ELECTORAL REFORM IN CANADA
Introduction
Different nations have established different electoral systems. The electoral procedure in Canada is based on the Parliamentary System with similar models and structures as in the United Kingdom. The Canadian parliament consists of the sovereign that is given representation by the General Governor. There is also an Upper House, also known as the Senate, in which the members are appointed directly by the Governor following the Prime Ministers recommendations. The Lower House, also known as the House of Commons, has its members elected by the people of the republic through holding general elections. With its electoral procedure, Canada applies a system known as first-past-the post, and with this system, the candidate who has the majority of votes wins, but there are no provisions for an absolute vote majority needed here. There have been a number of critics who have voiced their views against this system since it does not at all reflect the popular vote in the country. Therefore, there have been suggestions that the system should be reviewed and give people a better electoral system which will address this issue of majority vote in a better way. So as to be in a position of giving a viable stand on this system, it would be better that we give an overview of the system and get some of the facts underlying the system.
An Overview of the First-Past-the-Post Electoral System
As we have said earlier, the electoral system of Canada is known as a first-past-the-post. In this system, the candidate who has the majority of votes is the one who wins with no absolute vote majority needed. Once a candidate has emerged the winner, he or she will receive an automatic seat in the Lower House or the House of Commons. He or she therefore becomes the representative Member of Parliament. From many years in the countrys political history, the Prime Minister had the mandate of asking the Governor General when necessary to call for a national election at any particular time he would wish. However, come the year 2007, the parliament had been controlled by the Conservatives and thus they passed a motion to an Act which would require the election dates in the country to be fixed. Upon the enactment of the law, it was something quite symbolic since it deprived the Prime Minister of the powers of the parliament dissolution whenever he or she decides to do this. Upon the enactment, the same manner it had been demonstrated by the Conservatives, the government passed a law which would call for an election a year to date of legislation. This would be done without losing a no-confidence motion.
Traditionally, once the government lost in a motion of no-confidence, it would be the duty of the Prime Minister to negotiate terms with the Governor General so that they can call for an election. The Governor General, who has been approached by the countrys Prime Minister already having lost the vote of no-confidence, has the mandate to call for an election. These are the guidelines that are stipulated in the electoral system. However, this may not be an assured thing to be done as many people may tend to think. The Governor General therefore is given the right of calling partys leader from the party which is most likable to forming the next government. This is exactly what happened in the year 1926, and since then has been referred to as a Byng-King Affair.
With this system, it is stipulated that any given number of the candidates to be elected in a given electoral district is allowed, since no limits are given. The only requirement is that each candidate shall be able to run for the seat in only one district. This can be done under some umbrella party, or even under an individuals party. This is something that has been done in the country over the years after the country obtained its independence from the British government. Another important requirement with the system is that each of the parties will only be required to endorse one candidate for riding in that given district. If a given candidate goes into the contest without the umbrella of some party, this individual is usually designated to be an independent candidate or as a candidate lacking a political affiliation.
The other important aspect about this system stretches to the political parties that will participate in the electoral process. From this electoral system, a political party in the country will be defined as a group of individuals who have come together to form some aspects of understanding, and through which they establish common by-laws and a binding constitution. They also elect their own leader whom they can entrust with the partys affairs and representation. The party, once having been formed and having stated its own constitution, will therefore endorse specific candidates in all districts who will run for the House of Commons. For any given political party to be in a position of having its name during the ballot, and all its candidates it has endorsed to run for the House of Commons Seats, the political party will be required to keenly sign or make a registration with the Chief Electoral Officer in the country.
From the elections of 2008, there were exactly nineteen political parties that had been registered to operate within the countrys federal level. Once an election in the country has been successfully completed, the party which has the highest number of the elected representatives in the Lower House will end up becoming the winning and ruling party. Once that has occurred, since the party has a leader already stated during the party registration prior to the election, the leader will therefore become the Countrys Prime Minister, and after that he will have the mandate of choosing the necessary people, usually the Members of Parliament within the party, in heading and taking control of various governmental departments of the country. Since there are many parties in the country, the second party which has the second highest number of Members of Parliament automatically becomes the Official Party Leader of the Opposition. All those candidates that have been elected during the elections usually have automatic seats in the Lower House, also known as the House of Commons. It is in this house where they make votes in making bills, and thereby influencing the government policies.
