pr_psf_fsv

Introduction

The Peoples Social Forum (PSF) begins in just a few days. It will be a great opportunity for us to recharge our batteries, network with allies, make new friends, strategize, get exposure to a wide range of important issues, make our voices heard, have some fun and groove to the cultural sights and sounds. But what will come out of the PSF? What game-changing strategies might emerge? How will the movements continue to build after August 24?

Not much needs be said here about the deepening corruption and failings of our economic, political, social and democratic institutions in the era of globalization and global warming. We need to deeply understand why we’ve been losing ground for the past 20 or more years. But no matter what issues we invest our hearts, souls, time and money into, we are all impacted by unpopular policies foisted upon us by governments that win elections with as little as 37 per cent of the popular vote and rarely more than 50 per cent. This is not what democracy should look like. 

Bring elections into the 21st century

Social change is about a lot more than just elections BUT I believe that campaigning to retire our current post-feudal, winner-take-all, first-past-the-post voting system in favor of proportional representation (PR) is one unifying demand and strategy that most, if not all movements can and should get behind.  

Reforming the voting system is a game changer. I hope to hear about other game changers too at the PSF. And this is not to say that sectoral and other issues are lower on some kind of movement pecking order. They are not. Climate justice is an existential issue for all of us. Most Indigenous communities’ and First Nations’ issues remain unresolved. These are also existential. Economic inequality continues to deepen.  

PR is a game changer because it’s about a long-range process that will enable us to properly debate and democratically decide and act upon the monumental challenges we face. Without it — without representative democracy, we will continue to slide and our democratic space will shrink. (Find out more about PR here.)

A unifying, enabling demand that helps raise all of our boats and speaks for all voters is a strategic demand that should be heard from all corners of our movements.

Campaigning for PR is a historical and moral imperative at this juncture, if not just plain self-interest for our movements. Without representative democracy — equal votes and PR — meaningful and sustainable participatory democracy will remain as distant as everything else. But even among many supporters of proportional representation, the view is that reform as an out of reach, distant dream. I often hear that “PR would be nice but it’s not happening anytime soon. There’s no way the Liberal Party will ever support it. We have to focus on our core issues.” I would argue that it is our responsibility as social activists and leaders to work on both at the same time.

2015: Elevating PR to an election issue

To make voting reform — PR — an issue in the next election, the question needs to be put to all the political parties and their leaders: “Do you support changing our voting system to PR?” The federal NDP and Greens favour PR. They need to keep hearing that we think it’s a priority.

We know that the Trudeau Liberals remain opposed to PR but that new space for debate has opened up with Resolution 31 — sponsored by the Liberal caucus at their recent policy convention. That debate may or may not happen, but without any noise from above and below, it likely won’t. With Trudeau leading in the polls, he could form the next government. The heat needs to be turned up on the Liberals. Are they democrats or aren’t they? We can dispel every stale baloney sandwich argument they put forward including the one that a fresh baloney sandwich (ranked ballots in single member ridings) is better than a PR menu makeover.

The Trudeau Liberals cannot expect a free ride from the social movements because of our deep desire to be rid of the Harper Conservatives. Support for PR should be (part of) the price of any critical support. While I haven’t written much on my blog here lately, many of you might know that I helped develop and manage an anti-Harper Third Party campaign called Catch 22 Harper Conservatives in the 2011 federal election. We did not make demands on any of the parties but endorsed the candidate with the best chance of beating a Conservative. This included a sizable number of Liberals. At that time, there was no space in the Liberal Party to discuss PR. We knew that if we put conditions on our support, there would have been no Liberals on our list. In the end, of course, the Liberals collapsed because they had nothing new to offer at a time when people were looking for qualitative change.

Much has changed in the political landscape over the last four years. LeadNow has emerged on the political scene with a strategic focus on electoral reform. Fair Vote Canada continues to get their message out and build new chapters and action teams across the country. In the NDP leadership race, PR was a central issue for Nathan Cullen and Peggy Nash. It is part of the NDP’s next campaign platform. In the Liberal leadership race, a credible pro-PR candidate — MP Joyce Murray — took on the Justin juggernaut over PR. Former Liberal leader and MP Stephan Dion has developed a semi-PR voting model. Green Party leader Elizabeth May has become the most vocal voice for PR in the news and at events, regularly working it into whatever topic she is speaking on.

Add to that the fact public opinion consistenly supports the principles of PR and that a couple of million votes have already been cast in favour of PR in four failed referendums.

The time is right for bold action. 

With a major push from the social movements, we can make sure that Trudeau — and all the party leaders — understand where we stand come election day.

What’s happening at the PSF

  1. Fair Vote Canada (FVC) Executive Director Kelly Carmichael is facilitating a workshop which is also expected to be live-streamed: Why Proportional Representation is Integral to Moving Forward on Issues That Matter — Thursday, 10:45, Room MRT212. The forum provides a good intro to PR and an opportunity to discuss their “Make 2015 the Last Unfair Election” campaign (#pr2015).
  2. Literature distribution — FVC volunteers will be getting our message out at different workshops and events. Don’t let the electoral system be the elephant in the room at any workshops you attend. Speak up for PR at the PSF.
  3. FVC information table — People can sign the Declaration of Voters’ Rights, pick up the latest tabloid and talk about making links with the democratic voting movement. If you’d like to help distribute literature, drop by for a supply.
  4. Assemblies — the more Assemblies that integrate a pro-PR message into their thinking and into any joint statements that may emerge, the better. PR is not just an issue for the “Governance and Democracy” theme.
  5. Follow Fair Vote Canada on Twitter at the PSF @fairvotecanada #pr2015

What about after the Social Forum?

