The Canadian government is currently undertaking the initial process of electoral reform which consists of gathering information and ideas. Having attended a recent discussion and having read and responded to the online information forms available at the government website, there are some ideas that are somewhat of a sideline but also relevant to the process.
The first of these consists of the different parties interests in the outcome.
The Conservatives benefit from the current first-past-the-post system as their clear Prairie majorities combine with a split Liberal-NDP vote elsewhere in their attempts to gain power. For the Liberals, a ranked alternative vote works well because second and third votes tend to flow from Conservatives to Liberal or from NDP to Liberal, but not from NDP to Conservative and seldom from Liberal to Conservative.
The majority of the world’s nations use some form of proportional representation which provides representation balanced by the actual percentage vote received by each party, usually above a certain small threshold.
This is clearly the most democratic but not without its limits.
One of those limits, for some people, is the common end result of having coalition governments. The argument against that is the old stability of government issue, but statistically there are just as many elections held with majority governments as with minority governments.
Coalitions tend to force governments to work more for the people rather than for themselves or their cronies.
Many Canadians, while they like democracy, want democracy light.
That is, they are content with voting once every four years, and seldom wish to explore government and political information beyond that, relying on the media and pollsters for their information at the approach of an election.
The latter is the real factor against democracy. As long as corporate interests, corporate media, big money players and their like are able to persuade the electorate through misleading advertising and polls, and to persuade the representatives with contributions, a true democracy will not form.
Ultimately at the highest level, as long as so-called free trade agreements, or investment protection agreements are in existence, there can be no democracy. Sovereign nations are increasingly less powerful than the corporations that are protected by these agreements and that can override national laws and policies. Citizens and governments cannot argue against the corporations except through tribunals arranged, managed, and undisclosed by the corporations.
There is no democracy in a global system powered by the corporations. We can only hope that a truly representative government would renegotiate or abrogate those treaties.
For more information and to record your preferences, go to www.canada.ca/en/campaign/electoral-reform.html
Jim Miles
Vernon
