The membership process for Fair Vote Canada was quick and straightforward, and will cost less than my lunch today.
– Mike Soron

Are you tired of the many elections? Would you like your vote to count without having to vote strategically? Would you like to have a greater diversity of men, women and ethnicities? Would you like parties to co-operate rather than insult each other? So do we.

I am a volunteer with Fair Vote Canada. Our mission is to get rid of the current electoral system which is unrepresentative, doesn’t give a voice to visible minorities and women and encourages instability and conflict. Here’s why:

• It’s unstable: In 5 years we’ve had 3 elections, almost 4. A minute swing in votes can lead to a large swing in seats. For example, a 7% share increase in vote lead to 15% increase in seats for the conservatives in 2006. A few seats can mean the difference between being the opposition and in government; between minority and majority. That’s why there’s a huge incentive to call an election as soon as there is a small change in votes.
• It’s unrepresentative because it doesn’t take into account a large proportion of votes. In fact, in the 2008 federal election, 51% of all votes did not go to a winning candidates. A candidate can win with as little as 30% of the vote, like in Gatineau for the same election. That candidate doesn’t need to represent everyone in the riding to win the election again. Liberals out west, Conservatives in Toronto, Greens across Canada. They all go under-represented. Meanwhile, while the NDP gets more votes than the Bloc, the NDP gets fewer seats.
• Little diversity: “western” countries that use our current electoral system have lower representation of women and minorities. Canada is 48th behind Pakistan in women representation.

We want to replace it with another type of electoral system. Something more proportional which would give Canadian voters better representation and a government that works. Want to help us?

• Consider signing our Declaration of Voters Rights
• If so, consider becoming a member of Fair Vote Canada .
• If you don’t want to be a member but would like to receive event announcements (once a month or less) from your local Ottawa chapter, e-mail me at julien.lamarche@gmail.com. If you don’t live in Ottawa, contact info@fairvote.ca and let them know you would like to be in touch with your local chapter.
• If you have any questions, e-mail me at julien.lamarche@gmail.com.
• If you want to know more about electoral systems, see this video called the 4 families of electoral systems. You can also learn about BC-STV and MMP, the two most considered alternatives to our current electoral system.