Electoral Reform? Two Out of the Big Three Want It!

As the first major issue, I want to take a look at the electoral system in Canada, which is called "First Past the Post" (FPTP).

Simply put, Canada is divided into 338 districts (called "ridings"). There are 30 more ridings than in 2011. For an interactive map to see the ridings and how some have changed since 2011, click here. 

Voters in each district choose ONE member of parliament. A voter goes into a voting booth and puts ONE mark on the ballot to vote for the member of parliament (and thus the party) for the riding.

Creative Commons Labeled for Reuse:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/laurelrusswurm/15022723643

In this example, all eligible candidates have their name and party affiliation. At the end of voting in that riding, all the ballots are counted and only one person will be the member of parliament for that riding.

The FPTP system has the advantages of limiting extremist parties and giving a voice to more centrist ideas. Disadvantages include effectively "disenfranchising" large numbers of voters.

For a complete list of advantages and disadvantages, visit the website linked below:

As a personal example, the last time I was allowed to vote in a Canadian federal election was 1988. I lived in the St. Paul's Riding in Toronto. Here were the results:

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Paul%27s_(electoral_district)

The Conservative candidate won with 25K votes; however, 27K people voted for other candidates and had no voice in parliament.

It is for this reason that two of the three main parties have said they will scrap the FPTP system if they become the new government in October. Trudeau announced his plan in mid-June and Mulcair has said he has always been in favour of changing the system.  For more, click the video accessed through the link below:

The Conservatives do not favour electoral reform.

I really think the FPTP system does not give voice to everyone and I would welcome reform.  I would also hope that the discussion includes giving the vote to the 1.4 million expats who currently live outside Canada (see my first post in the blog).

The Lively Albatross thinks the Conservatives are backwards on this point and looks favourably at the Liberals and the NDP.