With this system, all the countrys citizens have a right in choosing the representatives they feel appropriate. Therefore, the electoral requirement is that the Chief Electoral Officer should make sure he or she informs all the public everything about the electoral system and what rights each one possess in the electoral system. This means that the officer should solve any questions or issues raised in the process. The voting process has to be announced via News Releases, through media advertisements and use of toll-free telecommunication services. There are also some free available websites links through which the citizens can have their questions and burning issues addressed whenever they arise. Therefore, it is the work of the electoral commission to make sure that all the obstacles to the voting are addressed immediately.
There have also been a number of encouragements to the youth so that they can be willing to engage in voting and together help in electing the best candidates who will give them maximum representation in parliament. Generally, all measures are usually put in place in the country in ensuring that all people in the country including the physically challenged are given voting opportunities in the country. This will cover the sick, the disabled and even the elderly. The issue of language is also addressed during the election process. All the votes cast have to be counted so as to determine the final winner in the election. Another important thing is that the ballot counting is usually done through the hand process. This means that there are no much mechanical, electronic systems or electrical systems employed in the process.
Reflections of the System
First-past-the-post electoral system was seen as a system that would promote a technique through which the election of Members of Parliaments would be entirely based on the single-member districts or constituencies. With this system, therefore, the necessary thing for any given party leader is to have the majority of his candidates winning majority of the seats. The interpretation is that, in order for any individual to become a House Member and represent a given district or constituency, the best thing is to garner a majority of votes surpassing the votes of all the other candidates. This means any majority vote even if by one vote will see a certain candidate gaining access to the Lower House in Canada. There are a number of issues that are quite deficient in terms of suitability of a candidate who has won by one vote margin. Thus, it will occur that a given candidate may not be the suitable candidate to represent the views of the majority. Therefore, it would be necessary to have a limit through which a candidate has to win with a certain overall percentage so that he or she can be deemed to represent the majority vote in the parliament. This will bring better understanding and issues to do with post-election interventions and fights may never be realised since given candidates will be sure that they have lost in the election to a suitable candidate.
With this system of election in Canada, it can very easily occur that a number of corrupt deals and practices can be used during the process now that we know clearly there is no use of technological systems in counting the votes. The votes and ballot boxes being handled by hand means that it can be very possible to steal votes in favor of a given candidate. This has also been one of the major issues that have been highlighted in the country as a way of countering this form of electoral system that may someday plunge the nation into chaos. Once this issue has been solved, chances of vote-malpractices will be reduced and thus it will be easy to deal with any problem. Another important issue with this system of voting lies in its simplicity and some of the benefits it is deemed to give to the people of this country.
Within the boundaries of its simplicity, this system is seen as a way of conducting elections in which no much time is wasted during the process. Once the system was adopted, it had been noted as a system which would be simple, appropriate and user friendly so that no one would be complaining about the application of complex voting mechanisms. There was also the issue of ensuring that there was no much money wasted in the conducting of an election. These are a number of issues that would be easily solved by a simple system like this one used in Canada and also ensuring that there would be no much vote wasting. However, there is no doubt that this voting system is greatly debatable that it has greatly become very simple and has not in any manner integrated todays technology which can solve some of the existing problems like voter-buying, vote stealing, and so on.
The other important thing worth noting is the fact that only one single party will make the government. The same party that has been able to secure the largest number of parliamentarians is usually assumed to be the party which would form the government. The argument here occurs in that, the Prime Minister may not at all be an individual with better values just because his party has been able to get the highest number of seats. This shows that there is no actual reflection of the majority vote in terms of the Prime Minister and the partys ability to form a government which addresses all the needs of the citizens. In many electoral systems today, there is a different voting for the Prime Minister and his party so that the people can vote for the best candidate they think he can be suited to that top-most job.
