Mixed Member Proportional

Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) as envisaged for Canada would involve the creation of top-up regions normally including from 8 to 16 representatives. About 60% of these representatives would be elected as they are now, using first-past-the-post in single-member ridings. This would free up about 40% of the available seats to be allocated as top-ups to ensure proportionality overall in each region. In the transition from our current system to MMP, existing single member ridings would be made larger to make room for the top-up seats and avoid having to increase the number of seats. Citizens wishing to contact their representative would have a choice of contacting their local representative or one of the regional representatives.

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Single Transferable Vote (STV) and Local PR

Single Transferable Vote (STV) is a multi-member model. Instead of electing representatives one at a time in single-member ridings, we group a number of ridings together and elect group of representatives that reflects the diversity of voter preferences in the STV district. Each voter gets a single vote, using a preferential ballot that allows voters to express their preferences 1, 2, 3 for as many candidates as they wish to rank. Candidates need to achieve a certain share of the vote to win a seat. Local PR is a multi-member system based on the same principles of STV with a twist in the counting system to ensure that one locally-nominated candidate is elected in every current local riding. Citizens wishing to contact their representative could choose from any of the elected representatives in their multi-member STV or Local PR district. This might be a representative from the party of their choice or one closer to home.

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Rural-Urban Proportional

Rural-Urban Proportional combines features of both multi-member and top-up systems, and is designed to accommodate the specifics of Canada’s varied geography. The aim of Rural-Urban Proportional is to avoid creating exceedingly large multi-member ridings in sparsely-populated parts of the country. The number of seats per riding would be reduced in such areas, which could include a certain number of single-member ridings if necessary. To ensure a high level of proportionality despite this feature, the system would include a small number of top-up seats at the regional level. Citizens wishing to contact their representative could choose one from the party of their choice or one closer to home.

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