Make Every Vote Count 2015 Campaign Webinar

Presentation followed by question and answer Type your questions into the question box on your control panel and raise your hand We may not get to all the questions!

We will cover: What is Fair Vote Canada? Why do we need proportional representation? A brief look the problems with winner-take-all voting Why make votes count? A look at the research Make Every Vote Count 2015 campaign How can you get involved?

Fair Vote Canada is a national, multi-partisan, grassroots citizens campaign for proportional representation! We support proportional representation at all levels of government: federal, provincial, and municipal. We have over 30 local teams, 35,000 signers on our Declaration of Voters’ Rights.

Your vote should count towards electing a representative you want. Results should be proportional to the popular vote (if a party gets 30% of the vote, they should get roughly 30% of the seats).

A few problems with winner-take-all voting

An Electoral Math Lesson

2008 federal results: Bloc – 1.3 million votes = 49 seats Greens - 940,000 votes = 0 seats

2008 Federal Election 1.3 Million votes = 49 Seats Greens 940,000 votes = 0 Seats

56% voted Conservative Conservatives won 13 out of 14 seats 56% support = 92% seats Saskatchewan Federal 2011 Results

66% voted Conservative Conservatives won 26 out of 27 seats 66% support = 96% seats Alberta 2011 Federal Results

Orange Crush? NDP won 59 of the 75 seats in Quebec 43% popular vote = 78% seats Quebec 2011 Federal Results

2008 Federal Results First-past-the-post PR

2006: Elected on 36.27% of popular vote 2008: Elected on 37.65% of popular vote 2011: Majority government on 39.62% of the popular vote 1.96 % more of the vote = 23 more seats = 100% power A “mandate” for our government?

Wasted votes 2011 = 7,280,599 Approx 50% each election Liberal 2,211,697 NDP 2,117,112 Green 540,205 Conservative 1,455,077 Bloc 826,805 Other: 129,703

Kitchener-Waterloo % 36.1%

Problems with winner-take-all voting Distorted results Regional polarization Wasted votes Safe seats Negative (strategic) voting Campaigns aimed at a few swing votes in a few swing ridings Adversarial politics Low Voter Turnout Suppression of minority views Barrier to electing more women and minorities

A look at the evidence for making votes count Why proportional representation?

Arend Lijphart – 36 countries over 55 yrs voter turnout 7.5% higher government policies closer to the view of the median voter citizens more satisfied with democracy 8% more women were elected PR and Democracy

McDonald, Mendes and Budge (2004) looked at 254 elections producing 471 governments in 20 countries, with a major finding that: Proportional systems created governments which better reflected the views of the median voter

"Consensual political institutions tend to reduce income inequalities whereas majoritarian institutions have the opposite effect" (Birchfield and Crepaz, 1998, p. 192) Countries with proportional systems had lower income inequality - a “strong and significant effect” (Lijphart, 2012 p. 282) PR and Income Inequality

Countries with PR systems scored 6 points higher on the Yale Environmental Performance Index, which measures 10 policy areas, incl. environmental health, air quality, resource management, biodiversity and habitat, forestry, fisheries, agriculture, climate change (Lijphart, 2012) PR and Environment

Countries with PR were faster to ratify the Kyoto protocol the percentage of world total carbon emissions decreased in PR countries while it increased in other countries or remained static (Cohen, 2010) PR and Environment

Is this the face of Canada?

Almost any country with 30% or more women in its upper legislature uses a form of PR Countries with PR elect 8% more women on average PR and Women

Countries with moderately proportional systems were less likely to have deficits and more likely to have fiscal surpluses (Carey and Hix, London School of Economics, 2009) PR and Economy

Knutsen (2011) looked at 107 countries from 1820 to “country years” and found that: Both proportional and semi-proportional systems produced higher economic growth than plurality- majoritarian - "a strong, significant effect" (p.86) PR and Economy

Between 1945 and 1998, countries using first- past-the-post averaged 16.7 elections, while countries using proportional systems averaged 16 elections (Pilon, 2007) Hugh Segal: Proportional Representation and Economic Policy PR and Stability

To determine the best model of Proportional Representation for Canada, we call on federal parties and candidates to commit to: 1. Conducting a citizen-led consultation process immediately following the next federal election. 2. Implementing the model in time for the following election.

We must elect a majority of MPs to the House of Commons in 2015 who are committed to making our votes count.

Where Do the Parties Stand Now?

Don’t support PR (last support for PR was a Progressive Conservative Party Resolution in 2002)

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT immediately after the next election, an all-Party process be instituted, involving expert assistance and citizen participation, to report to Parliament within 12 months with recommendations for electoral reforms including, without limitation, a preferential ballot and/or a form of proportional representation, to represent Canadians more fairly and serve Canada better.

Key Liberal MPs for PR: Joyce Murray Stephane Dion

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Scott Simms is now in favour of adding proportionality to our system Interesting fact: The last 3 Liberal Democratic Reform Critics – Stephane Dion, Carolyn Bennett and Mauril Belanger – have all been in favour of PR.

NDP Democratic Reform Critic Craig Scott is doing a tour across Canada explaining MMP and getting feedback from Canadians.

The Charter of Global Greens includes proportional representation as one of their principles Elizabeth May did a “Save Democracy from Politics” tour last year. The Green Party of Canada and Fair Vote Canada were both intervenors in a court case against first-past-the-post

Working with allies to make electoral reform an election issue Getting the word out to Canadians through the work of our supporters, media and social media Encouraging supporters to work for candidates who support PR Key components of Make Every Vote Count 2015

How can you get involved?

Help us get to 100,000 signatures on the Declaration of Voters’ Rights Share:

Donate

Help us on the ground in your riding in 2015!

Join a FVC caucus: Greens for Fair Voting NDP for Fair Voting Liberals for Fair Voting conservatives for Fair Voting Women for Fair Voting Fair Vote Youth

Thank you for helping to Make 2015 the Last Unfair Election!