Postscript (April 2018)
The three videos announced below were produced for the 2015 federal election campaign. These videos are now available among others from FVC’s Playlist on YouTube and are linked on our website under What is PR. Original links in this post have been removed to avoid confusion. Here are direct links to the three videos on YouTube:
Original post from May 27, 2015 follows
Check out Fair Vote Canada’s new model videos get a peek at what a truly fair voting system might look like: (link removed)
Fair Vote Canada presents three concrete proposals to make Canadian elections more fair. In three stylish, live action and animated videos, hosted by Canadian voting system expert, Dennis Pilon, Canadians can get a peek at what a truly fair voting system might look like.
Canadians know that 40% is not a majority. Unfortunately, Canada’s Voting System reinforces this fallacy time and time again. Federally, since World War I, Canadians have lived through 16 majority governments, despite the fact that they have only voted in four true majorities. Regional strong holds and undue focus on swing ridings create an unproductive environment of “winners” and “losers” and does our Democracy a disservice.
Fair Vote Canada would like Canada to join over 80 Countries around the world that use systems of proportional representation. In a proportional electoral systems – and there are several varieties – the number of elected members is “proportional” to the number of votes a party receives and most voters will have a representative aligned with their values.
Fair Vote Canada’s Executive Director, Kelly Carmichael states “Fair Vote Canada is often asked ‘How would it work’? While we do not advocate for one specific model and instead advocate for the principle of Making Every Vote Count, we want to make sure Canadians have a firm understanding of how a proportional representation electoral system could work in Canada.”
“Proportional Representation is not complicated” add Carmichael “We have developed three model videos that will show how a new ballot and reconfiguring riding boundaries could create a fairer and more democratic Canada.”
Dennis Pilon, Associate Professor from the Department of Political Science at York University adds “Seeing is believing! If you want more democracy in Canadian elections but have wondered how we might do it, these videos give us some concrete examples of just how we could make it happen.”
Fair Vote Canada is a multi-partisan, citizen’s campaign representing of 55,000 Canadians advocating for voting system reform. FVC promotes an introduction of an element of proportional representation in elections at all levels of government and in civil society.
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