Let’s make all our votes count and have meaning

This is a good time to ask a basic question of democracy: Do our governments today truly represent the views of our population as expressed by the voters?
Within the next year and a half we are faced with three, possibly four, significant elections: Municipal, provincial and federal. Two are certain. They are on fixed dates, municipal on Oct. 27 this year, federal on Oct. 19 next year.
A third, a federal by-election, must also be called this year in the Toronto Downtown riding of Trinity-Spadina. It is to fill the seat of Olivia Chow, now entered in the campaign to become the new mayor of our city.stig
A possible fourth election, a provincial Ontario one, may come at any time. The present Liberal government is a minority one. It depends on the support of at least one of the two opposition parties.
Let us first review how we now elect our governments. Provincially and federally we vote for individual representatives affiliated with a political party. Our municipal government, however, has no parties— at least formally. We vote for the mayor and councillors only representing themselves as individuals.
To declare winners we use the ancient, simplistic British election principle of first-past-the-post. We hand the win to any candidate with the most votes, very often with fewer than half of all votes cast.
The party with the most members in the provincial and federal parliaments then forms the government. If it has more than 50% of all members, it becomes a majority government; if less than 50%, it becomes a minority one.
A majority government, however, does not need a majority of voters supporting it. A present example is our federal Conservative government of Stephen Harper. It rules with absolute power with only the backing of 40% of voters. It is able to disregard views of the 60% who didn’t vote for it.
A more extreme example is the 2004 Saskatchewan election. The Conservatives won 93% of seats with 42% of votes. There are also instances where a party placed second in votes but became a majority government.
Many people today feel this isn’t true democracy. They know our governments today don’t reflect the popular will as expressed in the actual votes for individual parties.
To rectify such a lopsided electoral system, most Western European nations have adopted the election principle of Proportional Representation. With variations they allocate parliamentary party seats roughly according to the proportion of votes cast for the party (search web: proportional representation).
Canadian discontent with our present electoral system has led provincial governments in British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Manitoba and Ontario to hold public referendums over the last 10 years on alternatives to the system. The alternatives were different versions of Proportional Representation.
No alternatives succeeded. In 2005, a majority of British Columbians actually voted 57% in favour of a Single Transferable Vote. This was disallowed since all provinces imposed the unusual requirement that public approval of alternatives needed 60% support, not the usual 50%, for their own political action.
Under our present electoral system, there has been an ominous decline in eligible Canadian voters actually voting. From 1957 to 1988, voter turnout in federal elections ranged around 75%-80%. By 2011 it had fallen to 61%.
The European experience shows that Proportional Representation governments encourage greater voter turnout. They are forced to more effectively respect the popular will. They attract a wider selection of parliamentary members, including women and minorities. Although often coalition governments, they generally last as long as Canadian majority ones. All this surely reinforces true democracy. People know their votes count and have meaning.
Interestingly, another simpler alternative election system for Toronto alone is being discussed today. City council, in a 26-15 vote last June, asked the province for the right to elect the mayor and councillors by a Ranked Ballot. It ensures that they all be elected by at least 50% of votes. Our present mayor and 20 of our 44 councillors failed to reach this level in the last election (website: www.fairvote.ca).
If the province approves, a Ranked Ballot can only be implemented at the earliest for the next civic election in 2018. This year on Oct. 27 we are stuck with the old, less-democratic First-Past-The-Post. Even so, we can still use it to get rid of Rob Ford.

— Stig Harvor