General Politics Discussion

[jamincan]

Personally I think we should start by replacing all first past the post elections with ranked ballots. That means MPs, MPPs, mayors, councillors, school board trustees, condominium directors, …. This would be an improvement in how we select these roles but doesn’t really change much about the system — only what we write on the ballots and how we count the ballots. In principle you wouldn’t even have to change the ballots: just write 1, 2, 3 in the circles instead of an X in a single circle (although this would be a pain to count and is not actually a good idea). Then have a separate discussion about improving the way we select large groups of people (House of Commons, legislatures, city councils) and possibly bring in proportional representation or other systems.

Also, bring back the per-vote vote subsidy, but this time do it right by simultaneously cancelling the per-dollar vote subsidy that we have always had.

I like ranked ballots for the simplicity as well. It would adapt well to a single-transferable vote system of proportional representation in the future, which is probably my preferred system of PR for a country like Canada.

The per-vote subsidy with a ranked ballot is an interesting idea. Presumably allocations would be based on who you put as #1 on your ballot and not necessarily who your vote ended up going to in the end. That could help support grassroots political parties grow, which I personally think is a good thing as it would force the major parties to be more responsive to grassroots issues.