Ontario rates "F" in assessment of 54 provincial elections
September 18, 2003
NEWS: FAIR VOTE CANADA
September 18, 2003
Ontario rates "F" in assessment of 54 provincial elections
The Dubious Democracy Report released today by Fair Vote Canada assessed fifty-four provincial elections from 1980 to 2000, revealing the serious flaws inherent in Canada's first-past-the-post system.
"Ontario gets an 'F' for performance," says Doris Anderson, president of Fair Vote Canada, "which is why it should join British Columbia, Quebec and the other provinces that are seriously considering a fairer, more representative and democratic voting system."
Among the findings for Ontario:
1. Ontario elections had the highest percentage of wasted votes (51%) of any province, meaning Ontario voters are the least likely to have an MPP that represents their political views. On average about two million Ontarians cast wasted votes in each election.
2. The last time Ontario had a majority government elected by an actual majority of voters was more than seven decades ago in 1929.
3. Among all provinces, Ontario had the phoniest majority government (i.e., elected by the lowest percentage of voters) when the Ontario NDP won 57% of the seats with only 38% of the popular vote in 1990.
4. Ontario had the second worst average voter turnout (61%).
"Democracy is supposed to be about every citizen winning the right to representation and the majority winning the right to make decisions," says Larry Gordon, executive director of Fair Vote Canada. "Unfortunately our current voting system routinely subverts both of these basic democratic principles."
He also noted that both the Ontario Liberals and NDP, recognizing the serious flaws in the system, have pledged to hold a binding referendum on a new voting system before the next provincial election if they are elected.
Fair Vote Canada (FVC) is a multi-partisan citizens' campaign for voting system reform.
The seven-page Dubious Democracy Report is available in pdf format.