Themes from Consultation Meeting in Oakville

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: 45

Thoughts about Principles

Accountability

  • Local accountability is important.
  • We have party accountability, but not individual accountability.

Effective parliament

  • Politicians should work with each other, not against each other.
  • Parliament should show more respect for its constituents.
  • Party discipline is too strict.
  • MPPs should be allowed to vote according to their conscience, not just the way their leaders tell them to.
  • I would like to see people working together as coalitions to design legislation and not just following the party line.

Effective parties

  • Parties are too combative; they support issues not because they’re better for the people but because they think they can bring down the government.
  • The non-partisan system (i.e. no political parties) in the Northwest Territories should be considered.

Fairness of representation

  • Proportionality is the most important component of fair representation (seat share should equal vote share).
  • Every vote should obtain representation.
  • We should have better demographic representation.
  • Urban and rural communities must be effectively represented.

Legitimacy

  • Legitimacy arises when policy making is reflective of our society.
  • Strategic voting doesn’t feel legitimate.

Simplicity & practicality

  • We don’t need election results instantly; delays are worth it for a better system.

Stable & effective government

  • Sudden and drastic changes in government policy with each election create instability, lead to long-term ineffectiveness, and hurt our institutions.
  • Coalitions can be stable and more effective in the long-term.

Stronger voter participation

  • People don’t vote for several reasons, e.g.: they believe their votes make no difference; they believe there is no meaningful choice.
  • There is extreme voter apathy among youth.
  • We need more voter participation to reinvigorate our democracy.

Voter choice

  • Voters should not feel compelled to vote strategically (e.g. for the lesser of evils).
  • Voters should be able to vote for individuals and parties separately.
  • People feel that their choices are limited. We need more meaningful choice.

Thoughts about Ontario’s Current Electoral System

Participants highlighted these advantages of First Past the Post:

  • Our system provides geographic representation.
  • It produces stable governments.
  • We are upholding our history and should not let it go.
  • Our system has produced a province that is wealthy, stable, and responsible to the federation as a whole.

Participants highlighted these disadvantages of the current system:

  • It produces manufactured majorities and seat bonuses.
  • It encourages strategic voting.
  • Politicians cater to strategic voting, focus on “swing votes,” and ignore other voters.
  • Parties win four-year majorities on the basis of small short-term increases in popularity.
  • Parties don’t represent us when they govern without a majority of the popular vote. Winners have no mandate to do anything for people that didn’t vote for them.
  • Our system produces large changes in government policy at each election.

Thoughts about Other Systems

Participants made these comments about other systems:

Mixed Member Proportional (MMP)

  • MMP can include geographic representation, which is important for local accountability.
  • At least 50% of seats should be for local candidates.
  • Two classes of MPPs would create a useful division of responsibilities.

Parallel Systems

  • Parallel systems give voters more choice by letting them vote for both a local representative and a party.
  • They give smaller parties some representation.
  • They make more votes count, and would increase voter participation.

Proportional Representation (PR) systems

  • A pure List-PR system would eliminate local representation.
  • PR systems produce coalitions which better represent public opinion, negotiate policy agendas, and curb the power of the premier.
  • They force politicians to work together rather than against each other.
  • They would improve demographic representation.
  • They would eliminate strategic voting and make every vote count.
  • A PR system would prevent large changes in the makeup of successive governments.

Single Transferable Vote (STV)

  • STV gives voters more choice (than MMP, for example) by allowing them to rank candidates.
  • Each vote is for a candidate, which improves individual accountability and creates a direct link between the electorate and their representatives.
  • STV can be designed to have meaningful geographic representation (“communities of interest”).
  • The system avoids “party tinkering” with lists.
  • It may weaken the control of parties over their caucuses.
  • It gives incentives to parties to reach out to their opposition’s supporters (for their second and subsequent choices).

Two-Round System

  • The system was recommended but no details were given.

Other Thoughts

If the Assembly recommends a new system

  • It should have a chance of winning support in the referendum.
  • The current threshold for the referendum is too high (50% would be fine.)

Size of the legislature

  • It should be increased to 135 seats; Ontario has fewer representatives per capita than other provinces.

Other comments

  • Party nominations should be more open.
  • Representatives should live in their constituency for at least two years before running for office.
  • All children aged 1 to 18 of Canadian citizenry should be entitled to a vote by proxy by their birth mother.
  • We need bilingual representatives. There should be more bilingualism in Ontario and in the parliament.
  • We should use more technology in the voting process. 

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