The problem with our voting system.

An election is not supposed to be about who wins and who loses.  This isn't the Jay's bid for the championship or about how many times the Habs beat the Leafs.  This is supposed to be about representation.  Democracy is about representing everyone, not a popularity vote for one leader.

The whole concept of the election process is to elect someone whom you feel can best represent your opinions and beliefs in the forum of Ottawa, in collaboration with other MPs that may have complimentary and/or opposing viewpoints.  The idea is that 100 000 people collectively elect 1 MP, and that this MP and 337 other MPs will govern on behalf of everyone.  This is what voting locally is all about.

However, we have evolved into a system where we are voting federally, for a leader, not for a local candidate.  The MPs are merely figureheads for one of a handful of leaders.  This is acutely apparent in this year's 2015 election with Harper refusing to allow local candidates from participating in local debates, and where they must toe the party line.  In this election, Harper has ensured everyone vote federally, and your MP will represent Ottawa's interest in your riding, instead of the other way around.

So how do we fix this?  How do we ensure we have proper local representation in Ottawa, regardless of political affiliation with a party leader?  A few ideas are being thrown around; proportional representation and ranked ballots are two of these.  There is no easy answer, but one that needs to be studied properly by a team of people representing the public, including all parties, not just the one with the most votes. 

This will have the impact of providing a more diverse representation of the country's constituents in Parliament Hill.  Isn't this what democracy is about - representing everyone? Isn't this what Canada is about - diversity?   Take our current model: The Green Party received 6.8% of the vote in 2008, but won no seats.   Yet 6.8% of 308 seats is almost 21 seats.  Those 6.8% of voters - 937,613 voters - had 0% representation on Parliament Hill.  Something is wrong with this model.

Only 59% of the electorate voted in 2008.  In my mind this is the leading culprit to voter suppression, a belief that it is a waste of time to cast a ballot because there is only one winner, and we stifle the ability to evolve out of a 2-party system.  Three leaders are proposing to look into this issue, to explore options to change how we vote, to support a more representative approach.  One leader is not - the one currently holding power.

I am not opposed to PCs on Parliament Hill.  I am opposed to oppression of 3/4 of our population at the hands of an old, outdated voting system.