Fair Vote Canada calls on Quebec Liberals to honour pledge for voting system reform
Fair Vote Canada, a multi-partisan citizens’ campaign for
voting system reform, today called on the Quebec Liberal Party to
act quickly on its commitment to bring a proportional representation
voting system to Quebec within two years of being elected. The
commitment was made in a Liberal Party policy resolution adopted in
September 2002.
“The Quebec election results provide yet another glaring
example of how badly our first-past- the-post voting system distorts what
voters are saying,” said Fair Vote Canada president Doris
Anderson. “The Quebec Liberals won only 46% of the vote the majority
voted against them but the voting system handed the Liberals
61% of the seats. The ADQ attracted 18% of the vote, and gained only
3% of the seats.”
While commentators described the election as a “sweep” and
party leaders talked of a “mandate”, the portion of Quebec voters
supporting the Quebec Liberal Party remained virtually the same as in the
last election. Their total popular vote actually
decreased. In 1998, the Quebec Liberals won 1.77 million votes or 44%; in 2003 they won
1.75 million votes or 46%. Despite the inconsequential change
in the popular vote, the Liberals gained an additional 28 seats this
time around. A 2% increase in vote share produced a 58%
increase in seat share.
“Given that both opposition parties also support moving to
proportional representation, a position that was overwhelmingly
endorsed at the Estates General in February, we urge Premier
Charest to act now,” said Larry Gordon, executive director of
Fair Vote Canada. “It’s time to put an end to distorted results and
phony majority governments. Mr. Charest and Quebec have an
opportunity to lead the way with a long-overdue electoral reform that will
likely sweep across all jurisdictions in Canada in the coming
years.”