FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Singh will be a strong advocate for proportional representation in the House of Commons and the 2019 federal election
Fair Vote Canada congratulates Jagmeet Singh on his win in the Burnaby South by-election.
Singh has been a long time champion of proportional representation. During the NDP leadership race, he told Fair Vote Canada:
I believe the NDP can form government in 2019 and can bring in mixed member proportional representation.
In a minority parliament, I would consult with our caucus and advocate for the inclusion of proportional representation as a condition of any alliance or support for a minority government.
On February 6, 2018 he reiterated his support in an interview with Huffington Post’s Paul Wells.
When the interview moved onto questions from the audience and the topic of electoral reform came up, Singh exclaimed “Yes!” (In fact, he punched the air).
It’s about making sure people see in a concrete way their voice reflected in Ottawa.
How do we give people power? How do people feel like their voice is being reflected? The issue is, people don’t feel that. When they go to vote people question “is there any point in voting? Am I going to actually see any change? Am I going to see a government that reflects my vote?” No, they’re not going to see that. That to me doesn’t make sense.
We’ve got false majorities that happen when less than 40 per cent of people vote for a party and then it gets one hundred percent of the power. That doesn’t sit well with people as a fairness piece.
When asked by Wells if 2019 will be the last election fought under first past the post, Singh said:
“If I win, yes.”
With just 39.5% of the popular vote, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal majority killed their election promise to end first-past-the-post and make every vote count. Despite a clear promise of evidence-based policy, when 88% of the experts recommended proportional representation Trudeau simply dumped his promise, stating the outcome did not match his personal preference, and the decision was his choice to make.
In practical terms, first-past-the-post concentrates almost all the power in the hands of one man and his party strategists. Single-party majority governments evolve, gradually or quickly, into public billboards for why we so badly need the collaborative decision and oversight that proportional representation offers.
“We look forward to Jagmeet Singh taking his seat in the House of Commons and holding Justin Trudeau to account for his broken promise to Canadians,” says Fair Vote Canada President Réal Lavergne. “We aim to make proportional representation a key election issue in 2019 and a chance for Canadians to elect MPs we can trust on electoral reform.”