With this Canadian electoral system, the Members of Parliament are people to make the countrys government. MPs are also given the mandate of making their own decisions in which the country has to be run without having much compromise. That being the case, our argument here will rely much on this single fact that it is only one individual who casts his or her vote alone, and this is for the house representative. This does not mean he had the idea of the party leader in mind that may end up becoming the Prime Minister of the country. Therefore, this system has been seen to give a beneficial advantage to the unknown party leader who may end up becoming the Prime Minister, even with the least knowledge of the public. This means that it would not be fair for a country like Canada to continue applying the system. Also, there is the tendency of having a winner who has been voted by some mass voters thus making it easy for some unacceptable going into the Lower House as a representative of the people.
It will also be noted that it would not be fair to have just a popular candidate winning the election while there is no better support of a strong party. This means that the party that ends up ruling the country may not be the right party to have been voted in by the people if given the chance to do so. It would be a great idea to come up with ways through which this issue of mass voting has to stop, and this can only be achieved through reviewing the current system. It should also be agreed that almost all electoral systems applied in different nations in the world have one or two points of weaknesses, and the reason they have always been opposed. We should hence look for means through which the entire system can be changed, or come up with ways through which amendments can be done on the system to ensure that it reflects the popular vote.
As an example, a given party with this system can easily become the government-forming party by just some minority votes, but being driven into power just because of the majority of Lower House seats. Looking at it keenly, the system does not give considerations to the total votes in favour of the parties, but merely look at the number of seats that the winning party has been able to acquire in the house. In this case, it will be agreed that votes cast by the peoples were never in any way intended for the selection of their leader, but for the rightful selection of the representative in the parliament. It therefore appears that this form of voting in electing the MP is what costs them the leadership they will get, and therefore it is like their votes are wasted on an unworthy course.
Experts have also noted the first-past-the-post electoral system to be a source of encouragement towards what is known as tactical voting. In this case, what happens is that the voters are tricked and in some way pressured in voting in one of the two candidates who appear to have the highest probability of winning the election, and this will occur despite whatever is their preference are, and as well the voters may end up voting in a given individual just because the party he leans on has a possibility of winning the majority of seats thus forming the government-forming party. This means that smarter candidates having not single affiliations or leaning on a smaller party may never win since the minds of the voters have been corrupt by this desire of being part of the coming government. We can therefore say that the system is flawed if it does not give reference to the small parties which may as well have some fervent supporters in the country.
Another important thing that can be highlighted is on the fact that a specific voter may realise that all the parties in the country have some key similarities and agreements on some issues, and thus it wont be easy for that voter to have a way through which he or she can express his disapproving ideas and opinions. There is also the issue of the assertions made by the media. These assertions generally play a grand role in the Canadian system on influencing the views held by individual voters in the country, and therefore greatly influencing the outcome of the vote. This means that the popular will not have been reflected in the election system even in the slightest. Going by this, the media will also tend to indicate the party which appears to win in the election, and thereby seducing the voters to vote for that particular candidate who stands by that given political party.
It would be necessary that campaigns in the country are taken into greater account so that voters may not be lured into voting for the wrong parties. The system also does not give address to some of the problems facing the smaller parties, and this makes sure that the country may never give a chance of the leaders of the small parties of becoming leaders of the country. There is also the issue of the number of votes usually wasted during the process. This occurs when the votes have been cast for candidates who lose the seats by small margin. Since they will not be featured anywhere once they have lost the election, it means that the votes have been wasted and which would have been applicable in electing a Prime Minister. Looking at it from a statistical point of view, it will be agreed that the majority of votes cast end up being wastes and this would only be rectified through the integration of a better system in the country.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the first-past-the-post electoral system of Canada has seen a good source of conjecture among experts and criticisms from political scientists. Although, as we have seen, the majority of the factors we have enumerated are greatly debatable, it will therefore depend on the government and individuals decisions and opinions through which the system can be adjusted and harmonized.
Therefore, the solution that can be found to this electoral reform should be done within the shortest time possible. All the measures that have to be undertaken in rectifying this system should be done as soonest in order to ensure that the system reflects the popular vote. Although a new electoral system will counter all the problems that have been faced, it should be understood that all systems will tend to have major strengths and weaknesses as well. Therefore, the solution that can be found here is to adjust the system so that it may reflect the popular vote in the country.
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