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Two voters taking a selfie on Parliament Hill. They are direct stakeholders in the democratic reform debate, which is much bigger than electoral reform. iStock photo Rebooting Canadian Democracy: More Than Just Electoral Reform Thomas S. Axworthy

The fact that Canada is not a democracy in crisis raises anada is one of the world’s most successful liberal democ- the question of electoral reform: “If it ain’t broke, why fix C racies: there is no crisis in dem- it?” But, as Liberal Party elder statesman and Massey ocratic practice or outcomes in this College Public Policy Chair Tom Axworthy writes, this country. is also a country of energetic, cyclical consensus build- Every international comparison puts Canada in the top rank in governance, ing on policy questions that matter. And there’s more election outcomes and human develop- to democratic reform than electoral reform. This piece ment achievement. The World Bank, for example, sponsors a worldwide is adapted from Axworthy’s presentation to the Special governance indicators project. In 2014, Committee on Electoral Reform. Canada had a 96 per cent rating in the 16 category of voice and accountability, When Parliament is sitting, the government is 91 per cent in political stability, 95 accountable to the legislature on a daily basis and per cent in government effectiveness, 98 per cent in regulatory quality, 93 its record will eventually be scrutinized and judged by the per cent in the rule of law, and 94 per people at election time. cent in control of corruption. On electoral systems, the Electoral In- tegrity Project rated Canada in 2015 as “very high” at 75 per cent in elec- eminent democratic institution as, Six pillars contribute to election ar- toral integrity overall, holding top “The People’s House of Commons.” chitecture: the franchise, voter reg- place among those employing ma- He is right to, especially in a discus- istration, electoral districting, cam- joritarian electoral rule. This combi- sion of electoral systems to remind paign finance, election management nation of high achieving governance us that “representative government and the electoral system. Since the and political practice has certainly is about government as much as it is first representative assembly in Nova contributed to the most important about representation.” The electoral Scotia in 1758, Canada’s election success of all, the expansion of hu- system should not be discussed in history has been one of constant man development and choice. Here isolation: it is the system that pro- innovation, usually inspired by the too, for many decades, Canada has duces the House of Commons, which positive workings of federalism since been at the top of the list in the Unit- in turn votes confidence in a party most of the reforms were initiated in ed Nations Human Development In- (or parties, if a coalition) to formu- the provinces before being adopted dex, ranked first in 1985, second in late a government. Each type of elec- by Ottawa. Think of Canada’s first 1995, and, in 2015, ranked 9th out of toral system—majoritarian, mixed, election in 1867: voting was pub- 183 countries. or proportional representation—has lic, staggered over several months a different set of incentives for our to give the government party an ad- Each type of parties to assess and is likely to pro- vantage, with a restricted franchise duce different outcomes. Incentives of about 15 per cent of the popula- electoral system— for better or fairer representation, for tion made up of white, male proper- majoritarian, mixed, or example, may produce equal disin- ty holders. Today, 70 per cent of the proportional representation— centives for the formation of effective population is entitled to vote (only has a different set of governments. By every international those under 18 years of age and non- standard of governance and electoral citizens cannot participate). About incentives for our parties to integrity, Canada already has a well- 3.5 million people lived in Canada assess and is likely to produce performing political system. So the in 1867, today the population is 10 different outcomes. key questions that must be asked are: times that number and we attract a What, exactly, is the problem that quarter of a million immigrants an- electoral reform is trying to fix? Will nually from all over the world. Con- the solution to one type of problem federation Canada was 80 per cent create problems in other dimensions rural; we are now 80 per cent urban Our success is due, in large part, to and, if so, how do you weigh the with one-third of our population in the fact that we are a parliamentary trade-offs? And, lastly, can the prob- the three cities of , Montreal democracy. The Westminster system, lem that needs fixing be ameliorated and alone. when it works right (and in Canada in some other way or is it only elec- it has mostly worked right) concen- toral reform that can do the job? s Canada has changed, our trates power in the executive so that election architecture has things can get done while ensuring o, Canada has a governance A adapted, too. In 1758, Nova that those holding this power are ac- and electoral system that works Scotia became the first colony with a countable for its use. When Parlia- S for us and is admired around the representative assembly and in 1848 ment is sitting, the government is world, but it has taken 300 years to the first to achieve responsible gov- accountable to the legislature on a build these institutions with change ernment with the executive formed daily basis and its record will even- and adaptation occurring on a regu- from—and accountable to—a ma- tually be scrutinized and judged by lar basis. With every generation since jority of the elected members of the the people at election time. Parlia- our founding, have identi- assembly. In 1855, New Brunswick ment represents and speaks on be- fied an electoral problem that needs introduced the secret ballot subse- half of all Canadians in making and fixing. So it is entirely appropriate quently adopted by Canada in 1874 questioning governments. Ryerson that, as we begin the 21st century, along with single-day voting. In University political scientist David this generation of Canadian leaders is 1867, Canada was created and fed- E. Smith rightly describes our pre- initiating a serious review. eralism established. In 1916, Mani-

