Want value in your vote? vote for electoral reform

Can electoral reform get its sexy back?

ALANA LAJOIE-O’MALLEY

In “How green is thy party?” (Feb. 7, 2007) Dylan Ferguson asks, “why have European countries been able to put their Green parties in positions of power, while the Canadian Greens are unable to win a single seat?” I am sure that there are many other Canadians pondering the same question. And if these Canadians voted Green in previous elections, and are faced with the prospect of yet more elections in 2007 (especially if you reside in Manitoba), they may be seriously questioning whether or not they will vote Green again.

Ferguson attempted to answer his own question, rather naively, by stating that “part of the problem may be the organization and governance of the CGP (sic)” — and that the “disorganization of hippie-fuelled provincial chapters . . . allows (past) leaders like Jim Harris to take over.”

The answer is far more obvious and concrete: European governments which include Green Party members succeeded within the electoral framework of proportional representation — a framework that both the Green Party of Manitoba and the Green Party of Canada endorse. Canada, including its provinces and territories, is still stuck in an archaic system called first-past-the-post.

First-past-the-post is an electoral system based on two candidates vying for one seat. The last time a federal election was held with only two candidates competing for every seat was in 1917. The last time a provincial election was held in Manitoba with only two candidates competing for every seat was in 1910.

So while most journalists focus on recent “them vs. us” issues to explain public cynicism, they ignore the fact that citizen apathy and low voter turn-outs have been 95 years in the making. The problem isn’t new, and hasn’t been cemented by lacklustre leadership or the scandal of the day. It is a predictable outcome when the majority of the people do not feel represented by their government for six or seven decades.

In the 2006 federal election, the average number of votes that won a candidate a seat for the Conservatives was 43,314, the Liberals was 43,468, the NDP was 89,338, and the Bloc was 30,432. The Green Party, in spite of receiving 665,940 votes overall, got no seats at all.

In Manitoba’s 2003 election, the NDP held 61.4 per cent of the seats (35 seats) with 49.47 per cent of the votes cast, the PC held 40.3 per cent (23 seats) of the seats with 36.19 per cent of the votes cast, the Liberals received 3.5 per cent of the seats (two seats) with 13.19 per cent of the votes cast. The Greens received no seats at all with just under one per cent of the votes cast. With proportional representation that number might have been much higher.

Fair Vote Canada (www. fairvote.org), a nation-wide citizens’ movement with a national advisory board that includes Ed Broadbent, Lloyd Axworthy, David Suzuki, and Maude Barlow, has recognized the dysfunction of our electoral system and is working to change it.

The first step in the solution to citizen apathy and low voter turn-out is to adopt an electoral system that allows for some form of proportional representation. While this system is not perfect, and will require a commitment to re-educating the public, it takes a step forward to begin the process of addressing our electoral problems.

At the provincial level, B.C. and Ontario have set themselves on the road to electoral reform by creating citizens’ assemblies, a group of randomly chosen eligible voters who consider the various options for proportional representation. They present their findings to the public and the people vote in a referendum to change the electoral system.

Sadly, even when the majority of the people speak in favour of proportional representation, the last writings of a system in its death throws can still foist out obstacles.

In B.C.’s case, in a 2005 referendum the populace voted 58 per cent in favour of changing their electoral system. Despite this overwhelming response, Premier Campbell denied the province electoral reform by forcing the process to meet a high standard of 60 per cent — despite the fact that his majority government was established with an underwhelming 45.8 per cent of the popular vote, less than 4.5 per cent ahead of the second-place NDP. If nearly 60 per cent of voters wanted to change the electoral system in B.C. without dedicated funds towards educating the public on their choices having been allocated, what will voters say when systematically informed of their choices? Why is Manitoba’s ruling “democratic” party not initiating a similar citizens’ assembly, or at least opening a much-needed public discussion on this issue?

I believe that electoral reform in B.C., and eventually across Canada, is inevitable. The Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Change in B.C. will hold a second referendum in 2008 and I feel confident that there will be sufficient outcry over the money wasted and the partisan political game that Campbell played to win the super-majority.

When you live in a political “house,” it’s easy to devote your time and money to paint colour, flooring and new drapes, but you’re throwing good money around for nothing if you’re ignoring the rotting sills and crumbling foundation. Electoral reform is not the sexiest side of politics; it won’t get you the ooh and the ahh that reducing taxes will. But then, maybe by investing a little in electoral reform now, we won’t need to be seduced by a window dressing.

Alana Lajoie-O’Malley is president of the Green Party of Manitoba.