July 2004

DISTORTED RESULTS IN PARLIAMENT

AS FAIR VOTE CANADA pointed out in a June 29 news release, "Canadian voters spoke but, once again, the voting system garbled the message."

The results would have been quite different if some type of proportional representation was in effect. For example, if seats directly reflected votes received, the Liberals would have taken about 113 seats, not 135, the NDP would have won 48 seats, not 19, and the Greens would have about 12 seats instead of zero.

Putting it another way, the Bloc Quebecois gained one seat for every 31,000 votes, compared to one per 37,000 for the Liberals, one per 40,000 for the Conservatives, and one per 111,000 for the NDP. The Greens won over 500,000 votes but no seats, while the Liberals received less than 500,000 votes in Atlantic Canada, where they won 22 seats.

Such distortions have fuelled widespread cynicism about electoral politics. Certainly this situation has a very negative impact on the Communist Party, whose policies are highly popular among many voters who know that their ballots are virtually meaningless under the first-past-the-post system.

We urge Canadians to press NDP leader Jack Layton to carry through on his party's pledge to make action on proportional representation a key demand for support to the Liberal minority government. We also call on the new Parliament to remove one of the grossest inequities in the new electoral financing system - the $1.75/vote given to each party which received 2% or more on June 28th. There is no supportable reason for Canadian taxpayers to shell out millions of dollars to wealthy political parties, while small parties get not one nickel. Fairness requires equal treatment for all!

© 2004 Communist Party of Canada