One of Justin Trudeau’s promises in the 2015 federal election was that it would be the last time Canadians would use first-past-the-post voting. And you know how far he got with that idea. His first error was to give the challenge of change to a minister who seemed to have little understanding of how democracies work.
What should have been beneficial was the special committee of parliament that was created to study the subject. The committee hearings were streamed across the country for the edification of anyone interested. I might have been one of the few who watched, listened and felt I was gaining a better understanding of how Canadians approached the subject.
I have also had the advantage of visiting countries around the world with different voting, varied political structures and different results. You might have a good laugh at the city hall in Stockholm but the politics can be boring and slow on the uptake. Another riot in the Diet in Tokyo can be puzzling but the results aren’t too bad. I was impressed with the run-off for president in France. The French aren’t opposed to trying new approaches. Watching the Lords in London is just another exercise in watching paint dry. I always think of Washington D.C. as a city of monuments, many of them in the U.S. Senate.
But Canada is a special problem. I think of our system as a failure of British colonialism. The Brits bequeathed us with a copy of the British parliament but screwed us by giving too much power to our former colonies, in the form of provinces.
I was not as disappointed with some of the political science professors but it was not as encouraging to listen to their views as I hoped. When the committee seemed insistent in listening to so many of them, you would have thought the odd good idea might come along with some solutions. No such luck.
That was one of the few times when Canadians saw an impasse in a special committee. It was one of those times when, divided down party lines, the committee agreed to disagree. There was no acceptable solution.
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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
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