My submission to the Canadian government regarding proportional representation.

Please see below my submission to the Special Committee on Electoral Reform. I cc'ed my local MP (Don Davies, Vancouver Kingsway) and Maryam Monsef (Minister of Democratic Institutions). If you care about this stuff as much as I do, I encourage you to let them know what you think.

September 26, 2016

Special Committee on Electoral Reform

Sixth Floor, 131 Queen Street

House of Commons

Ottawa ON K1A 0A6

Dear Committee,

Thank you very much for your work on this, and for giving my ideas an ear. 

I am a 51-year-old ex-voter. I voted in every election available to me for thirty years, from age nineteen to forty-nine.  After thirty years of performing what I had believed to be my civic duty, I quit. In 2014 I gave it up as a pointless and unfair exercise, skewed towards manufacturing false majority winners while marginalizing the real majority of voters as losers. I will never vote again under the first-past-the-post electoral system.

A lack of proportional representation in our current system keeps me away.  The parties I support take a large portion of the popular vote… just not enough to win. This would be fair if we had a system where the amount of popular support is reflected by influence in government. That doesn’t happen. Looking at the outcomes of the last few elections I participated in, generally speaking the “winners” got about 40% of the popular vote. They then received 100% of the legislative power. The “winning” group is free to do whatever it wants to, unhindered by such pesky things as considering the needs, views and desires of the 60% of the citizenry who do not support them. That is a broken and abusive system.

I am done with being a member of this “losing majority.” My vote is a precious gift, but it is mine to use, or withhold, as I see fit. I will not endorse and support a skewed and unfair electoral system by casting a ballot. I choose to withhold my vote until the amount of support a party gets from the voters is accurately transferred to government. I refuse to vote until there is proportional representation.

I will admit that I am surprised that this is being discussed today. I thought the issue was hopeless. I am delighted to be able to ask this of you: Please, bring me back!

While recently attending a town hall meeting regarding this issue, I heard many good ideas, as well as some bad ones. They say the “Devil is in the details”… and this is particularly true for electoral reform. Here are my thoughts on some of the more compelling details:

I prefer Mixed Member Proportional Representation for an electoral system. It combines proportionality with local representation. It is used by many successful nations with great results. Please choose to endorse MMPR.

The question of the At Large Candidate List in MMPR is a tricky one. When solutions are being considered, careful thought must be given to ensure that this list is generated democratically, and not skewed by the existing parties so as to be manipulated and unfair. It is the most challenging detail in MMPR, and will need a close look from experts, not partisans.

Do we need a Referendum? In this case the current Government, along with two other parties, actively campaigned on a promise of electoral reform. They make up over 60% of the popular vote. The current Government even promised to end the first-past-the-post system. They have a mandate to bring in a new system before the next election. No referendum is required. On the other hand, after two or three elections under the new system, I think it would be a good idea to include a referendum on the regular federal election ballot to offer to reconsider the change and revert. This would be a reasonable safeguard for the wishes of the electorate, an appropriate “back door”.

Beware Transferable Vote Systems that would entrench the most centrist party. This would be a terrible result, and would in no way ensure true choice for voters, or true representation. It is a system designed to benefit certain political parties, not citizens. It must be disregarded. Give me a system where I can vote for who I choose, full stop.

The perceived stability of false majority governments vs. minority and coalition governments is another issue often brought up. That “stability” is created by stealing the representation and voice from millions of voters. I would hope that it is time to get our elected officials working together to find compromise so that all voters are included, instead of just a small 40% that prevails in our current broken system. 

Again, I thank you for your hard work and efforts. Please… give me a reason to vote again.

Sincerely yours,

Tim Everett, via email