Why I am an advocate of proportional representation

Brief by Don Young. , ON

Only twice in my life have I been so angry with government that it literally made me sick – first, during ’s “Common Sense” Revolution in and, second, when Stephen Harper’s revolting regime took over . Along with many others, I worked hard to rid Ontario of the Harrisites. Incredibly, it took two destructive terms before the First-Past-The-Post pendulum swung the other way.

While in opposition, the had proposed reforming the electoral system. The impetus came from experiencing two successive majority governments elected with less than 50% of the vote – the NDP from 1990-95, with only 38%, and the Conservatives from 1995-2003, with around 45%.

But once given a majority, the second time with only 42% of the vote, Dalton McGuinty was less than enthusiastic about reform. Most blame his lack of support for the 2007 failure of the referendum on the Mixed-Member-Proportional system proposed by a government sponsored Citizens’ Assembly and recommended by the Law Society of Canada.

I came late to the cause of electoral reform. For some reason, I maintained my belief in our electoral system until Harper’s false majority in 2011. With less than 40% of the vote, Harper, like Harris, blatantly disregarded anyone who was not a supporter. He thumbed his nose at the rest of us and set about recreating Canada in his own perverted image, sacrificing everything that got in his way, including science.

As his regime became more oppressive, I was sickened by the damage he was inflicting. From 2012 on, I threw most of my energy and donations behind any and every organization that opposed him. Born out of the same frustrations and dreams for a better Canada, Leadnow launched in 2011 and I was soon onboard. Fair Vote Canada’s reform of the federal electoral system became my long-term goal, the ‘Anybody But Conservative’ campaign became my immediate concern.

In 2015, I joined in Leadnow’s effort to target key swing ridings. In most cases, I found myself working to help elect Liberals – in Etobicoke-Lakeshore, in Eglinton-Lawrence, and, towards the end, all over the country. Amongst others, I helped elect Minister of Democratic Institutions Maryam Monsef in Peterborough-Kawartha. For a growing number of Canadians like me, Parties no longer matter under FPTP. We will throw our efforts and support behind political NGOs like those in the Every Voter Counts Alliance who, unless the electoral system is reformed, will work to defeat the bad and support the lesser evil, whatever their brand.

Although a successful strategy, I do not want to do that again. I want to be able to vote for a person or party I like in 2019. I don’t want to engage in negative and strategic campaigning. But if our electoral system is not reformed to make it more representative, I will. And maybe, next time, I’ll be nudging the First-Past-the-Post pendulum another way.