This just in!! See what Parliament would have looked like in 2019 under Simple MMP. Click here to see the analysis. The most interesting thing about this analysis is that most of the talk about regional differences and alienation would stop if the Parliament actually reflected the values of the people who voted, rather than representing the distortions introduced by First Past the Post.

This site outlines a new voting system for Canada which is very simple, yet provides a very high level of proportionality. That means that parties get roughly the same percentage of seats in Parliament as the percentage of people who voted for them. Kind of makes sense, doesn’t it?

The system outlined here (called Simple Mixed Member Proportional or Simple MMP) is an ideal improvement to Canada’s election system. Some of the key benefits are:

The procedure for voting does not change. You cast a single vote in your riding for the candidate of your choice. The counting is transparent. Elections Canada officials can easily verify the votes, as they do now, without any need for complex computer software. Counting is easy. Canadians will know the night of the election who will be forming the new government. Television coverage will be very similiar to the way elections are covered now using elected and leading seats. The results are very proportional. This system reduces the number of “wasted” votes, which are votes that did not count in the final tally. Using 2015 as an example, the number of wasted votes would be reduced from 8.5 million to less than a quarter of a million. Top-up members are elected from their own province. There are no constitutional issues that come up, as provincial and territorial representation remains the same. Local MPs and Top-up MPs are both selected based on the number of votes they receive. Proportional representation encourages inter-party cooperation, rather than heated battles between parties. Canadians will know that their vote counts in the final tally, whether your local candidate wins or not. Proportional representation cuts down on the wild swings that happen with our current system. Shifts in popular support are reflected without being over-amplified.

I hope that you will spend a few minutes to find out more about this system and how it works.

Questions and comments are welcome. Please email jim@simplevoting.ca