Canadians are watching closely to see if their new government is going to stick to the promises made during the recent election campaign. One of the most important promises was to reform the electoral system and get rid of our current First Past the Post system. I was browsing about and found an interesting article (?) on the National Post’s website (!!) about possible changes and how they might effect Canada’s political parties. I was struck by the word choice in this part:
“Clearly, there is no upside for the Liberals in pursuing PR. But the introduction of a ranked ballot system would take the Liberal heels off the Conservatives’ chest and thrust it hard into the party’s wind-pipe.
As one clear-eyed senior Conservative put it, adoption of preferential balloting would force the Tories to “water down” their agenda to become the second choice of more people.
“The reality is, if the Liberals do this, the Conservative movement is going to have to increase its appeal. We won’t be able to afford to be the 35-40% party,” he said.
The NDP would face a similar dilemma, ensuring the centre ground of Canadian politics becomes a very crowded space indeed.
The question remains, how aggressive are the Liberals likely to be in pursuing the reforms signalled in the throne speech?”
Is John Ivison’s article accurate, maybe? Does it deliciously tickle my partisan happy neurons, you bet it does. :)
[Source:National Post – Canada’s other Conservative Paper that isn’t written at a Grade 4 level.]
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
2 comments
December 18, 2015 at 12:46 am
bleatmop
I love the idea of a ranked ballot. I also don’t buy into this idea that it will mean endless Liberal governments. Canadians are savvy voters, at least those of us that do vote. We’ve figured out strategic voting well before the internet was a thing and we’ve only got better with it. I actually think it will lead to more seats for parties like the Greens as people will be free to vote their conscience on their first rank and then a strategic second vote. I also don’t think it will make the Liberals everyone’s second choice. Many riding go either NDP or CPC. There are also many ridings that are a three way race where a lot of a losing LPC candidates voters second choice would be the CPC.
In the end, having the winning candidate get more than 50% of the votes is a good thing, no matter what party wins.
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December 18, 2015 at 10:33 am
The Arbourist
@bleatmop
The flak heard over this issue comes mostly from those dedicated to the current system and way of doing things. Change is scary, and one must clutch one’s ideas tighly before trying something new. :)
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