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The Vancouver Sun
January 6,
2003
Summary: Jack Layton, the
frontrunner for New Democratic Party leadership in Canada, promises
to make a referedum on full representation (proportional
representation) a condition of joining into a coalition government.
Includes a table illustrating how the distribution of seats in
Parliament would have been different with full representation.
The Vancouver Sun
NDP
front-runner promises referendum
Vote on proportional
representation would be condition to joining minority government
By Peter O'Neil
January 6, 2003 Canadians will decide in
a referendum whether to dramatically alter the nation's electoral
system if the New Democratic Party wields influence in a future
minority Parliament, vows NDP leadership front-runner Jack Layton.
The Toronto city councillor, expected by many to replace Alexa
McDonough at the party's leadership convention later this month,
said he would make the referendum a condition of his support for a
governing coalition. Canada's first-past-the-post system would be
replaced by a form of proportional representation that is used in
the vast majority of democratic countries around the world. That
system ensures parties have a representation in legislatures roughly
equal to their share of the national vote. "It's time to change.
It's not a democratic system," Mr. Layton said. "It allows a party
that generally speaking does not have a majority of people voting
for it to become the government. Well, that doesn't make sense."
Mr. Layton said he'd be prepared to work with other opposition
party leaders to convince Canadians the system must be reformed.
The NDP, the Canadian Alliance and especially the Progressive
Conservative party would all benefit enormously from the change, and
all three parties have passed policy statements calling for a
serious examination of that alternative. The Alliance, for
instance, took 24 per cent of the vote in Ontario in the 2000
election and would have won two dozen seats rather than two under a
proportional-representation system. The federal Liberal party,
which opposes proportional representation, would have ended up with
roughly 123 seats rather than 172, forcing Prime Minister Jean
Chrˆ©tien to make concessions with other parties to run a minority
government. The NDP and the Tories, which both suffer from having
support scattered across the country, would have less fear of losing
their official-party status. The minimum number of seats needed to
qualify is 12. Experts who have studied the matter argue
proportional representation could reduce regional tensions in the
country because a western party such as the Alliance would suddenly
have a significant number of MPs in Ontario, while the governing
Liberals would quickly enhance their representation in western
Canada. However, critics also argue the system could create
permanent instability by causing the election of a series of
minority governments that could frequently collapse. Proportional
representation would greatly enhance the ability of single-issue
groups such as the Green Party to win seats, though it would also
allow extremist parties to suddenly get representation in Parliament
and therefore gain an important platform. In the 1972-74 federal
government, then prime minister Pierre Trudeau had to make
concessions to the NDP to stay in power. Mr. Layton said one deal
with the late NDP leader David Lewis resulted in the construction of
650,000 housing units that currently house 2.2 million people. - -
- Overhauling the electoral system The results of the Nov. 27, 2000
general election, and the impact proportional representation would
have had on the results.
|
Party |
Seats won |
Percentage of popular vote |
Seats under proportional
representation |
|
Liberals |
172 |
40.78% |
123 |
|
Alliance |
66 |
25.5% |
77 |
|
Bloc |
38 |
10.68% |
32 |
|
NDP |
13 |
8.53% |
26 |
|
Conservatives |
12 |
12.21% |
37 |
|
Other |
0 |
2.29% |
7 |
Note: While there are
currently 301 seats in Parliament, the seats under proportional
representation add up to 302 due to rounding. (Figures are from the
Parliamentary Guide, Canadian Global Almanac and Southam News files) |
