Fair Vote Canada officially launches the Make Every Vote Count campaign on September 19, during Democracy Week in Canada. The goal of the campaign is to make a commitment to a more proportional voting system a key issue in the next federal election.

At 11:30 AM there will be a press conference in the Charles Lynch Press Gallery with Fair Vote Canada Interim ED Anita Nickerson, FVC National Capital Region Chapter President Julien Lamarche, Official Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair, Liberal Democratic Reform Critic Stephane Dion, Deputy Green Party Leader Georges Laraque, Leadnow Campaigns Director Matthew Carroll, and Greenpeace Campaigns Director Yossi Cadan.

Following the press conference there will be a campaign launch event for public and supporters at 12:15 PM on the steps of Parliament Hill. In addition to a colourful theatre activity demonstrating how our current system wastes our votes, Liberal MP Joyce Murray, NDP MP Paul Dewar and Deputy Green Party Leader Georges Laraque will join Leadnow Campaigns Director Matthew Carroll, Greenpeace Campaign Director Yossi Cadan, and other advocacy groups speaking about the need for proportional representation.

“A growing number of Canadians find it unacceptable that our archaic voting system should hand any single party with 39% of the popular vote 100% of the power”, says Doug Bailie, President of Fair Vote Canada.

Already the Make Every Vote Count campaign has generated thousands of new signatures on Fair Vote Canada’s Declaration of Voters’ Rights - the group is close to hitting 25,000 signers, and aims to reach 100,000 by 2015. Recent polls show that 76% of Canadians favour adopting a proportional voting system.

Active endorsers of the Make Every Vote Count campaign include non-partisan experts such as the University of Ottawa’s Common Law Dean Nathalie Des Rosiers, and prominent Canadians from across the political spectrum such as David Suzuki, Maude Barlow and former conservative MP Patrick Boyer.

“With First Past the Post, every federal election 7 million voters cast wasted votes which elect no representation”, says Fair Vote Canada ED Anita Nickerson. “Voting in a representative democracy should not be about making winners and losers out of voters - it should be about having our voices represented, more cooperative politics, and fair results in Parliament.”

For more information visit www.fairvote.ca/campaign2015