Stability and Harmony

 

"PICTURE IT" #7 STABILITY AND HARMONY: CANADA WITH PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION 

Picture it— Canada 2016. There is no need for a third all-party committee on electoral reform nor do the Liberals break Canadian hearts when they break their promise of electoral reform. There is no need because 1921 was the last election using the undemocratic, unfair, first-past-the-post system. Since 1925, our proportional representation system has promoted stability for harmony inside and outside Canada.

The last 100 years has seen the United Kingdom's policies lurching from left to right. In recent decades, the Conservative Party wins a majority and policy lurches to the right. Then the Labour Party wins a majority and policy lurches to the left. Meanwhile, in Canada, proportional representation minimizes policy lurch. Because the distribution of votes between parties is relatively stable election to election, the proportion of power between parties is stable. Parties collaborate with each other to produce thoughtful, long-term legislation. During elections, parties focus on honouring and winning voters, not humiliating and beating opponents.

Elections in Canada have high voter turnouts and between elections there is high civic participation. Rather than negative protesting, citizens find positive ways of engaging with their representatives. One of these was a national citizens assembly on peace. A Nobel Peace Prize winning outcome was that the government must prove to Canadians that it has exhausted all non-violent alternatives to war. 

Like other countries with proportional representation, Canada enjoys human security. Human security is a product of our political stability and diversity, social justice and safety nets, and environmental stewardship. However, Canada is aware that no one is safe until all are safe. It is leading a global security initiative based in nonviolent action which the Canadian military has embraced.

Canadian voters trust proportional representation to secure stability and harmony because it fosters stability and harmony within the political process.

If you wish this picture were true, help make it true. Support electoral reform with proportional representation. 

Environmental Stewardship

"PICTURE IT" #6 ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP: CANADA WITH PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

Picture it— Canada 2015. There is no need for Justin Trudeau and Liberal candidates to promise electoral reform 1,813 times during the election campaign. There is no need because 1921 was the last election using the undemocratic, unfair, first-past-the-post system. Since 1925, our proportional representation system has ensured that our environmental policies are determined by scientific evidence, not political ideology.

After the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was established in 1988, Canada used it to guide our response to climate change. We consistently meet and exceed our Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement greenhouse gas reduction targets. This is largely due to the active youth vote that prioritizes planetary care over corporate profit.

We experienced a fair and just transition to renewable energy unlike the United States. It fell prey to climate change denial lobbying powered by a coalition of well-funded fossil fuel companies and industry groups. Canada's basic annual income supported fossil fuel workers as they retrained for jobs in the renewable energy sector. Canada is currently a world leader in renewable energy innovation and usage.

Canada immediately signed the "4 per 1000" initiative and committed to implementing its regenerative agriculture strategy to mitigate climate change and increase food security. Regenerative agriculture not only sequesters carbon dioxide reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but it increases soil health while creating sustainable incomes.

Canadian voters trust proportional representation to secure environmental stewardship through social justice.

If you wish this picture were true, help make it true. Support electoral reform with proportional representation.

View the video at #6 Environmental Stewardship.

Strong Economy

 "PICTURE IT" #5 Strong Economy: CANADA WITH PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

Picture it— Canada 2005. There is no need for a report on electoral reform to the House of Commons because 1921 was the last election using the undemocratic, unfair, first-past-the-post system. Since 1925, our proportional representation system has been a positive economic force in our lives.

With proportional representation, Canada has enjoyed a balanced and inclusive economic policy framework for decades including a national energy policy. Our electoral system ensures our fiscal and economic policy is strongly rooted in the economic and social realities experienced by Canadians. Our policy does not lurch from right to left as it does in winner-take-all systems. Progress is made on issues like labour relations, corporate regulation, poverty reduction, and tax reform. Progress that is inclusive, informed, and long term. Progress that is good for business, labour, and the environment. And like other countries using proportional representation, Canada enjoys stronger economic growth than countries using plurality-majority electoral systems.

Canadian voters trust proportional representation to ensure that strong budget, trade, fiscal, and tax policies serve all of us.

If you wish this picture were true, help make it true. Support electoral reform with proportional representation.

View the video at #5 Strong Economy.

Social Trust

 "PICTURE IT" #4 SOCIAL TRUST: CANADA WITH PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

Picture it— Canada 2004. There is no need for the independent Law Commission of Canada to conduct a three-year study on electoral reform and recommend proportional representation. There is no need because 1921 was the last election using the undemocratic, unfair, first-past-the-post system. Like other countries using proportional representation, Canada ranks high for income equality and other indicators of well-being.

