Federal New Democrat candidate Bill Sundhu said he was heartened by the fact more than a dozen Liberals and two Greens supported an Opposition motion to explore proportional representation for federal voters following the 2015 election.
The NDP proposed a motion in the House of Commons that next year’s federal election become the last under the first-past-the-post system.
While it predictably failed to pick up support from the governing Conservatives, the NDP candidate in Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo noted the motion found some support in other opposition parties.
The mixed-member proportional system favoured by the NDP is known as “one ballot, two votes.”
Under the system, voters can mark a ballot for both a local candidate and have a second vote for their party of choice. Under the system, party representation in Parliament would reflect the second vote. MPs would be a mixture of those elected locally, with the remainder coming from party lists in order to make up percentages.
In the 2011 federal election, the Conservatives won 54 per cent of the seats with 40 per cent of the vote. The New Democrats won 33 per cent of he seats with 31 per cent of the vote. The Liberals won 11 per cent of the seats with 19 per cent of the vote.
Under the system proposed by the NDP, parties would have needed a coalition in order to govern.
Cathy McLeod, Conservative MP for Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo, said referenda in B.C., Ontario and PEI have failed to overturn the current system, which she said is valued for its simplicity.
“I don’t think there’s an appetite for it,” McLeod said. “We’ve watched what’s happened provincially. We have other areas we’re interested in focusing on.”
Federal Liberal candidate Steve Powrie said he’s open to the idea of new ways to elect politicians in the face of continued voter disinterest.
“Most leading democracies have some form of proportional representation,” Powrie said. “There tends to be higher voter turnout.”
But, Powrie added, more coalition governments can mean fewer chances to pass legislation because so much compromise is needed among parties.
Sundhu said the NDP will continue to advance the idea rejected by the Conservatives.
“You sense, and polls reflect, a general cynicism and disinterest with the political system we have,” he said.
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