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441-00935 (Democratic process)

Paper petition

Original language of petition: English

Petition to the Government of Canada

Whereas:

  • Canada's electoral system from its very inception has always been a "First-past-the-Post" (FPTP) system, unfairly resulting in either a Liberal or Conservative government with virtually no opposition, no impact on the popular vote leading to distorted Canadian values;
  • Proportional Representation (PR) is a principle that says that the percentage of seats a party has in the legislature should reflect the percentage of the people who voted for that party, so that if a party gets 40% of the popular vote, they should get 40% of the seats;
  • In the 2021 election the Liberals had 32.62% winning 160 seats, Conservatives 33.74% winning 119 seats, Bloc Quebecois 7.64% winning 32 seats, NDP 17.82% winning 25 seats, People Party 4.94% winning 0 seat and Green Party 2.33% winning 2 seats;
  • Under a FPTP system, like the current system in Canada, a party can win a majority of seats and all the power with less than half the popular vote;
  • Proportional Representation (PR) ensures that majority governments have an actual majority of the voters (popular vote) backing them;
  • Many other countries such as Germany, Italy, Ireland, New Zealand and the Netherlands have progressed from a FPTP system to a PR System; and
  • Many American States are seeking to implement "Ranked Choice Voting" so that all votes are calculated.

We, the undersigned, residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to move to a "Proportional Representation” system to bring credible representation to Canadians.

Response by the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities

Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): JENNIFER O’CONNELL

The Government of Canada is committed to strengthening Canada’s democratic institutions. Our electoral system (i.e., the fundamental rules determining how votes are translated into seats in the House of Commons) is one of the most foundational pieces of our democracy. Among many things it provides Canadians with a direct connection to their Members of Parliament (MP), who must work with each other in developing national policy and making political decisions, while engaging and remaining accountable to their constituents in an increasingly digital and connected Canada.

The first-past-the-post system is not perfect – no system is – but it has served Canada well for over 150 years and continues to advance the democratic values that Canadians want reflected in their system of government. This includes strong local representation, stability, and accountability. How Canadians vote and how we govern ourselves is fundamentally important and impacts us all. Given this, the Government’s view has been very clear – any major reforms to the electoral system should not be made without the broad support of Canadians.

However, there are a number of ways in which the Government continues to seek to improve Canada’s federal electoral process. Notably, in 2018, the Government introduced the Elections Modernization Act, which represented a significant reform of the Canada Elections Act, which modernized the electoral process, making it easier for Canadians to participate in elections and further bolstering Canadians’ trust and confidence in Canada’s world class electoral system.

In a healthy democracy, there is always more work to do, but Canadians have many reasons to be proud of their electoral system. The Government of Canada will continue to work to strengthen and protect our democratic practices and institutions to ensure they uphold Canadian values.

Presented to the House of Commons
Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
December 6, 2022 (Petition No. 441-00935)
Government response tabled
January 30, 2023
Photo - Elizabeth May
Saanich—Gulf Islands
Green Party Caucus
British Columbia

Only validated signatures are counted towards the total number of signatures.