Policy 17 toba became the first province to give votes to women over 21, followed by Canada in 1918. Over time, the fran- The Alphabet Soup of Electoral Reform chise was expanded with property David Mitchell restrictions abolished in 1920, Asian Canadians given the vote in 1948, he special parliamentary committee appointed to study and Inuit in 1953 and Status Indians liv- T recommend changes to our system of voting has heard from diverse experts and academics about an interesting range of possible voting ing on reserves in 1960. In 1970, systems. These systems are often described by an assortment of acronyms the voting age for Canadian citizens unfathomable to the uninitiated. Here’s our Policy primer, beginning with was lowered from 21 to 18. In 1920, the status quo: the Dominion Election Act created FPTP (first-past-the-post): This is Canada’s current electoral system and has the Office of an Independent Chief been used in federal elections since Confederation. It’s also sometimes referred Electoral Officer and from this point to as an SMP (single member plurality) system. The provinces and territories forward, the federal franchise was es- are divided into separate electoral districts and each is represented by a tablished by federal, not provincial member of Parliament. The successful candidate in an election is the individual law. In 1956, created an who wins the highest number of votes in each electoral district, or riding. independent boundaries commission Proportional Representation (PR): A system of parliamentary to do away with the practice of gerry- representation in which the number of seats each party has in the House of mandering, and in 1964 the national Commons is in proportion to its share of the popular vote. There are several Parliament followed suit by adopting types of proportional representation voting systems. the Electoral Boundaries Readjust- Party List PR (List Proportional Representation), open or closed. Both ment Act to create independent elec- involve parties drawing up a list of candidates for each constituency. In toral boundary commissions in every open-list PR, voters choose preferred candidates from the list of the party for province following each decennial which they wish to vote. In closed-list PR systems, the party ranks the names census. In 1977, Quebec led the way on their list and voters cast their ballots for a party, not a specific candidate. in banning of corporate and union Mixed member majority (MMM). One example of party list PR. Voters donations to parties, a reform not in single-member electoral districts cast two votes: one for a candidate adopted federally until the 2006 Fed- to represent them and one for a party. These two votes are independent eral Accountability Act. In 1968, the of one another and the party seats don’t necessarily serve to correct any first televised leaders’ debate was pro- disproportionate result of the elected candidates. duced by a consortium of the main Mixed member proportional (MMP): In which the number of FPTP seats television networks, with disputes remains, supplemented by a number of PR seats per province based on about the criteria for inclusion a pe- parties’ share of the popular vote in each province. rennial issue ever since. Dual member proportional (DMP): Based on electing two representatives All of these changes were accom- in each riding. The first seat in every riding goes to the candidate who plished by legislation, none by ref- receives the most votes, similar to FPTP. The second seat is awarded to one erendum. Thus each of the electoral of the remaining candidates so that proportionality is achieved, using a calculation that awards parties their seats in the districts where they had pillars has been significantly re- their strongest performances. formed except one: the single mem- ber plurality or first-past-the-post Alternative Vote (AV): Also known as instant-runoff voting (IRV), ranked- electoral system. This has remained choice voting (RCV), graduated ballot (GB) or preferential voting, is a voting system used in single-seat elections when there are more than two candidates. Canada’s way of electing legislators Instead of voting for a single candidate, voters rank the candidates in order of in every province, territory and the preference. Ballots are first counted for each elector’s top choice. If a candidate national Parliament since our first secures more than half of these votes, that candidate wins. Otherwise, election in 1758. whoever is in last place is eliminated from the race. In democracy, values contend. So, Single transferable vote (STV): Would use a ranked ballot—but for multiple- too, with electoral systems: as po- member ridings. Under this system, electoral districts would be represented litical scientist Paul Thomas writes by two or more MPs from among those who received the highest number of “designing and adopting an elec- first choice preferences. toral system is an inherently politi- Contributing Writer David Mitchell is Vice-President, College Advancement & cal exercise, rather than a technical Chief External Relations Officer at Bow Valley College in Calgary. problem.” It is inherently political [email protected] because all electoral systems create incentives and disincentives for par- ties, so where you are coming from the five principles—effectiveness and tion—outlined in the June 7, 2016 on this question is largely deter- legitimacy, engagement, accessibil- Standing Order to guide the Special mined by where you sit. Weighing ity, integrity, and local representa- Committee on Electoral Reform will

