John H. Redekop’s recent letter supporting a majoritarian ‘winner-takes-all’ voting system in Canada is not surprising, but I must take issue with his straw-man and offer your readers an opportunity to consider some of the resources available from www.fairvote.ca
All winner-take-all systems share the same basic flaws: a high percentage of wasted votes, distorted overall results in which the seats earned do not reflect the popular vote, suppression of minority viewpoints, adversarial politics, and legislatures which do not accurately reflect the diversity of the country.
John’s straw-man argument that we might see 40 parties in the federal parliament is in my opinion just a distraction from the potential that we would see 20 Green Party MPs alongside those of the other established parties, and that Canada would continue to grow and excel as a world leader with a balanced view and response to the complex issues facing us all.
John – you once compared B.C.’s proposed replacement electoral system (BC-STV) to the Stanley Cup finals. You may long for the days when there were just six teams in the NHL, but the times, they are a-changing. The FPTP electoral system belongs to a bygone era when there were only two parties . It’s time to allow the next generation their opportunity to shape our country, and in so doing, quite possibly the world too.
Keith Hebert, Abbotsford
