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.