November/December 2016 18 produce very different answers to the dom, the stakes were much higher parliamentary consensus. What was key question of what exact problem than in reforming our electoral sys- achieved once can be done again. in the Canadian political system you tem. Yet the committee sat for 56 are trying to fix depending on your days, heard from 294 groups, and 914 here are many ways to im- stake in the process. For example, the individuals. Prime Minister Pierre El- prove democracy in Canada: value of legitimacy, which places a liot Trudeau had an even tighter T Electoral reform is only one premium on reducing distortion and deadline in mind than today’s sched- of them. At Massey College, there promotes fairness in translating vote ule on electoral reform, but he twice is a two-year program to focus on intentions into results, highlights acceded to the Committee’s wish to the Senate, electoral reform, party representation and leans toward the have more time for its deliberations. financing and policy development, options of a mixed number or pro- On this highest of political priorities, new tools like citizen juries, the role portional representation system. But flexibility in timing became more of Elections Canada, and enhanc- proponents of producing govern- important than ambitious deadlines. ing democracy abroad. The Queen’s ments that have the power to make And though the parties were divided Centre for the Study of Democracy decisions and not be held up by stasis over the wisdom of the constitution- has brought out reports on account- would argue for a majoritarian sys- al exercise, once the committee work ability, the public service, parties tem like first-past-the-post. The value began, every party made substantial and Parliament, and a new way to of local representation outlined in contributions to the eventual Char- organize election debates. The au- the committee’s five criteria is a key ter. Conservative members put for- thors of the Canadian Democratic requirement because citizens need ward 22 amendments (7 of which Audit recommended reforms and the a clear connection with their MP to were accepted by the Liberal major- recent work of the Samara Founda- help them navigate the shoals and ity). The NDP put forward more than tion is impressive. frustrations of modern government. 40 amendments, of which more than Simplicity and accountability are also half were accepted. The government Canadian democracy is not in crisis important—voters need to know who sought real consensus, in part to but one part of our system was—the is responsible for what when they bolster the legitimacy of the consti- Senate. The government should be make their choice. tutional project as a whole, and the applauded for giving this issue high opposition members of the com- priority and moving to transform Since electoral changes affect the core mittee responded with hard creative the Senate into an independent, rep- mission of our political parties, it is work. was certainly resentative, merit-based institution difficult to achieve consensus. Man- the driver of the process that brought that can improve legislation and datory voting might be less conten- check abuses while always adhering tious since it brings more voters to to the ultimate democratic primacy the polls, whatever system is used to Canadian democracy of the House. This reform is in its translate those votes into seats. The is not in crisis but one infancy and many implementation possibility of on-line voting does issues remain, but we now have seem to be more of a technical issue part of our system was—the the chance, if future prime minis- than a philosophical one, though the Senate. The government ters abide by current appointment technical challenges are very real, as should be applauded for norms, to make the Senate a vital security must be paramount and who giving this issue high priority part of our democracy. would argue today that the internet and moving to transform the is secure? Yet no one should under- Democracy should be about contem- estimate how difficult it will be to Senate into an independent, plation as much as it is about com- achieve a committee consensus on representative, merit-based petition. We should make Election the key issue of which changes, if institution that can improve Day a civic holiday and develop fo- any, should be made to our tradition legislation and check abuses rums of education and participation of first-past-the-post. to go along with the act of voting. while always adhering to the Deliberation days would help us all But there is a precedent for such a be better citizens. Democracy is ever- crucial committee assignment. In ultimate democratic primacy evolving. Electoral reform is certain- 1980, at the height of the debate over of the House. ly important but there is so much patriation of the Constitution, with the parties and provinces deeply di- more to do. vided, a Special Joint Senate-House Contributing Writer Thomas S. Committee on the Constitution was Canada the Charter, and the federal- Axworthy is Public Policy Chair, formed. In amending the Constitu- provincial negotiations were certain- Massey College, University of Toronto. tion, creating the Charter of Rights ly intense, but what is often forgot- He was principal secretary to Prime and Freedoms, and patriating the ten in the story is that the Charter Minister Pierre Trudeau from 1981-84. Constitution from the United King- itself is the result of a multi-partisan [email protected]

Policy