There remains a lot of potential if we can grow the electoral reform movement over the next 15 months. The work that needs to be done includes membership education, speaking out publicly more often, intra- and cross-sectoral alliances and some bold tactics.

As always, the views expressed in this blog post are my own. Below are two other optional parts to this article that somehow found their way onto “paper” but didn’t quite fit.

 

2 Appendices – OPTIONAL READING

Appendix A: My electoral political voyage

My journey began in Toronto the mid-70s. For the first 25 years, I was a volunteer organizer in the peace, international and Indigenous solidarity, environmental and trade union movements. I was aloof about elections and spent little time doing much more than voting.

I was cynical about political parties and politicians. As a socialist heavily influenced by “The New Left,” I had my share of disagreements with the NDP and social democracy in general (although my views have tempered over the years). I made a decision to invest my volunteer time into extra-Parliamentary issues — “the movement” — rather than into political parties. I knew that I didn’t want to spend my energy trying to make the “big tent” NDP into something it was not.

It’s not that I didn’t think that elections and the results mattered. I did. I knew that we all had a stake in who controlled the levers of power, the ability to enact legislation and the public purse. It’s just that I felt I couldn’t have any impact. While I did vote for the NDP in every election (and help them out in some elections), my vote never once translated into a victory. I have never had local representation in the House of Commons or at Queen’s Park. I knew there was something wrong with “the game” but wasn’t able to quite put my finger on the problem.

In 1999, I co-chaired my union’s political action campaign to try and defeat Mike Harris and his Common Sense Revolution. This was the first organized strategic voting campaign in Ontario. To make a long story short, Harris — after cutting 30 per cent of the seats and overhauling the election rules in his favour — managed to squeak out his second “majority” with 45 per cent of the vote. They held a five-seat majority representing a couple of thousand votes.

It was after this experience that I came to understand that a large share of the “blame” falls on the first-past-the-post voting system and winner take all results. I have been a supporter of Fair Vote Canada since its creation in 2000. Most of my friends think that I’m a broken record.

Appendix B: A few thoughts on the current voting system

This is not meant to be comprehensive. Fair Vote Canada’s latest tabloid is a must read. 

About four years ago I wrote How Federal Elections Work in Canada. It provides an overview of first past the post elections.

1) A federal election is really 308 (soon to be 330) individual elections. The person with the most votes wins the local election and becomes the riding representative. The party with the most ridings generally forms the government. If a party gets more than half the seats, they win 100 per cent of the power — a “majority” government. In no case is an actual mathematical majority of voters required. “Majority” and “minority” refer exclusively to ridings — not to voters. Ridings are equal. Voters are unequal. There have even been cases in provinces where a party that receives less votes overall wins the election. Unpopular policies are dictated by a minority contrary to both votes and public opinion.

We only need to compare and contrast winner-take-all voting systems with proportional systems found throughout Europe to see the differences in everything from economic inequality to the number of women representatives elected. (See page 5 of Fair Vote’s tabloid).

2) Electing a single person — winner take all — in a riding or ward will always result in losers. Legislative bodies should reflect all — or almost all — the voters. Governments should only be formed with the support of the majority of voters. The number of votes a party wins overall should be reflected in the make-up of the legislature. To repeat — electing a single representative in a riding (whether it’s through the status quo or ranked ballots) is fundamentally undemocratic. The present situation should be intolerable to the progressive movements.

3) A single elected representative in a riding cannot represent everyone. I believe in X. My MP (or his party) believes in Y. They will promote Y. Every time. I have no local voice. Sure, I can call my MP if I have a problem and they will likely provide service but service is not representation. In Toronto, Rob Ford has taken this to the extreme arguing that the only significant role for a politician is to answer their constituents phone calls and personally solve their problems. Why not beef up the Ombudsperson role, have enough public servants to get the job done and let the people we elect work on the big issues for which we are stuck with their leadership? A elected legislator’s main role should be to legislate and run the affairs of state if they are in the government.

4) Swing ridings and swing voters. Because politicians and parties don’t require majorities, voters who are not loyal to any one party can make or break the election by “swinging” over to another party. The parties put a disproportionate share of their resources into winning over these “super-voters.” Instead of talking to the country as a whole, elections have come to focus on wedge issues and sound bites designed to appeal to these super-voters. Their votes count. If you live in a “safe” riding, your vote is a placebo. It is tossed into the garbage can unless you vote for the winner. Even then, any surplus of winning votes is also thrown away because you only need one vote more than the second place finisher.

5) The current system denies representation to supporters of every party. This is not primarily an issue about small parties. It is an issue about voter rights and democracy. Quite simply, it’s a lot easier for a party to to get 40 per cent (or less) of the votes than it is to get 50 per cent plus one. Especially when the prize is 100 per cent of the power. I can understand why they don’t want to give it up. What NDP provincial government has ever done so? None.

Gary Shaul

Gary Shaul is a life-long Torontonian and retired Ontario civil servant. He's been involved with a number of issues over the past 45 years including trade unionism, proportional representation, Indigenous...