Electoral reforms badly needed, says Council of Canadians

There is a groundswell among the political parties, a recognition that something is amiss with our electoral system.

The courts have assigned criminal guilt to the robocal scandal of the last election and the “Fair Elections Act’” responding to this scandal has evoked controversy about limiting the accessibility of polls for future voters. We may see ourselves coming out of the elections wilderness, in the foreseeable future — after this election. While some election platforms offer serious consideration of our electoral process, they are not supported by guarantees of change. Nonetheless, the issue is out there.

Talk about democratic reforms is standard fare for federal elections, but this time some of the Parties are talking about our electoral process. The Party websites posted their platforms at the onset of the election and while we understand platforms can change up to the day of the election, a review of the websites as at August 27 indicated the following.

The Conservative Party website offered no plans to reform our electoral process, presumably because their Fair Elections Act addressed all the changes it considered necessary.

The NDP introduced a motion to debate the merits of mixed-member proportional representation in December 2014 and it has generated some political mileage on the issue. However, the official Party website makes no mention of electoral reform for the forthcoming election.

The Liberal Party website promises a full study and consideration of electoral reform measures – such as ranked ballots, proportional representation, mandatory voting, and online voting that will produce recommendations for legislative action within 18 months of the election.

While the Green Party has been advocating the elimination of the first-past-the-post system its website proposes to consult the public on the style of proportional representation best suited to Canada.  

The parties spin their promises with slippery words like “debate, study [or] consult”, but it is heartening to see the consensus among the parties opposing the former government that something needs to be done about a non-majority of voters that can elect a majority government. The pitfall is that the options being offered are very complex with a need for extensive study and debate to bring our Canadian electorate up to speed on available options. That’s where political science steps in and we know our Canada, as at today, is not understanding at that level.

However, as they say, it’s not rocket science and the issues are not beyond comprehension. I trust the collective intelligence of Canada’s voters and its ability to understand what’s best for them, not best for the parties, but the voters, the citizens, the taxpayers of this country of ours. Will electoral reforms succeed in making our democracy stronger? This will depend on what reforms ensue. One thing we can be sure of. Reforms that engage most, or all of our eligible voters are badly and sadly needed.

It is time to elect a government favouring electoral reforms. And then? Then it will be time to keep our eyes on them.

André Clément is president of the Sudbury chapter of the Council of Canadians.