Themes from Consultation Meeting in Markham

This is a summary of thoughts expressed by members of the public who attended this consultation meeting. If a point was made by more than one participant, it is included only once in the summary. The comments below sometimes contradict one another because they reflect the diversity of the viewpoints of participants.

Number of public participants: 20

Thoughts about Principles

Accountability

  • We are used to being able to throw governments out of office. We might fear losing this kind of accountability with a new system, but this kind of winning and losing is not that important.

Effective parliament

  • Party discipline prevents our members from representing us.

Effective parties

  • Both small parties and independents should be able to win seats. A threshold is not necessary.

Fairness of representation

  • A single MPP cannot represent the diversity of a whole constituency. For example, I don’t believe there are any MPPs from the Chinese or South Asian communities in Markham.
  • Geographic representation is important, but constituencies do not mean the same thing as communities. Electoral districts are artificial.
  • There are many constituencies, not just geographic ones. Proportional results (i.e. seat share equals vote share) would better represent them.
  • In the North, each county should be an electoral district. There should be 3 or more representatives elected per district.
  • Representative democracy was created because it used to be physically impossible to represent yourself. Now we can have direct democracy and vote on important issues ourselves (maybe once a month.)

Simplicity & practicality

  • Ontarians are competent and capable of dealing with complexity. We should consider the best solution.
  • A complicated ballot will be a difficult sell.

Stable & effective government

  • Minority governments force parties to work together. You can’t always blame the other guys.
  • We have some history of minority governments and informal coalitions working successfully in Ontario, so they could work together again in the future.
  • Constant swings in policy from one government to another is not good for government or society. It leads to a short-term focus. Continuity is better.

Stronger voter participation

  • People don’t vote because they don’t care.
  • Mandatory voting is interesting. In Australia, if you don’t vote you get a ticket (a fine). There is some uninformed voting there.
  • Voter participation is a key principle. We have a duty to participate.
  • Participation is down mostly because of youth. This same group is not voting as it gets older.

Voter choice

  • We need more choice.

Thoughts about Ontario’s Current Electoral System

Participants highlighted these disadvantages of the current system:

  • In our system, voters choose among only a few names and vote strategically. Less popular candidates have no chance of winning.
  • I think we have about 27 parties in the province but only 3 or 4 have seats.
  • Single member districts do not represent the diversity of Ontario. The member is likely to come from the dominant group.
  • Our system produces false winners which regularly impose their plans and ignore the majority that did not support them.
  • Our system exaggerates small changes in popular support to produce large changes in seats.
  • In our system, new governments often overturn previous governments’ programs. This produces a short-term focus.

Thoughts about Other Systems

Participants made these comments about other systems:

Alternative Vote (AV)

  • AV guarantees that winners are elected by a majority.

Proportional Representation (PR) systems

  • Under PR, parties don’t win or lose elections. The same parties are always part of the government, and all parties always have representation. This is excessive stability and may reduce accountability.
  • PR produces long-term continuity and stability, which is better than rapid policy changes from one government to the next.
  • If we have a List-PR system, I recommend an open list so you can mark the candidate you want to be elected.

Mixed Member Proportional (MMP)

  • I’m attracted to the idea of having the constituency person separate from someone who is looking at party policy. There may be competition between politicians with different roles.
  • A change to MMP would make electoral districts too large, especially in the North.

Single Transferable Vote (STV)

  • STV allows voters to choose the best candidates, even across parties.
  • Under STV, multi-member districts (e.g. 7 representatives) would give voters more choice and better represent all demographic groups in a region.
  • Increasing the size of electoral districts would allow multiple members without increasing the size of the legislature, and might also reduce the effects of gerrymandering.
  • With STV, large districts would not be a problem because there would be multiple members per district. In BC, the North was supportive of STV.
  • I believe in Ireland candidates from the same party run in different parts of the riding, so competition within a party isn’t a problem.
  • STV sounds interesting, but I don’t understand the mechanics of it.

Other Thoughts

If the Assembly recommends a new system

  • There must be a public education campaign before the referendum. There will not be much time and it will be a challenge. In Australia, I think there is a two- hour tour to educate young people about elections. It’s like the Ontario Science Centre.
  • If the referendum passes, there should be another education process to explain the changes.

Size of the legislature

  • The number of MPPs should be increased for fairer representation. We used to have 130 seats.

Other comments

  • The education system can be used to explain a new electoral system.
  • Education of voters starting in elementary schools is crucial.
  • We should also reform the party system, and consider enforcing parties to nominate more women. The combination of party reform and electoral system change might be a winning combination.
  • The Assembly should invite the ethnic press because people don’t understand what we have to do here.
  • There should be better voter registration lists. Some people vote twice.
  • Consider better public funding for small parties and independents.

» Return to Summaries of Public Meetings