October 10 referendum presents a chance to make every vote count

To the Editor:

Consider the following: Ontario has not had a government elected by a majority of voters in decades. In fact, the Bob Rae NDP government of 1990 was elected to a “majority” government with only 37.6 per cent of votes while the following Mike Harris governments won only 44 per cent and 45 per cent. Imagine how different our province may have been if these “majorities” of the past were forced to work with the other parties rather than simply exerting their will unchecked.

More than 80 countries, including almost all major Western democracies, already use proportional representation voting systems. In the 2005 New Zealand election which used a mixed member proportional system, only one per cent of votes cast were “wasted.” In comparison, over 50 per cent of the votes cast in the 2003 Ontario election elected no-one.

In the last federal election more than 650,000 Green Party voters across the country received no representation while 475,000 Liberal voters in Atlantic Canada elected 20 MPs. The NDP attracted a million more votes than the Bloc, but our current voting system gave the Bloc 51 seats and the NDP only 29.

In the prairie provinces, Conservatives won three times as many votes as Liberals, but were given nearly 10 times as many seats, while at the same time 400,000 Conservative voters in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver didn’t elect a single MP.

These are just some of the facts that I have discovered while researching the proposed change to our current electoral system that I will be voting on when I cast my ballot on October 10th. It is also why I feel that the current system of electing representatives in Canada and Ontario could use improvement and why I support the mixed member proportional representation (PR) model being proposed in this election.

In addition to the fact that this new system being recommended by the Ontario Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform would address the aforementioned inequities, it has also built in a number of checks and balances in order to address possible concerns.

The mixed member proportional system would allow for a more representational democracy while the threshold that limits representation to parties that achieve three per cent or more in the polls would ensure that any elected MPP would represent the views of thousands of Ontario voters. If we applied this percentage to the last election, it would take about 135,000 votes before it would receive any representation. This detail would ensure that the fears of tiny pockets of voters having disproportionate amounts of power are completely unfounded.

The lists that the parties would present of prospective candidates would be open, public and accountable and promise to be heavily scrutinized, ensuring that parties would only promote the most respectable and representative candidates possible or face the wrath of the electorate.

Opponents of PR often like to cite worst-case scenarios and a range of possible flaws in the proposed system to create fear of change. While it can be agreed that no system is perfect and all work better with an informed and active electorate, the new system seems to represent a significant upgrade and is worth supporting.

Mixed member proportional representation maintains much of the good of the present system and ensures local representation while creating a truly representative governing body that is almost identical to the voting wishes of the citizens of the Province of Ontario. With all the potential upsides, and with the shortcomings of the present system so obvious, isn’t it time to make a change and tweak the present system?

I know that I may be accused of having a biased viewpoint, but it is important to note that the new system being recommended came as a result of the findings of a completely independent and non-partisan group of Ontario citizens from all walks of life representing myriad political viewpoints. After reviewing our current electoral system, it was this group that recommended the multi-member proportional representation model even though they had the option of keeping the status quo. No party would receive any more seats than the voters of the province grant them, making every vote cast truly count. How could this be unfair?

On Oct. 10, cast your ballot for the candidate of your choice, and then be sure to vote for a change to a more responsive and representative electoral system.

Glen Hodgson
Parry Sound