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“Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.” -Albert Einstein

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

PLEASE bring democracy to our electoral system for 2019

Open letter to Members of Parliament. 

The current government is in a historic position to bring true democracy to Canada by making sure that EVERY vote COUNTS in federal elections. 

Even though I am pleased to have Mr.Trudeau as our Prime Minister, there is no true democracy when 60.5% of the electorate who did not vote Liberal have ZERO power for the next 4 years due to our Winner-Take-All elections. 

All Canadians are hurt by the outcome of Winner-Take-All elections, be it FPTP or ranked ballot (aka alternative vote, instant run-off). I am one of those. My vote has only counted ONCE in the last 6 federal elections where I voted. 

This election, 9 million voters across Canada had ZERO impact on the distribution of power and those who did, did so in an undemocratic fashion. It took: 

602755 Green votes to elect 1 MP
82112 Bloc votes to elect 1 MP
78828 NDP votes to elect 1 MP
56991 CPC votes to elect 1 MP
37728 LPC votes to elect 1 MP

HALF of the electorate elected no one......

How sad it is that the one time Canadians are supposed to have absolute power on how they are represented, a majority of voters end up not having any influence on the distribution of power nor whom is representing them.

Mixed Member Proportional representation as proposed by the defunct Law Commission of Canada is the best option. It's also supported by over 500 academics who made a statement on September 15, 2015 as well as Canada's biggest organization on the subject www.FairVote.ca .

The NDP, the Green party, the Bloc and a good portion of Liberals support this type of system. As well, Mr.Trudeau has said this would be our last FPTP system. 

I hope Mr.Trudeau is no longer in favour of the ranked ballot (aka alternative vote), as this is just another Winner-Take-All system that elects a government that does not represent the will of the people. Alternative Voting is great to elect an individual, not a representative government. It turns a country into a two party state.

MMP lets EVERY Canadian be represented equally by a party they support. The beauty of MMP is that it can have some part ranked ballot or FPTP with some part proportional, the end result still being 100% proportional to total votes received. 

The following link is the best and most straightforward explanation of the most popular voting systems:
Electoral reform explained through Lego (9minutes)

Here is an example of MMP in a Canadian riding: Mixed Member Proportional votingNotice how ALL MPs are answerable to constituents under this system. One of Mr.Trudeau's major concerns. 

Historically, the CPC and LPC have been against MMP, likely because it would make it near impossible to obtain majorities. It's time all parties put Canada before their own party and implement a representative system before the 2019 elections.

100% democratic elections where EVERY vote counts need to be a part of Canada's foundation for it to flourish as a democracy and never be at risk of ideologies going unchecked by minority rule.

I implore you all to make this happen for 2019.  

Bien à vous,

Ricky Ryan
Gatineau, Québec

P.S: Mr.Trudeau, should you ever have a committee that would be comprised in part by "everyday" Canadians, consider this my request to serve on this committee.