NDP leader Jagmeet Singh ripped up his party’s Supply and Confidence Agreement with the Liberals last week. The agreement, which formalized support between the two parties since the last election, has brought on a couple really good programs that fill out the missing holes in our medical system – pharmacare and dental care. Those types of program expansions would not have happened under a majority government.
Minority governments bring a lot of positive things for those who elect them. The foundation of our universal healthcare system in the 1960s was laid during a minority government. Liberals aren’t the only party to do good things in a minority government. Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper stick-handled massive amounts of stimulus during the economic decline from the “Great Recession.” Those programs kept the economy from seizing and softened the blow for many. If minority governments are good, why don’t we have more of them?
Our parliamentary system allows for minority governments, but seat distribution and first-past-the-post voting can lead to majority governments – if you can call those a majority. Many elections have seen the winning party receive less than 40 per cent of the popular vote, but get 50 per cent plus of the seats. There has been some change in the last 20 years though.
Five of the seven governments elected since 2004 have been minority-status, meaning needing another party to support their legislative goals. Some work on a bill-by-bill basis, others form agreements like the recently axed Liberal-NDP agreement. But minority governments have been ballyhooed as being disruptive and ungovernable. The last 20 years have proven that old political theory wrong. The NDP pulling out of its agreement with the Liberals shows a lack of leadership by Singh, as he jumped when Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said to. Good job!
This move accelerates the chances of a federal election, making the start of 2025 a race between Poilievre and Ontario Premier Doug Ford in who can get to the polls first. Both are conscience of the long standing tradition that Ontario voters don’t like having Ottawa and Toronto with the same party colours in power for too long. Ford wants a third term, and Poilievre wants his brass ring.
If the NDP’s inner-circle had been smart, the party would have extracted one more measure that is near and dear to them. And if the Liberal inner-circle was smart, they’d still go for this idea – a way to preserve themselves from not getting wiped out next election, and finally have our electoral system genuinely reflect the will of all voters – electoral reform.
The Liberals screwed around for four years trying to figure out how to have electoral reform, but also not get voted out of office for doing it. In the end, they decided that our current system is good enough – but it isn’t. Now the Liberals are down and out, the NDP are on the ropes, and the next government being Conservative is a “when” rather than an “if”. Why not go for a Hail Mary Pass and make it difficult for Canadians to elect majority governments ever again?
Elected government should reflect the voters will, and our current system does not do so. The seat count on Parliament Hill is not in line with the voting choices of Canadians. Some people are attached to having a “local representative” elected by them and that’s not a bad thing. But most functions of an MPs office are easily covered by a Service Canada office and partisan junk mail flyers.
Changing our voting system to Proportional Representation, or a system where you vote for a party separate from the person running, would give us citizens better and more authentic representation.
How many times have you been at the ballot box and held your nose while you voted for a party, disliking that party’s candidate; or how many times have you not voted for the better local candidate because of the colour of the party they represent?
Many democracies around the World elect minority legislatures, where one party does not receive 50 per cent of the seats in an election. Multiple parties must then work with each other to form a governing coalition, or the largest party can try to govern on a bill-by-bill basis. Sound familiar? Look at the last 20 years of Canadian election results and governments. It does work here too.
The Conservatives under Poilievre have built up a 20-plus per cent lead in opinion polls. Many Canadians who have looked at the best-before date of this government are unhappy. Governments are not elected, they are defeated at the ballot box. Why not make some effective change that does the country good? It may be a last hurrah, or a saving grace. Canadians could use the change either way.
This column was originally published in the September 11, 2024 print edition of the Morrisburg Leader.
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