Column: MP supports voting reform

Last week I signed the politician’s pledge with Fair Vote Canada. It has been demonstrated so clearly that our “first-past-the-post” election rules serve neither democracy nor voters.

As the rules stand now, the winner is the candidate who has the most votes, no matter how few voted for him or her, or even if a majority of the voters voted for other candidates.

For example, on June 30, in the Fort McMurray-Athabasca by-election, the winner won with only seven per cent of all the constituents in the riding voting for him.
This happened because of the historic low turnouts for by-elections and the fact that even with his relatively few votes, he had more votes than any of the other candidates.

Proportional representation – fair voting – has been a strong part of the New Democratic Party platform. Neither the Conservative nor the Liberal parties support fair voting, perhaps because the first-past-the-post system has always rewarded them with more seats.

I believe the need for reform is urgent, that Canadians need assemblies that represent the political and social diversity of Canada; and therefore I pledge:

1) That, if my party forms government or supports a minority government, I will advocate for public consultations to amend elections laws to incorporate the aforementioned vital democratic rights;

2) That, following this consultation, I will support reforms to add a suitable element of proportional representation to the election of representatives to our legislative assemblies.

As a citizen, you can sign the declaration at secure.fairvote.ca/en/declaration.
I appreciate knowing you support fair voting. You can drop me an email at [email protected]. Every vote should count.

Claude Gravelle is the NDP MP for Nickel Belt.