Raise the Hammer

If you don't vote for one of the four main parties in this country your views could be considered on the fringe. What possible productive outcome could come from rewarding that fringe with a seat in parliament? They have every opportunity to make their voice heard by lobbying their elected representative whether they voted for him or not. The person I voted for in the last 3 elections has lost every time. I'm not whining about it. I still have an elected representative, even though I didn't vote for him. He represents me and everyone else in the riding. I can call his office anytime with any concern I have, and expect that he will address it to the best of his ability and capacity to do so. This is the point that those clamoring for PR conveniently omit from any of their arguments.

It's NOT about the voters its about PR proponents disgruntled about their lack of ability to hold seats in parliament trying to rest some form of power to put forward their agenda. They can't do it within the current rules because they are not effective enough or can't garner enough support for their agenda so they want to change the game and have themselved awarded "discount" seats in parliament.

No one is suppressing anyone's voice. This again is what PR proponents don't get. An elected MP represents EVERYONE in the riding, not just those that voted for them. An elected government represents ALL Canadians not just those that voted for them. Sour grapes that the person or party you voted for didn't win doesn't change that fact. When you call an MPs riding office, they don't screen your call and ask you what party you voted for before deciding to help you or not.

I never suggested you did not vote, I was speaking generally.

I'm sorry to say, true representative democracy or PR is unworkable in any system where a geographic area or riding is supposed to be represented in parliament, particularly in a multiparty system. Thats why we have FPTP.

The system is not broken, unless you subscibe to the notion that parties that finish second, third, fourth in a riding deserve to have representation in the parliament. PR is a top down system. You count percentages then award seats. I would argue this is far more disenfranchising than FPTP. There is no practical way to represent ridings. FPTP is a bottom up system. It starts at the riding level, candidates are selected, campaigns run, the one with the most votes wins and represents the riding. It's not complicated.

I'm 45 years old and I'm not sure anyone I've voted for in a federal election has actually won the riding. I'm ok with that because I understand the system and how it works.