Push underway in northern Ontario to change Canada's electoral system

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 03, 2025 2:27 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

A mates successful northeastern Ontario is moving to amended the nationalist astir Canada's electoral system, successful hopes of seeing it change.

Dan and Sarah Nicksy, from the tiny municipality of Corbeil adjacent North Bay, person been holding nationalist meetings for respective years, successful assemblage halls and online, pushing for Canada to bring successful proportional representation.

It would spot the number of seats successful Parliament assigned to each enactment correspond with the percent of the ballot they got crossed the country.

Under the existent first-past-the-post system, whoever gets the astir votes successful each riding gets that seat, adjacent if they lone got little than fractional the votes.

"It truly frustrates maine seeing however galore radical are disenfranchised with Canada's authorities and with our electoral strategy and however galore radical consciousness similar they don't person a voice, however galore radical accidental I don't vote, there's nary constituent successful voting," Sarah Nicksy said.

"So galore radical are conscionable not engaged with our ideology and it's a existent shame. We could beryllium doing a batch better."

Back successful 2015 erstwhile the national Liberals archetypal came to power, person Justin Trudeau had promised that would beryllium the past predetermination nether  first-past-the-post, but aboriginal changed his caput connected electoral reform.

Earlier this twelvemonth erstwhile Justin Trudeau stepped down arsenic Liberal enactment leader, helium said 1 regret was not moving guardant with changing the electoral system.

"If I person 1 regret, peculiarly arsenic we attack this predetermination … I bash privation that we'd been capable to alteration the mode we elite our governments successful this country," helium told CBC News successful January.

Other countries usage proportional representation

Dan Nicksy said the absorption from radical who be their information sessions has been interesting.

"There's 1 woman successful peculiar that I tin deliberation of. We gave this presumption successful North Bay astatine the Elks lodge. [She] fundamentally spent an hr with her jaw connected the floor," helium said.

"She conscionable had this shocked look the full presentation. And afterwards she said "I've ever known that thing was incorrect and I ne'er knew what it was. And present I person anticipation for the future.'"

Sarah said the conception isn't new, arsenic it's already implemented successful different countries including Germany and New Zealand.

"They've benignant of paved the mode for Canadians and their citizens, person benignant of pushed the politicians and educated each different arsenic citizens capable that yet they yet were capable to ballot it done successful the numbers it required for the referendum to succeed," she said. 

"I deliberation that's 1 of the likeliest ways that Canada tin get electoral betterment is conscionable citizens educating each different connected the taxable and past voting it in."

Full predetermination platforms person not been issued yet by the Liberals, the New Democrats or the Conservatives. However, the NDP has consistently pushed for electoral betterment successful the past.

The Green Party level states that the "current voting strategy isn't fair" and promises to "change to a proportional practice voting strategy wherever each ballot counts."