Canadian Electoral System

A Mock Vote An exercise for exploring how different voting systems work. Follow the instructions and have fun with it!

What is “First Past the Post”? Voting Systems: FPTP What is “First Past the Post”?

Voting Systems: FPTP “First Past the Post” gets its name from the early days of horse racing, when the first horse “past the post” won the race. The winner gets the prize and the other candidates get nothing. That’s why FPTP is also called a “winner take all” system. Whichever candidate gets the most votes is elected. The winning candidate doesn’t have to have a majority (half the votes) to win.

Voting Systems: FPTP In Canada, all the major elections (including federal and all provincial elections) use the FPTP system. Canada did not actively choose to use FPTP. It was inherited from the days of the British Empire. FPTP is used mostly in the United Kingdom and by countries which are former British colonies. FPTP was only intended to work in a 2 party system (Canada now enjoys more parties)

Voting Systems: PR In democratic countries, there are two major types of voting systems: winner-take-all systems (like FPTP) and proportional systems. There are several types of proportional systems. Together these are usually referred to as “proportional representation” or PR. About 90 democratic nations use some form of PR for their electoral system.

Voting Systems: PR PR is based on a very simple principle: The percentage of seats a party earns in government is equal to the percentage of people that voted for that party. If 30% of electors vote for Party A, Party A gets 30% of the seats in the government. If 10% vote for party B, Party B gets 10% of the seats, etc.. In a proportional system, almost everybody casts a ballot that helps elect someone from the party they most want to represent them.

FPTP in Canada “First Past the Post” is technically called a Single Member Plurality system. Single member means that in every electoral division (usually called “ridings”) there can only be one winner to represent the entire constituency. Plurality means that the person with the most votes wins, no matter what percentage of people voted for him or her. The winner does not need a majority of votes.

FPTP in Canada Canada is divided up into 338 federal ridings. In each riding, an election is conducted on a winner- take-all basis. The candidate with the most votes (though often not a majority) in that riding gets a seat in Parliament. The party with the most seats usually forms the government, no matter what percentage of voters cast ballots for that party. If a party wins over half of the seats in Parliament, there will be a “majority” government.

Issues with Canada’s Elections Low voter turn-out / voter apathy. Young people don’t vote. Strategic voting (aka tactical voting) vs. sincere voting. “Tight races” and “safe seats”. Negative campaigns & questionable tactics.

Real Canadian Election Results Official Results of the 42nd General Election, 2015 Number and Percentage of Seats, by Party Party # of Seats % of Seats Conservative Party of Canada 99 29 New Democratic Party 44 13 Liberal Party of Canada 184 54 Bloc Quebecois 10 3 Green Party 1 0.3

Real Canadian Election Results Official Results of the 42nd General Election, 2015 Percentage of Votes and Seats Party % of Vote % of Seats Conservative Party of Canada 31.9 29 New Democratic Party 19.7 13 Liberal Party of Canada 39.5 54 Bloc Quebecois 4.7 3 Green Party 3.4 0.3

Real Canadian Election Results Quebec Provincial Election, 1998 The “wrong” result? Party # of Seats % of Seats % of Vote Parti Quebecois 76 60.8 42.87 Liberal Party 48 38.4 43.55 Action-Democratique 1 0.8 11.81 Other 1.77

Real Canadian Election Results The Bloc and the Greens, 2015 Are all votes equal? 605,864 votes = 1 seats 818,652 votes = 10 seats

Real Canadian Election Results The New Brunswick Liberal Sweep, 1987 The missing opposition! Party # of Seats % of Seats % of Vote Liberal Party 58 100 60.39 Progressive Conservative 28.59 NDP 10.55 Independent 0.47

Real Canadian Election Results The 35th General Election, 1993 Party # of Seats % of Seats % of Vote Liberal Party of Canada 177 60.0 41.2 Bloc Quebecois 54 18.3 13.52 Reform Party 52 17.6 18.69 New Democratic Party 9 3.1 6.88 Progressive Conservative 2 0.7 16.04 Other 1 0.3 3.67

Comparing FPTP & PR Majority Majority Threshold Threshold (155 seats)

Comparing FPTP & PR Distribution of seats based on the 2015 Federal Election results, under FPTP and PR Party FPTP PR Conservative Party of Canada 99 108 New Democratic Party 44 68 Liberal Party of Canada 184 135 Bloc Quebecois 10 17 Green Party 1

Find out more about PR It’s your country. Canada’s future belongs to you.