The NDP will choose a new leader at their convention in Toronto on March 24. Fair Vote Canada has sent the following letter to all eight candidates, asking them to answer three questions:

"The best solution would be to bring proportional representation to Canada. It's about time we did...because we don't get the government Canadians want."

Jack Layton, April 21, 2011

Fair Vote Canada would like to commend you on running for Leader of the New Democratic Party. You know you have big shoes to fill, including on the vital issue of electoral reform. Jack Layton was a longstanding champion for proportional representation, so Canadians – and especially New Democrats – are counting on the next NDP Leader to be a champion for fair voting too.

“Democratic” is the NDP’s middle name, and proportional representation is official party policy, so presumably all Leadership candidates are favour of reforming our voting system with a measure of proportionality and fairness. But Canadians and New Democrats alike need to hear you say so. Electoral reform must be a topic of discussion in this leadership race – as it was in the race that saw Jack Layton elected Leader.

New Democrats and other Canadians deserve to know whether you view voting reform and proportional representation as a priority. More important, they need to know what you would do to actually fix our voting system if elected Leader – or Prime Minister.

Fair Vote Canada members from coast to coast, many of whom are also NDP members, would greatly appreciate your short answers to three questions on building a better democracy in Canada.

We will contact you regarding this Questionnaire within two weeks. Please reply to the enclosed Questionnaire (to office@fairvote.ca, fax: 416-410-0010, or via postal mail) no later than midnight on March 1, 2012. Your response will be published in March, along with the answers of the other Leadership candidates, online and in a special newsletter to Fair Vote Canada members across the country.

Sincerely,

Shoni Field,
President,
Fair Vote Canada

FVC Questionnaire – NDP Leadership

1. Have you signed the Declaration of Voters’ Rights at http://FairVote.Ca?

2. If elected Prime Minister would you, in your first mandate, undertake a process that includes public consultation to make the federal electoral system fairer and more proportional to the popular vote?

3. As NDP Leader, would you make a process (which includes public consultation) to make the federal electoral system more proportional a necessary condition for supporting any minority government?

"The way out of it is proportional representation. We have this absurdity where a party has in the 30s by way of support, and is able to get 100 per cent of the power. . . . It’s absurd and would not be accepted in most other countries. We should change our electoral system, and then people can vote for what they want and what they believe in, the platform and program they like best, and then parties work together. That’s how most mature democracies function today."

Jack Layton, April 24, 2011