6 Million Wasted Votes

On average half the votes cast in every federal election do not elect an MP.

THAT’S NOT DEMOCRACY

Unless you vote for the most popular party in your riding, your voice will not be represented in Parliament. You and millions more are often denied political representation – and an accountable Parliament – because of Canada’s voting system.  No wonder most major democracies scrapped first-past-the-post voting between 50 and 100 years ago and moved to proportional representation.

What’s wrong with our current voting system?

  • millions of Canadians cast votes but cannot elect an MP to represent their views
  • only the most popular partisan view (or party) in each riding is represented in Parliament
  • an unrepresentative Parliament is not properly accountable to the whole electorate
  • entire regions of the country are represented mainly by MPs from only one party making it difficult to form a national government representing all regions
  • Canada is often ruled by phony majority governments run by parties which failed to win a majority of votes
  • too few women and visible minorities are elected to Parliament

How does a fair voting system work?

  • the guiding principle is voter equality which leads to proportional representation (PR)
  • a party getting 40% of the votes will get 40% of the seats – not 50% or 60% of the seats and complete
    control of the Parliamentary agenda
  • PR can make every vote count no matter who you vote for or what riding you live in
  • fair voting means no more skewed election results, no more phony majority governments and fair representation of all political views in all regions
  • governments are more representative and more accountable to all Canadians
  • every citizen matters because every vote helps shape Parliament
  • 81 nations, including most major Western democracies, use PR systems
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