The
electoral system in Ontario, and in Canada, (Plurality voting or
First Past the Post - FPTP) derives from the
two-party parliamentary system in the United Kingdom.
This
system has worked in the past in countries that maintained a
simple two party parliamentary system under a monarch. As the
affairs of government increased and became more complex, and as
the monarchy lost its real power, most
countries
became constitutional democracies and reformed their electoral
system or changed it altogether.
The
First Past the Post electoral system (still used in Canada and
in Ontario) has been identified as a serious problem, with
regards to fair and democratic representation, from the time the
number of political parties increased from two to several
(currently there are nine officially registered political
parties in Ontario).
Canada
"patriated" its Constitution only in 1982. In the
following years the then Liberal leadership contender Jean Chretien
promised that if he would become Prime Minister he would address
electoral reform1, but after winning the Liberal Leadership and
becoming Prime Minister, he delayed the process (as the current
system favours the party in power) until he was
about to retire. The Law Commission of Canada eventually
proposed a form of MMP in 2003, while at the same time some
provincial governments did their first steps towards Electoral
Reform.
Ontario
addressed its electoral system only in the 2007 referendum.
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REFERENCE
[1]:
“Chretien
seeks proportional vote in federal politics . . . Jean Chretien
said yesterday that one of the first things he would do if
elected prime minister would be to introduce a system of
proportional representation for federal elections. . . “If I
were the prime minister, I would do that right after the
election.” Globe and Mail, May 9th, 1984
