To the Editor,
Re: Results show democratic process, Editorial, Sept. 22, 2021
With respect, I disagree with the Oct. 22 editorial’s headline “Results show democratic process.” The following voting statistics suggest otherwise. In a 338-seat parliament: 32 percent of vote gave Liberals 158 seats; 34 percent of votes gave Conservatives 119 seats; 18 percent of votes gave NDP 25 seats; eight percent gave Block 34 seats; five percent gave Peoples Party of Canada 0 seats: and two percent resulted in Green getting two seats. Clearly the value of each person’s vote is not the same.
Votes of equal value would have given Conservatives 114 seats: Liberals 107 seats: NDP 60 seats: the Block 27 seats: and the Peoples Party of Canada 20 seats. But this discrepancy, this disregard for what individual voters actually voted for, is part and parcel of our current first past the post (FPTP) voting system.
It’s the system we continue to chug along with, while most other democratically elected governments around he world have long been using more progressive electoral systems.
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An electoral system that reflects the actual voter preference as shown on the ballot is “democratic”. A system that gives a party power with just 32 percent of the vote is the antithesis of democratic. Having the right to freely vote is the only thing about our FPTP election process that is “democratic”. Isn’t it time to seriously consider a change from an antiquated FPTP electoral system to one that’s fair, democratic, and “progressive”?
T. Lyman Jardin,
Port Alberni