Tuesday, October 22, 2019



Canada's electoral system is broken

Canadians went to the polls today in parliamentary elections, and appear to have re-elected blackface wearer Justin Trudeau. Unfortunately, they use first-past-the-post, and they've provided a perfect demonstration of how unfair this system is:

PartySeats% Seats% Vote
Liberal15746.4%33.1%
Conservative12135.8%34.4%
Bloc Québécois329.5%7.7%
New Democratic Party247.1%15.9%
Green Party30.9%6.5%
Other10.3%2.4%

[Results from Elections Canada]

Yes, the Liberals got fewer votes than the Conservatives, but about 30% more seats. Meanwhile the Bloc got 50% more seats than the NDP on half the vote, while the Greens a sixth of the seats they were entitled to. While I don't like the Canadian Conservative party, I think they will be well-justified in feeling cheated. Not that they'd come out ahead in coalition talks, given that no other party likes them, but the Liberals are going to have a much easier time of support negotiations than they should.

Results like this make it clear: Canada needs a fair electoral. It needs proportional representation, so that every vote counts.