LETTER

 

-----  Un-needed election avoids voting reform

 

The Liberals plunged into an early election for one reason: total power. Only our archaic, non-proportional voting system allows a single party that most of us didn’t vote for to seize 100% of the power. With first-past-the-post, the pursuit of that power seems to trump everything else.

Just weeks ago, you won a crucial victory in Parliament. The Liberals, NDP, Bloc and Greens supported a motion to study a National Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform.

The bad news is: the next Parliament is not bound by this vote.  With this unnecessary, snap election, your win for electoral reform could be tossed aside―unless we push the parties now.

The last election was a brutal indictment of first-past-the-post. Over 9 million Canadians—the majority—cast ballots that elected absolutely no-one. Those Canadian voices were shut out.

Millions of voters felt compelled to vote for the "lesser evil".  With few real choices, almost one third of eligible voters didn't show up at all.

Winner-take-all politics is fueling divisions—at the very time we need to be working together to tackle the biggest challenges of our times.

As parties scramble for votes, the opportunity to push for a commitment is short. Our action in the next four weeks could determine if a National Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform has a chance to move ahead in the next government.

Anita Nickerson, Fair Vote Canada

Kitchener, ON