Time to move beyond electoral reform proposals.

• Author: Thurlow, W. Scott
• Position: Essay

Sir Winston Chuchill once opined that "democracy is the worst form of Government, except for all the others. "A similar statement could be made about the current Canadian electoral system--known as single member plurality (SMP) or first past the post (FPTP). There are lots of critics of the current system, but when alternatives are proposed, they often create far greater problems then they purport to solve. At the very least, the problems created by the current system are more manageable and acceptable than those which could be created by alternatives. This paper is not so much a defence of the current model (warts and all) as it is an argument for an abeyance on electoral reform proposals which would create a brand new set of problems and possibly exacerbate Canada's regional differences.

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The inevitable debate associated with proportional representation (PR) almost always degenerates into creating an exceptions based model to address a particular Canadian reality. It may seem trite to argue that the 'devil is in the details' but in this particular case, it is true. It is very easy to castigate any proposal because it marginalizes a specific group. In fact, every single criticism of the current FPTP system advanced by advocates of PR can be spun around to be levied against them. Ultimately, there will always be a voter whose voice is not represented. Changing the system just changes that voice.

Proponents of reform argue that the system creates disproportionate results. The percentage of votes cast for a party are not tied to their total share of the seats won and their representation. There is no denying that this is true. There have been some egregious examples of this in British Columbia and Prince Edward Island. In Quebec, there have been instances where a party that receives fewer votes forms a majority government because of how those votes were allocated. In every sense of the word, it seems unfair.

It is, however, completely irrelevant. Our system allocates votes based on a given territory, and there is nothing in our history or constitution that calls for a collectivist approach to how votes are counted. The current system is designed to elect 308 MPs--and it accomplishes this goal handily. Baring a vacancy, there are exactly zero Canadians who do not have an MP they can turn to for assistance or hold directly accountable at the polls. Under a reformed PR/transfer system, this statement becomes significantly harder to make.

From the outset, we have to be clear on the justification for electoral reform--there has to be a problem that needs to be solved. 'Needs/plan' analysis of the current situation leads me to two conclusions. First, the governments of British Columbia, Ontario and Prince Edward Island have all flirted with the idea of reforming their electoral systems though none of them would take the bold action of proposing it in the legislature. The proposals failed to be ratified by their respective electorates, and as such, political leaders in those jurisdictions could avoid the debate by letting the people decide. The need for reform was in part satiated by these plebiscites, but ultimately the need which gave rise to the call for reform continues to exist.

The plan, however, is where everything starts to fall apart. The problem with the current system can be neatly summarized in three points: the current system wastes votes, victorious governments are formed without a clear majority of supporters and larger parties are over-rewarded based on their vote allocation.

The Proposals

It is admittedly difficult to argue against a concept in the abstract, because for every assumption that is made, an exception could be proposed to the system. In my opinion, it is very dangerous to have any system which is designed with exceptions built into it. Under the status quo, every single MP is elected in the same way. They campaign in a demarcated area against other individuals who are seeking the same office. While some ridings are bigger than others, no MP is immune from defeat. No MP can hide behind a party list from his/her constituents.

As such, rather than focusing on any one proportional system, I think it is important to look at the features of proportional systems and clearly explain that each different system will have different flaws and assets. A transferable vote system will allow for voters to rank candidates, a purely proportional list based system will presumably translate a national/regional voice into the closest mirror image of that vote in the legislature, while allowing for regional differences.

So, what is the problem? More than anything else, we very rarely ever see popularity broken down past a large territorial benchmark. In other words, we see polling data as national, or provincial, indicia of popularity and expect the results of an election to mirror the data, 19 times out of 20. We have ourselves created the myth of collective votes in...