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Reflecting Canada, Reforming the Electoral System
Territorial vastness
and population density
To some extent, Canada's riding system is designed to reflect both
history and diversity. Rather than have densely populated, urban
areas dominate the House of Commons, the distribution of electoral
seats is designed to grant a certain amount of power to large,
rural areas as well as regions (like Prince Edward Island, for
example) that played an important role in the formation of Canada.
Disparities have emerged as a result of these allowances. Ontario,
British Columbia, and Alberta have their number of seats determined
solely by population figures, while all of the other provinces
benefit from the senatorial and grandfather clauses explained
earlier. Some analysts have argued that if current trends continue,
Saskatchewan will soon have more seats in Parliament than Nova
Scotia, but have fewer people.
While this problem will likely need addressing, few politicians
are eager to reopen the thorny issue of constitutional reform.
Electoral Reform in Canada
It is likely that electoral reform will become a hot topic in the
coming years.
Such reform will not only take into account the need for a more
equitable distribution of seats, but may overhaul the system
altogether. The ‘first past the post' electoral system may be
replaced with a form of proportional representation (PR). In
fact, most democratic countries already function under a form
of PR.
Proportional representation means that Members of Parliament (MP's)
are elected from ridings in proportion to the number of votes
received. This system ensures that the number of legislative
seats earned by political parties reflects the percentage of
public support. As such, the party (or candidate) is not required
to place first in the riding to win the seat. This differs from
the ‘first past the post' system – sometimes called the ‘winner
takes all' system – where votes going to a losing candidate are
wasted, even if that candidate receives 49.9% of the vote. When
these votes are wasted, segments of the population are not represented
in the House of Commons. If Canada introduces a new system, it
will likely take shape as a combination of the proportional representation
and ‘first past the post' systems.
In all likelihood, the process for adjusting electoral boundaries
will also be examined. Reformers hope to redraw Canada's political
map in order to strike a new balance between population density
and territorial/historical prominence so the Canadian form of
democracy continues to reflect Canada.
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