Canadian Policy

There's an old saying in Canada that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

According to Prime Minister Trudeau and many others, however, our electoral system is broken.

The fact that a political party can win 100 per cent of the power with less than 50 per cent of the vote is a huge problem for those who worry about the tyranny of majority governments and wasted votes.

But does this mean our electoral system is broken and needs to be replaced?

The answer is no.

It is a fair observation that the federal Liberals' discussion of a ranked preferential ballot to replace the current plurality electoral system, popularly known as first-past-the-post, is a proposal that likely favours their party. What should also be acknowledged is that the other parties are also pushing proposals that favour their interests, too.

If you are looking to place a small wager on which election promises the new Liberal government in Ottawa will or will not be able to keep, consider this possibility. You might place a toonie on the proposition that Prime Minister Justin  Trudeau will NOT be able to keep his promise to make 2015 the last federal election to be fought using our traditional first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting system.

Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON

My Dear Prime Minister:

I hate to be the one to break the bad news, but someone has to do it.

Sir, the honeymoon is about to end.

No, no, I am not referring to your wife Sophie, the beautiful lady with the crazy hats – long may that honeymoon last. I am referring to your honeymoon with the Canadian public.

It’s been grand hasn’t it? You’ve done a high-speed pirouette on the world stage – Antalya in Turkey, Manila, London, Malta, Paris. You’ve met the President and the Queen. You’ve talked global economics and climate change with world leaders. You’ve been mobbed by women who think you are the sexiest thing since your late father. And while you’ve been away, your popularity has gone up, up and up in the polls.

Published on Nov. 9, 2015, in the Waterloo Region Record.

The task of the journalist, as the late American columnist Walter Lippmann defined it, is to provide “a picture of reality on which the citizen can act.”

So what does reality look like now, after week one of the Justin Trudeau Liberal government?