Thread by @poli_sci_guy

What Friday nights are all about! @FairVoteCanada 20th anniversary conference opens, featuring a panel with @judyrebick @acoyne @ElizabethMay and Hugh Segal. Excited for this discussion of #ElectoralReform! I will post key points. 😊
fairvote.ca/fair-vote-cana…
#cdnpoli
(A thread)

Coyne: Electoral reform "defeats" in Canada aren't really defends, but examples of the extreme lengths opponents of #PR will go to stop it. e.g. Most BC voters backed PR, but the government refused to implement it. Same thing happened on PEI.

Coyne: Trudeau and Legault governments noted for their flip-flops and broken promises on electoral reform. A setback, but we still need to work hard on this important issue. The necessity remains. Clear problems with #FirstPastThePost. False majorities, false results, etc.

Coyne: Parties are incentivized to be divisive, and clump their votes regionally, in order to win the most seats. National parties are punished. Strategic voting is encouraged. This violates democratic principles, yet it is what we have in #cdnpoli.

Coyne: There would be outrage at the suggestion that laws should be passed without a majority in the House. Yet most of those MPs don't enjoy majority support in their ridings. (And collectively they often don't represent a majority of Canadians.) #FirstPastThePost not suitable.

Coyne: A great deal of education is needed on #ElectoralReform. It's far better now than in the past, but more work to do. People have a "numb attachment" to the status quo, and they assume we shouldn't "rock the boat". We need more awareness that our system is broken.

Coyne: Of all #FirstPastThePost countries, Canada seems to be the only one that has FPTP at ALL levels of government. So that means a disturbing lack of awareness among Canadians of the (far better) alternatives. We need arguments that resonate.

Coyne: One change that may be acceptable is having more than one member per riding. A small change that could greatly increase representation, and the legitimacy of that representation. Build proportionality in the aggregate.

Coyne: We need to convince people that there IS an alternative. We need to be open minded. There isn't just one perfect form of electoral system. That includes PR. People need to know first and foremost, though, that FPTP and its flaws need not be our reality forever.

May: So thrilled that 2015 was going to be the last election under #FirstPastThePost. I was on the committee that traveled the country and heard from thousands of people. Canadians wanted an end to FPTP, clearly. And other committees, back to 1921, found this too.

May: Since 1921, we have had a multi-party system in Canada. Since then, it was decided, after extensive study, that #FirstPastThePost didn't make sense for us. Yet here we are. Our voting system punishes cooperation, encourages divisiveness, creates a toxic political culture.

May: To create a respectful culture, where people work together, we must get rid of #FirstPastThePost. The countries with women leaders, and the ones with #PR, handled #COVID19 much better. Funny how that works! The political culture is simply different. We can have it too!

May: Getting rid of #FirstPastThePost is why New Zealand has been able to have Jacinda Ardern, one of the most popular leaders in the world. Their #PR system has worked incredibly well, and we've seen collaborative coalition governments.

May: New Zealand's most recent election delivered an outright majority of the Labour Party. Even with that, they still are collaborating with another party. Can you imagine that in Canada? The political environment is FAR too toxic, and that's because of #FirstPastThePost.

May: We need to continue to work on pushing Justin Trudeau to keep his promise, and let's make #ProportionalRepresentation a key issue in the next election. We need more awareness too - most Canadians can't even name our electoral system in a multiple choice question!

Rebick: In the 1988 election, two of the three major parties opposed free trade. But the Conservatives, who supported free trade, won the election with a minority of votes. Most Canadians' voice was not heard. The #FirstPastThePost system was shown, clearly, to be undemocratic.

Rebick: A problem is that people who support alternate voting systems tend to be a little "geeky" or set in their ways. I think #MMP would be the best system for Canada, but I want to work with those favouring ANY kind of proportional system!

Rebick: There has been a lot of work on #RankedBallots in Canadian elections as well. Especially at the municipal level, including in #ldnont. Helps elect more visible minorities, from what we've seen so far.
(Some PR advocates say #AV is worse than #FPTP. I totally disagree.)

Rebick: We need to get some change. #RankedBallots, #STV, anything besides #FirstPastThePost. Our movement needs to be broader than it is, and we should support any kind of fairer vote. Including #AlternativeVote. (Hear hear!)

Segal: The Canadian political parties that argue against #ProportionalRepresentation also actually use #RankedBallots in choosing their leader! Why do they want #FirstPastThePost for the country but not their own parties?? Seems rather hypocritical.

Segal: New Zealand, Germany and Taiwan have been great in fighting the #COVID19 pandemic. And they all have proportional electoral systems. Parties need to work together, versus in Canada where parties tend to avoid cooperation.

Segal: Opponents of #ProportionalRepresentation use the Israel boogeyman to try to scare people. And yet, Israel has done very well on the pandemic. A governing point of view that is multi-party tends to lead to better results.

Segal: While the UK still uses #FirstPastThePost for national elections, more proportional systems are used in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. And the disaster of US democracy shows that #FPTP is not the way to go.

Segal: How legitimate are "majority governments" when half of people don't show up to vote, and most of the MPs see most voters opposing them? A party can have 100% of the power with 20 - 25% of the vote. And no incentive to cooperate with other parties. This harms democracy.

Segal: In some ridings in Quebec, for example, with four or five strong parties running, an MP can be "elected" with 25 or 30% of the vote. 70% of voters have no say; their votes go into the wastebasket. This is not democratic.

Segal: One of the great things about a federation is that provinces can do things differently. We saw that with universal health care, which originated in Saskatchewan. Hopefully we could see the same thing with #ElectoralReform. It is a stepping stone to greater policy progress.

