10-12-2019, 11:25 AM
(10-12-2019, 10:18 AM)panamaniac Wrote: For a variety of reasons, I don’t think PR works with Canada’s system of government and would result in chronically weak governments. I also don’t like seats allocated from party lists, which to some extent is inevitable in a PR system, as far as I know. I could contemplate it if the threshold for votes resulting in seats were relatively high and if a party were required to meet that threshold in at least two of Canada’s five regions to be eligible for seats (which of course is unlikely because Quebec). Not that I think FPTP always gives the best result - this election, if it produces a Conservative minority beholden to the Bloc to govern, would be the worst of a possible results, imo.
There are a wide variety of PR systems, not all of which suffer from the “party list” problem. Some systems have some members elected from each district, with additional ones appointed to make up the proportional totals. It’s also possible to take “extra” votes from ridings which elect someone overwhelmingly and use them to elect members of the same party from other ridings.
What I don’t like about PR is that it entrenches the concept of parties. My hope with ranked ballots is that it would make it much more likely for independents to get elected. If a popular member were to quit their party, or if a well-known local person were to run separately from any party, they might find it easier to attract votes if their voters can put a “2” next to one of the major parties. Similarly smaller parties would find it easier. How many current Liberal votes are really “2” votes from people who really want to vote Green or NDP?