Blogging at the Big Dog

Last week, I had some pretty harsh words for our political leaders. My cynicism is born of frustration with a system that rewards power-seeking and encourages corruption. The first-past-the-post, winner-take-all model simply isn’t very democratic.

That’s not to say I don’t admire the men and women who stand for election. Elected public service is a noble calling not for the thin-skinned or faint-of-heart. And once the winners get to Ottawa, I don’t envy them the task at hand or the public scrutiny they’ll endure.

By the time this edition of The Times hits the newsstands, Canadians will be going to the polls and we’ll be well on our way to a new, probably minority, government.

Personally, I took advantage of the advance poll on Oct. 6 because of an Elections Canada SNAFU that would have meant going to Dysart to vote, but that’s an issue for another day.

I did something unusual this year. In the past, I’ve voted in a variety of different ways. I’ve voted strategically, to help stop an undesirable party from winning. I’ve voted for the candidate I thought was best in my riding, regardless of party. And I’ve given the nod to a candidate I didn’t like because of their party affiliation.

This time I voted for democracy, or, more specifically, democratic reform, by marking my ballot for the Greens. It was certainly not an endorsement of their environmental policy. I don’t think they, or anyone else, has a clue when in comes to climate change, but that too is an issue for another day.

The issue for today is proportional representation. Even if the Greens don’t elect a single MP this time, I am hoping my vote will be among a groundswell bumping their share of the popular vote thus sending a message of dissatisfaction with the status quo to Ottawa.

Indeed, the mere fact that in 2006 the Greens achieved almost five per cent of the popular vote and didn’t get a single seat should tell just about anyone there is a big problem with the system. That’s more than 664,000 Canadians who were not represented in the last Parliament.

The other tell-tale sign of a big problem with the system is that Canada is among only a handful of major democracies that haven’t already recognized proportional representation is fairer and results in more diverse representation; cleaner campaigns; and less influence by special interests. Governments elected by P.R. also tend to be more responsive, cooperative and transparent.

Proportional representation is the evolution of democracy and only the truly stubborn (Canada, The United States, Great Britain) refuse to see it.

The big knock on P.R. systems is, of course, government instability because virtually every election results in some kind of ad-hoc coalition. This criticism is generally fear-mongering by the those who have a major stake (Liberals and Conservatives) in maintaining the cronyism that has characterized Canadian governments since confederation.

That’s not to say P.R. doesn’t have its own warts, but even with its problems, it’s better than what we’ve got and we’re halfway there already. Eight of the last 17 Parliaments have been minority governments. Once politicians get used to the idea of working together, maybe they’ll finally get down to doing the job without all the partisan bickering.