Segal: We should ask Canadians whether they'd trust more a government with only one political party, or one that has multiple parties contributing, with cooperation and diverse views? Most Canadians have said they would prefer the latter. Yet we continually have the former.

Rebick: Justin Trudeau should win an Academy Award for his fake sincerity, whether it be on Indigenous issues or #ElectoralReform.

May: Why don't the big #cdnpoli parties act on #ElectoralReform? They are always thinking "eventually it's our turn" so they are willing to keep #FirstPastThePost. The Liberals, Conservatives and NDP (provincially) are all guilty of this.

May: Why can't the Prime Minister build a Cabinet that includes representatives from Alberta? Because they elected no one from Alberta. Even though MANY Albertans voted Liberal. With #ProportionalRepresentation this would be addressed!

Segal: Why does a party "elected" with 33% of the vote think it has the right to force through all its desired policies without consulting with others? Trudeau does this, even though the Conservatives won more votes. This unfairness is a way to get Canadians to pay attention.

Segal: We can't just rely on arguing why #ProportionalRepresentation is better. We need to show why #FirstPastThePost is terrible. There are numerous examples. The pandemic is one. Why won't the Liberals cooperate with others? They took a weak minority government. Not right.

Coyne: While I hope I'm wrong, I don't think much will happen on the federal level anytime soon. The municipal level has the most potential for getting the ball rolling. Maybe not PR, since there usually aren't parties, but at least we can move away from #FirstPastThePost.

Coyne: Once we have living, breathing, non-#FirstPastThePost systems working well in Canada, even at the municipal level, Canadians will realize that different need not be scary. We can have alternate voting systems that work well!

Coyne: The media obsess over the "battleground ridings". An election may be decided in 14 ridings. But isn't that insane? We have 338 ridings. Shouldn't they all matter? And why do the Liberals get away with insisting on strategic voting? We need to CALL. THAT. OUT. #cdnpoli

Coyne: Our system causes problems not just on election day, but in between elections too. Fighting. Policy lurch. Enormous waste. And so on. #FirstPastThePost causes problems every day in #cdnpoli.

May: I ran in what *was* a "safe" Conservative riding. But people got excited. People who had given up on the power of their vote - they came back. We had an historically high turnout. And we won. But this should NEVER be the case! People shouldn't be discouraged from voting!

(Side comment. #FirstPastThePost is a system of voter suppression. Why do we criticize voter suppression elsewhere - US, Russia, China, whatever - but our politicians defend it here in #cdnpoli? Try to prove me wrong.)

Coyne: If we can get EITHER multi-member ridings or #RankedBallots, we're halfway there. I know some people say we can't do #AlternativeVote because "we've only got one shot". I reject that argument. It's the start of a debate. (Rebick agrees.)

May: NONE of the members of the #ElectoralReform committee proposed a #RankedBallot system for the consideration of the committee. Yet people say Trudeau supports it? He didn't have his MPs bring it up at committee. #cdnpoli

Coyne: The biggest obstacle to MPs' independence is... MPs. They have been schooled in a system that says they are supposed to be obedient servants to the party leadership. You're not likely to win a nomination if you're not seen as a team player. It's a "team sport" above all.

Coyne: MPs are told to park their conscience and not stand up for what they believe, because that would mean disunity and "the other guy might win". We've seen this in exit interviews. MPs don't even know their own role, apart from voting how they are told. #cdnpoli

Rebick: Our political system is catastrophic, worse than it used to be. The real Conservative Party doesn't exist anymore, the Liberal Party is full of sh*t, always saying things they don't mean. I can't believe one thing that Trudeau says. And the NDP, who knows. #cdnpoli

Rebick: MPs think they can't speak out. There's a lack of courage, but there's also overwhelming discipline. They vet candidates to an absurd degree. It's not democratic anymore. #FirstPastThePost is only part of the problem.

May: The power of well-organized, well-funded political parties (not the Greens) are hugely problematic for our democracy. We have many wonderful MPs; they want to do public service. But then they're told what to do, that they don't need to know the rules, etc. #cdnpoli

May: If someone gets elected being passionate about issue X, they're NEVER going to be made the critic for issue X. They know too much! They'd give the backroom guys a headache. This is unacceptable. MPs need freedom of speech, and more free votes. #cdnpoli

Coyne: The people who have the power to change the system aren't interested in doing it. Look at Michael Chong's Reform Act. Even if there were a lot of MPs who wanted to change things, no one wanted to stick their neck out. His Act was the opportunity. It was blown. #cdnpoli

Coyne: It's very unlikely that we'll be able to get MPs a lot more independence while we have #FirstPastThePost. Changing the electoral system is what we need to do to realize that goal. The biggest glimmer of hope.

Coyne: Conservatives very often cling to the status quo, and are afraid that they'd get wiped out under #ProportionalRepresentation. And yet, #FirstPastThePost hasn't worked too well for them. The Liberals have benefited far more. Despite vote-splitting on the left!

Coyne: The right could actually benefit from #PR. There would probably be more than one party of the right, and they wouldn't be punished as much as they are under #FirstPastThePost. We saw in Alberta how two right-wing parties got more votes than one merged one.

The panel has (sadly) wrapped up for now. I really enjoyed this!

Fun fact - Pierre Trudeau was advocating for #ProportionalRepresentation in 1979! Forgot about it once re-elected. 🙄

Thanks for following. Time to toast to #ElectoralReform for #cdnpoli! 🍻