonest reforms discussed by those who think about the matter are proportional representation and so-called ranked ballots. Proportional representation is intended to somehow give parties that don’t actually win in the conventional fashion a limited place in the Legislature.
PIZZA PARLIAMENT?
It is seen in Italy where it has given rise to the derisive term “pizza parliament” — a place sliced up into assorted parties. It is also seen in Israel where proportionality seems to be the sole determinant of how seats are distributed. Critics say it tends to make the “big tent” parties less inclusive and encourage single issue splinters. It may well militate against conventional majority governments such as we have at present in Liberal Canada. Ranked ballots are intended to ensure that the winner in a riding indeed has a majority of the popular vote. That system has been most notoriously in the news this year after City Council voted to introduce it for the next election and then stunningly reversed itself saying ranked ballots would be too complicated.
CHURCHILL
Democracy needs to be taken seriously but proponents of this form of government have said some amusing things about it. The quote below is famous. Less so but just as provocative is Winston Churchill’s observation that “the best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” Nothing personal anyone. Mr. Oliphant’s meetings are September 18, October 12 and October 13. (416) 467-7275
You might be surprised to know that in Germany, the most successful economy in Europe, every government but one since the second world war has been a coalition government, all stable, thanks to proportional representation which most countries in Europe use, and indeed, most prosperous countries in the OECD. Your quote from Churchill is helpful: he supported PR back in 1931, and after Labour won the 1950 election with only 46% of the vote (and the Liberals dropped to only 9 seats despite their vote increasing to 2,621,487) he favoured it again and called for a select committee on electoral reform.
Proportional representation is not about parties. It is about the right of the voter to make his or her vote effective, whether a Liberal in Fort McMurray or a Conservative in Montreal.