Electoral system needs repairs

Electoral system needs repairs

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By: Jay Gutterridge

The voter turnout for Tuesday’s election is very concerning and makes me question the health of our democracy.

Only about 60 per cent of registered voters bothered to cast a ballot, a decrease from the already-too-low 64.7 per cent in 2006.

It’s clear too many Canadians are disinterested in the current political process and I suspect there are a few reasons for that.

The first is that this campaign, like so many before it, featured far too much mudslinging.

The Conservatives began the attack ads on Liberal leader Stéphane Dion long before the campaign even started and continued them until its final day.

Amazingly, the strategy worked for many of the voters who did show up, as the Conservatives, whose platform contained less policy information than any of the other major parties’, increased their seat count in the House of Commons.

However, the way they increased their seat count points to another problem with Canada’s political system.

The Conservatives now control 143 seats, while the Liberals and NDP combined have just 113, despite the fact the latter two parties combined for 44.4 per cent of the popular vote.

Although the Conservatives only slightly increased their portion of the popular vote, from 36.3 per cent in 2006 to 37.6 this time, they gained 19 seats in the House of Commons.

The Conservatives now control 143 seats, while the Liberals and NDP combined have just 113, despite the fact the latter two parties combined for 44.4 per cent of the popular vote.

Looking at the numbers, it’s clear the majority of Canadians want a Parliament that’s left of centre on the political spectrum.

However, what the country got is a minority government with a right-of-centre party leading the seat count.

This disconnect between the popular vote and the number of seats each party wins is likely what makes many Canadians feel their vote doesn’t count, thus discouraging them from voting.

However, bringing in a new electoral system is no easy task.

Ontarians got the chance to vote for a mixed-member proportional system last year, but the idea was soundly defeated. I suspect that’s because too many people didn’t understand what they were voting for.

Canada would clearly benefit from some sort of proportional representation system that ties some, if not all, of the seats in the House of Commons to the popular vote.

However, since the implementation of such a system seems unlikely in the near future, Parliament must make compromises to ensure the will of the majority of Canadians is represented.

If the parties could move beyond the partisan squabbling typical of Canadian politics and get to work on the issues people care about, then perhaps the political system wouldn’t need an overhaul.

Unfortunately, that seems unlikely to happen.

That leads to another problem with the political system of late: too many elections.

I fear if this government can’t last at least three years, voter fatigue will cause a further decline in turnout.

Canadians don’t want their tax dollars spent on another election anytime soon, so it’s up to the parties to make things work in Ottawa.

jgutteridge@thetopic.ca

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