Second Opinion Column

David Brohman
January 3, 2006

How many times in the last month have you heard someone say, "I'm not
going to vote" or "This election is a waste of time" or "I'm not wasting
my time voting".

There is a malaise in the Canadian electorate which begs the obvious
question, 'Why?'

No doubt there are as many theories to answer this question as there are
pundits to postulate them.

Every political party wants to engage the electorate in their vision of
how Canada should be governed. However, for decades, no political party
has put forward a vision as to how Canada should be governed.

We have been served up a steady diet of pabulum and milquetoast from all
the major political parties. They all say the same things, 'We'll cut
taxes', 'We'll listen to the people', 'We'll give you better health
care' 'We'll make the streets safer'.

Unfortunately none of the political parties have a clue how to weave
these promises together because one promise is often contrary another.

So what can be done to reengage Canadian citizens in the political
process?

One suggestion put forward by Fair Vote Canada, a non partisan group
proposing electoral reform, is that the electoral system be overhauled.
Our current system of winner take all, riding by riding, be changed so
that every vote counts towards who sits in parliament.

There are many variations of proportional representation and none are as
simple as they might seem. However, we should not be dissuaded by the
details.

There is no doubt that after an election using proportional
representation, governing Canada would be more complicated as it would
be difficult for any one party to achieve an electoral majority.
Coalitions of parties would be necessary.

Coalitions are not as foreign a concept in Canada as many might think.
Politicians already form coalitions. The Liberal Party is the best
example of a tremendously successful permanent coalition. Within the
Liberal party there are many very successful candidates that would feel
equally welcome in other parties. For example, fiscally, Prime Minister
Paul Martin would feel at home in the Conservative Party if not for
social policy.

The Conservatives have recently gone through a very public process of
coalition building as the old Alliance/Reform and Progressive
Conservative Parties united. Deputy Conservative Leader Peter MacKay
would fit nicely into a Liberal Party except for the presence of his old
flame Belinda Stronach.

With proportional representation, left-leaning voters could easily
support the NDP without fear of wasting their vote. Stalwarts of the
labour movement such as Buzz Hargrove of the Canadian Autoworkers Union
would not feel the need to recommend to his members the fatally flawed
concept of strategic voting.

The Green Party has the most to gain with proportional representation.
Green candidates currently face the daunting task of being first past
the pole in a riding. Proportional Representation would allow the Greens
to be represented in Parliament without being first in a single riding.

The underlying requirements for proportional representation to be
successful are two fold. First, there is a need to accept more and
smaller parties, all of which would receive seats in parliament based to
some extent on the overall proportion of their share of the national
vote.

Not only would the number of small parties increase, the influence of
the separatist Bloc Quebecois would be reduced. With proportional
representation, no Canadian Government would ever have to enlist the
assistance of the Bloc in governing. That is not to say the interests of
Quebec and the Bloc could be ignored.

Secondly, Canadians would have to accept greater discourse about and
with their government and believe that parliamentarians will listen to
them. This is the essence of reengaging the Canadian electorate.

If Canadians want better government, they need to vote for candidates
that support a better electoral system.

On January 23, vote for candidates that support electoral reform and
proportional representation, regardless of party affiliation.

David Brohman is a member of Fair Vote Canada and a student in the
Working Centre's Diploma in Local Democracy