Canadians enjoy a host of benefits linked to income equality. The benefits include higher life satisfaction, better physical and mental health, better social mobility, fewer children in poverty, fewer teenage pregnancies, less crime, and less incarceration. Central to all these is a sense of trust that is commonly low in winner-take-all electoral systems. People in more equal societies trust each other more. Trust leads to goodwill, compassion, and connectedness. These in turn lead to more community involvement and civic participation. Community involvement and civic participation generates more trust creating a virtuous cycle.

Canadian voters trust proportional representation to distribute power fairly so no one income group has power over the others.

If you wish this picture were true, help make it true. Support electoral reform with proportional representation.

View the video at #4 Social Trust.

Healthier Citizens

 "PICTURE IT" #3 HEALTHIER CITIZENS: CANADA WITH PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

Picture it— Canada 1979. There is no need for a task force on national unity nor does Pierre Trudeau, Stephen Harper, or Ed Broadbent make arguments for proportional representation. There is no need because 1921 was the last election using the undemocratic, unfair, first-past-the-post system. Canada's proportional representation system has proven to be more responsive to the diverse health needs of our population.

Like other countries using proportional representation, Canadian's life expectancy increased, and its infant mortality decreased. Because Canada could plan the use of its resources democratically, Medicare was established and then expanded to Dentalcare. When over 90% of the voters wanted Pharmacare, their elected representatives delivered. Pharmacare's bulk buying made prescriptions affordable. This reduced costly medical interventions downstream while freeing up resources for effective prevention upstream.

When corporations lobbied to privatize Canada's world-renowned Connaught Medical Research Laboratories, it was nationalized instead. [insulin, diphtheria, heparin, tetanus, typhus, blood processing, penicillin, polio, smallpox] Connaught continues its cutting-edge research, is profitable, and produces many generic drugs used by the Pharmacare program. In a pandemic, Connaught stands ready, willing, and able to produce profit free vaccines for Canadians in Canada.

Canadians trust proportional representation to allocate resources democratically, ensuring a healthier population.

If you wish this picture were true, help make it true. Support electoral reform with proportional representation.

View the video at #3 Healthier Citizens

Diverse Representation

 

"Picture It" #2 Diverse Representatives: Canada with Proportional Representation

Picture it— Canada 1937. There is no need for a second all-party committee on electoral reform because 1921 was the last election using the undemocratic, unfair, first-past-the-post system. In the four federal elections since, Canada's parliament and cabinet have grown increasingly diverse with proportional representation.

In a winner-take-all system, parties are compelled to select the one winning candidate. Historically, in Canada, the candidate has been White, cis, and male. With proportional representation, parties actively recruit women and minorities to reach a wider range of voters. Like other countries using proportional representation, Canadian statistics show women should soon claim 40% of the seats. The percentage of women in power measures not only the quality of democratic representation but serves as an indicator of how well minorities are represented.

The legislature is a more respectful, caring workplace as women's leadership style generally favours collaboration. The perspectives and priorities of women and minority groups, including Indigenous people, bring balance and fairness into the decision-making process. For 100 years, Canadian voters have trusted proportional representation to produce legitimate long-term laws and policies that represent and meet the needs of the full diversity of voters.

If you wish this picture were true, help make it true. Support electoral reform with proportional representation.

View the video at #2 Diverse Representatives.

High Voter Turnout

 

"Picture It" #1 High Voter Turnout: Canada with Proportional Representation

Picture it—Canada 1921. The upcoming election will be the first with not two but three major parties vying for power. The Liberal Party approved electoral reform with proportional representation in 1919. Proportional representation is a system in which voters are represented in proportion to how they vote. The Liberal campaign promises that 1921 will be the last election using first-past-the-post where votes may fail to legitimately reflect voter choice.

After the election, the Liberals keep their campaign promise. They keep the promise even though it was clear to them that the old system, the undemocratic, unfair, winner-take-all system, could deliver 100% of the power with a minority of votes while wasting the majority of votes. After all, they reasoned, how could they ethically and legitimately represent people who had not voted for them?

The federal election in 1925 used a proportional representation system. If 20% of Canadians voted for a party, that party got 20% of the seats. Our representatives elected to govern, oppose, question, and engage, legitimately speak for their voters. For 100 years now, Canada, like other countries using proportional representation, has ranked high for voter turnout.

Canadian voters trust proportional representation to make their votes count because the number of seats a party gets is proportional to the number of votes they get.

If you wish this picture were true, help make it true. Support electoral reform with proportional representation.

Picture It! Benefits of Proportional Representation

I was inspired to make these videos in the hope that showing the benefits of electoral reform with proportional representation would inspire you to support it. I used Golden Girl's Sophia's famous catchphrase "Picture It" to help communicate a vision of Canada with proportional representation. Each video is based on evidence.

