Are Ontario elections truly democratic? Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) Referendum on October 10

by Ed Corrigan

On October 10, 2007, Ontarians will go to the polls to vote to determine who will govern Ontario for the next four years. What is not widely known is that there is also a referendum being held on the same day that could potentially alter our Ontario’s electoral system dramatically.

What we presently have is called the “first-past-the-post” (FPTP) system where the candidate who gets the most votes wins and represents the constituency. Legally it is the Member that is elected and not the Party. Officially political parties do not have legal status in the electoral system. Over the last few years, however, some steps have been taken that recognize the party system that has developed such as listing the party affiliation of each candidate on the ballot. However, you do not have to be affiliated with a political party to run as a candidate. The FPTP system has been heavily criticized in that in many elections the majority of votes are not recognized in the government elected. Many voters as a result have no political voice in our political institutions.

For example if there were five candidates running in a riding and three got 24.99% of the vote and one candidate got 25% of the vote. The other candidate got only one vote. In this scenario 75% of the voters did not support the candidate who obtained only 25% of the vote but that individual gets to represent the constituency and all of its people. As a result of FPTP system critics say that the system is not a truly democratic voting system, where all voters are equal, all votes count, election outcomes are fair and governments actually represent the majority.

Many political scientists have called for a Proportional Representation (PR) system which takes into account every vote and determines the political representation based on the percentage of the vote obtained. This means that smaller parties who get 6% of the vote would get 6 percent of the seats in the political decision making body. Even larger political parties who come second or third in a riding would have their votes counted and this normally would increase the representation of the opposition parties and take away the advantage that the largest party has. The result is a much more accurate reflection of the popular vote.

There have been majority governments in Ontario elected with as little as 37% of the vote and a large majority of the electorate opposed to the elected majority government. Critics point out that this is dysfunctional and can lead to serious distortions in the political system and leave the majority of the voting public alienated and without any political representation or political voice in the governing institutions.

Critics of the PR system state that it promotes political fragmentation and encourages one issue parties, ethnic, linguistic and regional fragmentation and the results create unstable and weak coalition governments. In forming coalition governments deal making and the self interest of the individual parties after elections can distort the political system. The opponents of the PR system also note that it loses the advantages of having a member represent a constituency and its peoples’ interests.

Both sides have valid arguments. All political systems have their strengths and weaknesses.

What is before the voters of Ontario in the referendum is a blended system that contains elements of both the FPTP and the PR system. The proposed new system is called Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) representation. It would allow every voter in Ontario two votes: one for a local representative, and one for a party. Local representatives would be elected as they are now, but 39 seats would be used to ensure that each party gets the same percentage of seats as votes. This would ensure that there is a member elected for each constituency but that the popular vote would be counted and 39 seats would be allocated on the basis of actual votes received.

Under the proposed MMP system you will still vote for your preferred local candidate just as you do now. In addition, you will also cast a vote for your preferred political party. The number of votes that each party wins will determine its share of the 39 at-large seats in the legislature and to make up any shortfall in seats based on the actual percentage of their vote.

If the referendum passes, the Ontario legislature will have 90 riding MPPs and 39 at-large MPPs. If after the 90 riding seats are filled, a party has fewer seats than its portion of the party vote, that party wins some of the additional 39 provincial (or at-large) seats to ensure it has its share of the total seats based on its popular vote in the at-large provincial vote. These at-large representatives are elected from provincial lists of candidates nominated by each party in advance of the election. Voters can judge these at-large candidates, as well as local candidates, and vote as they chose. This will give the voter the option of voting for their preferred local candidate and also their preferred party.

A political parties percentage of the popular vote in the at-large vote would be reflected in the final election results. These individuals would be determined off of a list selected, and presumably elected, by the political parties. So, if the Ontario Green Party, for example, obtained 10% of the popular vote in the at-large vote it would be very unlikely that they would win any FPTP constituency elections but would still get 13 seats in the Legislature. This representation would give a political voice to the voters who supported them in the at-large election. A party representing 10% of the at-large voting public with could potentially have a real impact on the legislation that governs Ontario.

To quote the web site supporting MMP: Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) will give Ontario voters the best of both worlds. You get strong local representation PLUS fair results, with parties gaining no more, and nofewer seats than they really deserve.

At the minimum MMP would increase the diversity of voices heard in our political system yet retains many of the advantages of the FPTP electoral system. However, it is up to the Ontario voters to decide. Do they keep the present FPTP system or experiment with the MMP electoral approach? If a majority of voters support MMP then that system will be implemented in four years, in 2011, the next fixed date for an Ontario election. For more information on MMP see, LINK.

If you want to get involved with the MMP campaign you can call toll-free 1-866-283-3MMP (667) or online at LINK. You can also donate to the campaign to promote MMP by calling toll-free 1-866-283-3MMP (667) or online at LINK.

The voters will decide who governs Ontario and they have one more thing to think about the referendum on MMP when they cast their ballots in the October 10th election.

About the author:

Edward C. Corrigan is a lawyer certified as a Specialist in Immigration Law and Immigration and Refugee Protection by the Law Society of Upper Canada in London, Ontario. He can be reached at corriganlaw@corrigan.ca.

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