Every Voice Heard: The Case for Proportional Representation

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Recommended: advantage of the current electoral system of Canada.

There is a fundamental problem with democracy in Canada. The problem is rooted within our federal parliamentary voting-system. However, there is a promising solution to this issue. Canada should adopt the proportional representation system, known as the party list format (party-list PR), at the federal level if we wish to promote the expansion of democracy. If Canada embraces proportional representation in the battle for electoral reform then we will see beneficial results. Party-list PR will increase voter participation, which in turn will create more accurate representation in the parliament and ultimately a positive shift away from our disturbingly partisan dominated political culture.

The current federal parliamentary voting-system is referred to as a single-member plurality (SMP), or first-past-the-post (FPTP). The structure is fairly simple, the candidate whom gains the largest amount of votes in their riding is awarded one-hundred percent of the representation in the constituency (Pilon 20)1. The percentage of the votes that they receive is irrelevant, as long as they have one more vote than any of their opponents the winner takes all. Conversely the party-list PR voting-system is based on votes for parties instead of individuals. Seats are awarded based on the proportion of total votes won by each party (Milner 17)2. For example, in Canada’s House of Commons there are a total of three-hundred and eight seats (Milner 18)3. With a party-list PR voting-system if Party A wins 40% of the popular vote then they would be awarded 123 seats.

Canada remains one of the only three major western countries that are still opting to use the plurality style voting-system (Gallagher 5)4. The two other countries accompanying t...

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Heard, Andrew. "Canadian Election Results: 1867-2004." Simon Fraser University. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2011. .

Hoag, Clarence , and George Hallett. Proportional Representation. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1926. Print.

Loenen, Nick. Citizenship and Democracy: A Case for Proportional Representation. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1997. Print.

McParland, Kelly. "What we can teach the British." National Post[Toronto] 26 Apr. 2010: n. pag. National Post. Web. 25 Feb. 2011.

Milner, Henry. Steps Toward Making Every Vote Count: Electoral System Reform in Canada and its Provinces. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview Press, 2004. Print.

Pilon, Dennis. The Politics of Voting: Reforming Canada's Electoral System. Toronto: Emond Montgomery Publications, 2007. Print.

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