Even the socialist Liberals themselves were surprised by their huge win in this past election. The wily Prime Minister Chretien knew that he had laid out enough millions of taxpayers' money in the form of HRDC grants, government bank loans and regional equalization welfare payments to win any election. And he did. In spades. Except in the West. The Alliance, as predicted, took the West and the Bloc Quebecois took Quebec. But that means nothing in the overall numbers because our archaic electoral system gives the win to the party that wins the most votes in each constituency even though the majority of the voters may have voted for other candidates.



This is the time between elections when Canadians should think of correcting our electoral system. Entrenched politicians and their media friends are reluctant to mention this subject. This present Canadian system emphasizes the regional political divisions in the country where the majority of Canadians in the West -- the Alliance Party --or in Quebec -- the Block Quebecois -- are shut out of power sharing.



The Canadian voting system is called, "First past the Post." It is fair only if there are 2 candidates running for office. But if there are three candidates, the winning candidate only needs 34% of the overall vote to win because the opposition is split in two. Therefore the 66% of the voters who voted for the opposition lost their votes. Therefore the majority of the voters were silenced. If there are 5 candidates, the winner only needs 21% to win. Therefore the vast majority of voters (79%) could loose their votes. Therefore real democracy -- where the majority choose the canditate -- means nothing in this system



Canadians may not be aware of the details but they know their votes dont count for a variety of reasons. Canadians in the West know that their votes are almost meaningless in the present electoral system.



As a result, each election, fewer Canadians vote.



In 1988, 75% of Canadians voted.

In 1993 69% of Canadians voted.

In 1997 67% of Canadians voted.

In 2000 62% of Canadians voted.

If this rate of drop continues it will soon be obvious that less than half of Canadians bothered to vote.



This present undemocratic system of elections allows a political party with much less than half the votes to win more than half the seats and form the government.

Therefore the vast majority of Canadians are left without proper representation in halls of power in Ottawa.



The overwhelming wins for the Liberals in the November 2000 election (173 of 301) emphasized these problems. They may even believe that they have the divine rights of kings. They won the November 2000 election with 40.8% of the 62% of Canadians who bothered to vote. Are you good at math? Figure out what 40.8% of 62% means. It means that the Liberals in Ottawa represent less than a quarter of Canadians. It means that the Liberals represent less than one in four Canadians -- a very small minority of Canadians and it is the result of the first-past-the-post system. It means that the system needs to be changed in order to bring democracy to Canada for the first time.



All Canadians -- not just his Party friends -- should be allowed to vote for the prime minister. Canadians should have binding referenda and recall of useless politicians who fail to represent them. Canadians need a voting system where those who go to Ottawa represent the majority of Canadians not a tiny minority of Canadians. Canadians, like Australians, should be required by law to vote. Democracy is more important than reluctant and lazy non-voters.

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CANADIAN PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

The Canadian Liberal Party has been elected and formed a majority government in Canada despite the prime ministers admission to conflict of interest during the election 2000 his shenanigans in Shawinigan -- and both Quebec and western alienation from Ottawa. The Liberals only represent less than one in four Canadians 41% of the 62% of Canadians who bothered to vote and still they have a majority government. These are results that scream out for a change to the electoral system.

This is not majority rule. It is majority in the boondocks. Large regions of the country are not represented in government where taxes are hiked and decisions are made. It is a graphic illustration of the skewed voting system in Canada where first past the post takes all and to hell with the rest.

There is a widely held assumption that majority governments are necessary in order to efficiently govern a country. But a majority disciplined political party also means they can blatantly lie their way through any question period in parliament they did about the missing $billion at HRDC for 92 days in 2000 -- and vote all decisions in their favor. It means that parliament is merely a pantomime and mismanagement rules the day. It means that Canada is run as a dictatorship between these skewed elections. It means they can tax and spend to the delight of their special-interest groups and international socialist friends. It means they can control the media and never pay down the astronomical national debt -- $600 billion and counting one third of all taxes just for the interest.
It appears that the Liberals are capable of buying special pre-election payments to the Atlantic region -- or manipulating the vote to the point where large sections of the country are not represented in the halls of power. It appears that opposition parties are doomed to the sidelines forever and those who vote for them will never be represented in Ottawa. It appears that Canadians have no alternative but to accept this because the Liberals who control the government and the media, love it. Journalists who work for Liberal owned newspapers or government-controlled media the CBC -- are not about to put their jobs in jeopardy by identifying these problems.
Proportional representation would ensure that the majority of Canadians are represented in parliament and regionalism Quebec, the West or the Atlantic -- would be balanced for the greater good. How does proportional representation work? It means that a political partys representation in parliament would exactly match its share of the popular vote. It means that the Liberals who now only hold 41% of the popular vote, would only hold 41% of the seats in parliament. This is the reason why the majority Liberals are adamantly opposed to this idea. It also means that Canadians are stuck between the Liberals and a hard place. Chretien could stay as prime minister for another 30-40 years under the present system because on top of the skewed present system, Canadians do not have term limits.

Canada needs a public inquiry into the type of elections that are best suited for Canadians, where those elected represent the majority of Canadians from the widely diversified regions.

HOW TO FIX CANADA

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SPECIAL-INTEREST GROUPS FEEDBACK

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