LogFAQs > #882010602

Mario_VS_DK posted...

I disagree completely. If the NDP had their way, whoever was the most popular in Ottawa and Quebec would always be in, the other provinces would go completely without because 70% of the population is in those two. So suddenly no one would care about the rest of us because that's not how you would get voted, you would get voted in by pandering to those who live in the big cities in the east and that's it.

That's the way it is already, though. No voting system - short of one that's blatantly undemocratic - is going to counteract the fact that Canada's population is extremely concentrated around Ontario and Quebec. Even under the current system, which is easily the least representative of the bunch, ridings are drawn by population and there are more of them in Quebec and Ontario than the rest of the country. Ontario has 121 seats and Quebec has 78, giving them a cumulative 199 out of 338 ridings or just shy of 60%. That's actually pretty close to their population share too - they contain roughly 64% of the population at last count, meaning their voting impact would not appreciably change in a switch to proportional representation.

It is almost completely impossible to win a federal election without carrying at least one of those two provinces and no voting system, be it FPTP, ranked ballots, PropRep or some other system, is going to change that.

Mario_VS_DK posted...

So suddenly no one would care about the rest of us because that's not how you would get voted, you would get voted in by pandering to those who live in the big cities in the east and that's it.

But again, how is this different from the system now?

At least under proportional representation, your vote matters regardless of where it comes from. The 2015 election was actually a breath of fresh air for me, because it was the first time I'd got the chance to vote in a competitive riding. I previously lived in Alberta, in a riding the Conservatives reliably carried by claiming >70% of the vote; as a direct result, we never saw our MP ever (nor, for that matter, any of the people who were campaigning against him) because why would the parties bother? The result was predetermined, meaning there was absolutely no point to spending so much as a single cent on campaign events there.

I still always voted, because I consider that an important part of living in a democracy, but honestly I may as well not have bothered. My vote didn't count for anything, so what was the point?

At least under proportional representation my vote would have meant something, because under that system EVERY vote means something. Whether you are a conservative in downtown Vancouver or a green in the Alberta hinterlands, every vote helps the chosen party regardless of who casts it and where it comes from. Sounds like a good idea to me.
---

Kill 1 man: You are a murderer. Kill 10 men: You are a monster.
Kill 100 men: You are a hero. Kill 10,000 men, you are a conqueror!