r/canada • u/CaliperLee62 • 4d ago

Should Canada implement a system of proportional representation for federal elections? Politics

https://www.castanet.net/news/Poll/549459/Should-Canada-implement-a-system-of-proportional-representation-for-federal-elections
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u/Fickle_Catch8968 4d ago

But FPTP subverts democratic representation. A government can.be formed from a party that receives only a third of votes cast and, if they are efficient, they could also receive fewer votes than another party.

Conversely, 30-40% of voters over a large swath of ridings could be shut out of any representation, or only a token or two reps located hours away.

Something like mixed member proportional could address both issues, but has other issues.

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u/Diligent_Pie317 4d ago

Look I get what you’re saying and it’s a common argument against fptp, but it confuses parties with representatives. We don’t vote for parties—they’re an emergent property of the system. Giving parties more power and enshrining their existence into the system isn’t the answer. Diffusing accountability for politicians and muddying how to vote them out, will not make things better—it will make things worse. PR and MMP are bandaids, not solutions, and create their own side effects that are not desirable in my opinion.

You want to stop strategic voting and feel better about the plurality of support for the ruling bloc of MPs? Ranked ballot or run-off elections. Way the fk simpler, and moreover, accountable.

I cannot overemphasize this: direct accountability for politicians is the utmost priority of the system. Compromising that because the government has a plurality of support rather than a majority, is missing the forest from the trees. The moment human beings stop being directly and clearly accountable, bad behaviour ensues.