Please help promote the benefits of proportional representation by sharing one, some, or all videos in this series of seven videos:

#1 Higher Voter Turnout 3-Jul-2021

#2 Diverse Representatives 10-Jul-2021

#3 Healthier Citizens 17-Jul-2021

#4 Social Trust 24-Jul-2021

#5 Strong Economy 31-Jul-2021

#6 Environmental Stewardship 7-Aug-2021

#7 Stability and Harmony 14-Aug-2021

#1 Higher Voter Turnout

I shared a preview of Picture It: Canada with Proportional Representation #1 High Voter Turnout with long time proportional representation (PR) supporter Lynn Oliphant. My heart was moved when he confessed he was saddened at the end because for a brief moment he had suspended disbelief. He had a vision of what Canada could have been with 100 years of proportional representation.

#2 Diversity

"Our voting system is crazy" said my young new neighbour recently as we talked politics. They support universal basic income (UBI) but have no hope of it becoming a reality. I do have hope that the candidate diversity evident in other countries using proportional representation will prove true in Canada. The perspectives and priorities of women and minority groups, including Indigenous people, would bring balance and fairness into the decision-making process about things like UBI. Diversity in representatives has proven to produce legitimate long-term laws and policies that represent and meet the needs of the full diversity of voters.

#3 Healthier Citizens

I received a phone call from a senior on a fixed income. They expected they would need to use the money diligently saved to celebrate their birthday for an unexpected prescription drug cost. I was heartsick.

Nine out of ten Canadians support the idea of pharmacare. Translated to our House of Commons, the recent pharmacare bill to establish a legal framework should have had 90% support. Was it defeated because our Members of Parliament are so whipped they do not represent their voters? Does our winner-take-all electoral system give Big Pharma a big whip to crack? Why does Canada remain the only country with universal healthcare and no universal pharmacare? Why can't we democratically allocate resources to ensure healthier citizens? What other health benefits enjoyed by countries with proportional representation might we gain with electoral reform?

#4 Social Trust

In Bowling Alone, author Robert Putnam writes "Trustworthiness lubricates social life.  Frequent interaction among a diverse set of people tends to produce a norm of generalized reciprocity." Putnam uses the term "social capital" to describe the wealth available to communities and countries with strong networks of relationships. Equality, a characteristic evident in countries with proportional representation, supports "interaction among a diverse set of people." Equality increases the sense of "us" and decreases the sense of "them" enhancing social trust.

#5 Stronger Economy

What is the latest example of policy lurch you can think of? For me, it is crime legislation. The 2012 Omnibus Crime Bill was "Tough-on-Crime." Even though the Canadian Bar Association and other experts tried their "darndest to get the Conservatives to listen to reason," the bill passed because the Conservatives held the majority of seats. Now the Conservatives are concerned that the Liberals will pass a "Soft-on-Crime" bill and are doing their darndest to get the Liberals to listen to reason. While crime legislation may appear unconnected to economics, the justice system—policing, courts, and incarceration, is a player in our economic system.

In countries with proportional representation, the proportion of power each party gets is relatively consistent. Their politics lean towards collaboration rather than competition. Progress can be made on issues like labour relations, corporate regulation, poverty reduction, and tax reform. Progress that is inclusive, informed, and long term. Progress that is good for business, labour, and the environment. Other countries using proportional representation enjoy stronger economic growth than countries using plurality-majority electoral systems like Canada's.

#6 Environmental Stewardship

Evidence shows that countries with proportional representation have stronger environmental policies. They score high for protecting the environment and other indicators of environmental stewardship. This is not because their citizens are more concerned about the environment but because citizens' voices influence policy. Planetary care for all is prioritized over corporate profit for the few.

Using Golden Girl's Sophia's famous catchphrase "Picture It", _#6 Environmental Stewardship_ imagines Canadians enjoying a host of benefits linked to strong environmental policy. It shows Canada experiencing a fair and just transition to renewable energy and securing environmental stewardship through social justice.

#7 Stability and Harmony 

"We can bomb the world to pieces, but we cannot bomb it to peace", lines from a Michael Franti song, has long been one of my favourite memes. While I envisioned many things for Canada in the previous videos this one is the biggest. What would happen if our government had to prove it had exhausted all non-violent alternatives to war?

While parts of my video are visionary, other parts are the reality in many countries with proportional representation. When the proportion of power between parties is stable, parties collaborate with each other to produce thoughtful, long-term legislation. Proportional representation's stability would allow our decision makers to focus on social justice, safety nets, and environmental stewardship.