Proportional representation a more just election system

By Medicine Hat News Opinon on October 28, 2017.

With the long and w-nding United Conservative Party leadership race coming to a close today, the province will finally have an official leader of opposition.

The conventional wisdom is that the first UCP leader, whether it’s former PC leader Jason Kenney, former Wildrose leader Brian Jean or long-shot Calgary lawyer Doug Schweitzer, will be the next premier of Alberta come 2019.

Based on the logic of our present electoral system, this seems the most likely outcome.

In the 2015 election, the NDP won a majority mandate with 40.6 per cent of the vote. The two conservative parties that merged received 52 per cent of the vote combined.

Since then, things haven’t gotten any better for Premier Rachel Notley, who sits at a 29 per cent approval rating.

Conservatives were naturally upset in 2015 that after being in power for 44 years, they were thrown out due to the conservative vote splitting into two parties, so the Wildrose and PCs opted overwhelmingly, 95 per cent in each party, to merge.

There is the slight possibility that this merger will not lead to further splits on the right. Both the Alberta and Liberal parties are trying to swoop in to get votes from those who can stand neither the UCP or NDP.

Perhaps they can make a significant enough dent in UCP support to allow the NDP to squeak through to a second mandate. But the reverse could also occur.

The likelihood is slim, as the Liberal and Alberta parties received a combined 6.4 per cent of votes in 2015, but stranger things have happened in Alberta politics.

The New Democrats received 9.8 per cent of the vote in 2012, boosting their voter support by 30.8 percentage points in the next election.

It must be stressed that this magnitude of a breakthrough seems highly unlikely for the Alberta or Liberal parties, as they lack the momentum characterized by Notley’s path to victory against the PC dynasty.

It’s more likely that those otherwise inclined to vote Alberta or Liberal will feel that in order for their vote to “count” it must be cast for one of the two major parties that more closely resembles their views.

This binary politics, fully on display in the U.S., is something to be avoided if people want truly representative government, regardless of where they sit politically.

The problem with this mindset of strategic, lesser-of-two-evils voting is its hindrance towards genuine democracy. Citizens should be able to vote their conscience.

Yes, politics is largely about compromise. This is why a proportional representation system, whereby parties are awarded an amount of seats in the legislature directly proportional to their voting percentage, is necessary in Alberta.

In these days of polarized politics, it’s vital that we encourage parties to work together to reflect some sort of genuine consensus amongst voters.

There should be no 40 per cent majority governments for either the United Conservatives or New Democrats.

Under a proportional system, promised but quickly kiboshed by the current federal government, the party with a plurality of votes would have to form government with some of its opponents.

This could lead to more elections and their associated costs, as governments of different parties feud and collapse, but nobody said democracy was cheap.

Any of Alberta’s parties would be wise to put proportional representation on the agenda in the 2019 provincial election, if only as a matter of principle.

Alberta could send a message to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that a more just voting system is possible.