Wed 10 Oct 2007
Don’t forget that today is election day. And it may be one of the most important elections ever, because for the first time we have a chance to change the entire system.
Yes, I’m talking about the referendum on whether to switch to a Mixed-Member Proportional system. I can’t bein to count the number of times I’ve heard people say “Well, I’d like to vote for _____ [party they actually support], but of course they don’t have a chance of getting in, so I’ll probably vote for _____ [party they don’t especially like but consider the lesser of two or three evils] so that I don’t waste my vote.” Hell, I’ve said it myself.
Proportional representation, which they have in some for other in most European countries and some others, would mean that parties would have seats in parliament in proportion to how many people actually voted for them, rather than just how many ridings they got a majority in. So parties like the Green Party, who consistently get a pretty significant percentage of votes even with the current system, under which voting for them effectively amounts to flushing your vote down the toilet, could actually get seats. And think how many more people might vote for them if they knew their vote would actually count. Parties like the NDP, who get a handful of seats but mostly place second or third in most ridings, would also do better under this system.
The only party that would do worse would be whichever one actually won any given election, because power would be more spread out and less of a winner-take-all situation. They’d actually have to learn how to negotiate and compromise and work with other people.
The “mixed member” part of the proposed system means that we would still have representatives of geographical ridings like we do now, but there would be additional MPPs to make up the balance and ensure that parliament actually reflected the way people voted.
So…
- If you’ve ever voted Green, or even considered it…
- If you’ve ever found yourself resorting to “strategic voting”, where you vote not for who you really want but for the least awful party that you think has a chance of winning…
- If you’d like to see more co-operation and less arrogance and complacency in politics…
- If you’d like to see a provincial parliament that reflects the way people actually voted…
Please consider voting yes on the MMP referendum!
No, the proposed system isn’t perfect. But voting for it is at least a start — it gives us something to work with, and gives the powers that be a signal that we at least want some kind of change. If it’s voted down, they’ll take that as a sign that everything is fine the way it is, and we’ll probably never have a chance at any kind of electoral reform again.
So rather than nitpicking it to death as a lot of people seem to have been doing lately, let’s at least choose change and get things moving! Because if we say no to it now, there isn’t likely to be another chance. Ever.
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