In response to this column piece in the Toronto star, I wrote the following. I heard the paper wasn’t very supportive of Mixed Member Proportional; I wonder what their position would be on Single Transferable Vote - or if their opinion on MMP has changed given that our current electoral system hasn’t delivered the promises of “stability” defenders of the status quo purported.
James Travers like many other columnists describes well the
dysfunction in our political institutions in his June 23rd piece
“Tight reins choke Parliament”. But when will the same columnists
ever be more critical of our current electoral system? A bad
electoral system gives a bad legislature.Our current electoral system isn’t very competitive. It may seem
competitive by the partisan conflict, but its not. Discarding allot
of votes (51% in the 2008 federal election), political parties can
rest on the assurances of stronghold ridings, vote splitting and
plurality rather than having to compete fairly for all votes if we had
a more proportional system.If we we want MPs and backbenchers to have more influence in the
decisions that political parties make, we need an electoral system
that takes into all votes rather than taking some of them for granted
and discarding the rest.Additionally a system of proportional representation would reduce
partisanship, as phony majorities and minority governments waiting for
the next opportunity to rule unopposed would no longer be the norm for
our legislature.