It was a delight the other day to sit and read a presentation to the special house of commons committee on electoral reform that made sense. The committee has been struggling along, wasting a perfectly fine summer, listening to mainly academics who have been touting a variety of proportional voting systems ad nausea. While reading transcripts or watching the various recordings in no particular order, there was finally a presentation that made sense. It was by Professor Emeritus R. Kenneth Carty of the University of British Columbia.
Dr. Carty not only had done the research but has devoted years to working in real life situations where his expertise and knowledge counted. He also has the experience to tell the committee members that there is “no perfect or even best electoral system.”
He was a witness to the experiences of five Canadian provinces that sought to change their electoral systems. Each of the provinces chose a different system. None of the five systems were implemented.
The professor also made the point to the parliamentarians that nobody can really predict what the results will ultimately be of any change in our system. He did allow though that a change might end the possibility of majority governments such as Canadians have experienced over the years.
He added the very important caveat that not all our provinces were of equal population or of similar interests. He suggested that the parliamentarians be mindful of federal realities of our country in seeking to change how we vote.
There was more to his presentation but it was his conclusion that struck us as the seminal point. He was concerned that a change of how we vote could destroy our national identity. He was the first academic we have ever heard of in Canada who really understands the importance of our national political parties and what they contribute to our country.
It was Professor Carty’s opinion that if there was a real need for change in how we vote, we would have to take our chances and come up with a new system. The danger is that we would have to find a new and different way to link our nation from sea to sea.
Canada is a nation that was bound together by the vision of its political leaders such as Sir John A. Macdonald, George Brown, Sir Wilfrid Laurier and others. These leaders have given Canada substance and direction when needed. We might be less than effusive in how we recognize them but Canada stands proud today in their honour.
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Copyright 2016 © Peter Lowry
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