FVC Calls on Premier Doer to Begin Electoral Reform Process
June 04, 2003
4 June 2003
Citing five other provinces where voting system reform is rising on the political agenda, Fair Vote Canada today called on Manitoba's newly re-elected Premier Gary Doer to "open the door to fair voting in Manitoba".
"Last night's results are another illustration of why it's time to scrap the first-past-the-post voting system," stated Larry Gordon, executive director of Fair Vote Canada, a national citizens' campaign for voting system reform. "This winner-take-all system, long ago discarded by most major democracies, does a very poor job of translating the popular vote into a fair allocation of seats." Gordon noted Manitoba elections since the 1940s have almost always produced phony "majority" governments in which one party gained a majority of seats without winning a majority of the popular vote.
In last night's results, the NDP won a significant majority of seats (61%) while falling just short of a majority popular vote (49%). The Liberals were short-changed, winning 13% of the popular vote, but gaining only two seats. If a more proportional voting system had been used, the Liberals would have gained about seven seats.
"We urge Premier Doer to join the other provincial leaders who are already taking action," stated Doris Anderson, president of Fair Vote Canada. British Columbia is convening a citizens' assembly on voting system reform and will likely hold a referendum on a new voting system in May 2005. PEI has appointed a commissioner to study alternatives such as proportional representation. All three parties in Quebec, including the Liberals, support moving to some type of proportional voting. With an election pending in Ontario, both the opposition Liberals and NDP support a referendum process on voting system reform.
In the New Brunswick election campaign, Premier Bernard Lord recently committed to appointing a commission to study proportional representation, and both the New Brunswick NDP and Liberals support reform. The federal NDP will be introducing a motion in Parliament this fall calling for a national referendum on proportional representation.