Fairvote Canada

Party election platforms on electoral reform

NDP PLATFORM:

Putting an end to unfair elections

“We will fix Canada’s broken voting system and make every vote count. For too long, our electoral system has distorted results and denied millions of Canadians real representation. In 2025, New Democrats will make sure it’s the last election held under this outdated, unfair system—ten years after the Liberals promised change and failed to act.”

“Unlike the Liberals, we will actually deliver. We will establish an independent citizens assembly to advise on how best to put in place a Mixed-Member proportional system in time for the next federal election. This will ensure that the next Parliament truly reflects the choices of voters.”

Fair Vote Canada’s comment on the NDP platform: Fair Vote Canada appreciates the NDP’s long standing support of their preferred proportional system, MMP. During the English leader’s debate, the following question was asked of Jagmeet Singh:

Steve Paikin: “If you hold the balance of power after this election, what would your price be to support another party?”

Jagmeet Singh: “We’ve laid out our priorities. We want to make sure we bring down the cost of groceries, build homes people can afford. I can also tell you that we would defend CBC, unlike Mr. Poilievre that would cut it, and we would close tax loopholes and offshore tax havens even though Mr. Carney didn’t respond to that.”

GREEN PARTY:

The plan on the front of the Green Party website states:

Strong Democracy

Making Sure Your Vote Counts

“Too many Canadians feel their votes don’t matter. They don’t trust the government to listen. Big corporations have too much power. False information spreads too easily. Our voting system is outdated. The Green Party will fix these problems. We’ll make sure every Canadian voter has a real voice in our democracy.”

A Voting System That Works

“Our current voting system isn’t fair. A party can win total power with less than half the votes. Millions of votes don’t count. Here’s how we’ll make it fairer:”

• Change to a proportional representation voting system where every vote counts
• Let young people start voting at age 16
• Restore the per-vote subsidy so small parties can compete fairly with big parties
• Create a Citizens’ Assembly to help guide these changes

Fair Vote Canada’s comment on the Green Party’s platform: This platform represents a strong commitment to proportional representation with a role for a non-partisan Citizens’ Assembly to make recommendations. Fair Vote Canada strongly supports this plan.

LIBERAL PARTY:

There is nothing in the Liberal platform about proportional representation and electoral reform.  

Fair Vote Canada’s comment on the Liberal platform: This is deeply disappointing, considering that the Liberal Party is under new leadership. The overwhelming majority of Canadians support proportional representation and believe the Liberals were wrong to break their promise.

Proportional representation happens around the world when parties are willing to compromise and work together to make it happen. A non-partisan citizens’ assembly on electoral reform, an idea which was backed by Liberal Party members at their 2023 convention, is a way to offer feedback to Parliament on the best system to make every vote count.

The Liberal Party’s 2025 platform states they will:

“Build a Canada where everyone has a fair shot, feels a sense of belonging, and contributes to our shared future by reshaping systems to better reflect and support all Canadians and make sure that no matter your heritage or identity you can fully participate in Canada.”**

The way to do this is with proportional representation, so that no matter where you live, your vote will count and will contribute to our shared future.

BLOC:

There is nothing in the Bloc platform about proportional representation.

CONSERVATIVE:

There is nothing in the Conservative platform about proportional representation.

The first is that the powerful few have the money to push propaganda on the topic to push people against their own best interests through the American-owned Sun Media. Unfortunately more respectable newspapers such as the Times Colonist allow op-eds that spread misinformation about pr to be published, we need to hold our media accountable on this as most people do not have the time to investigate the topic like we electoral nerds do.

The second is that 80% of countries that have proportional representation use the party-list system. Which takes the share of the national vote and allocates seats to the respective national parties.

The third is that most people do not understand that proportional representation is a family list of electoral systems.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/42834899

Hi all,

I’ve been thinking about the pros and cons of proportional representation (PR) versus first-past-the-post (FPTP) systems, and one issue keeps coming up that I’d like to get your perspective on.

In large countries where populations are concentrated in a few big cities, PR systems can weaken the direct link between voters and a single local representative. Unlike FPTP, where each constituency elects one MP who directly represents that community.

FPTP allows voters to elect an MP who is accountable to their specific community and can be voted out if they don’t perform well. This local accountability and clear geographic representation seems as a major advantage.

So my question to the Fair Vote community is: how do you weigh this trade-off? Is the potential weakening of local representation in PR an acceptable downside given the gains in proportionality and inclusiveness? Or do you think there are ways to design PR systems that preserve strong local representation while also improving proportionality?

Would love to hear your thoughts and any examples or experiences you might share.

Thanks!

SmartVoting.ca on Bluesky

CPC takes two from the LPC in our latest update. But the Conservative vote continues to weaken nationwide meaning more is up for grabs.

FEDERAL SEAT PROJECTION

• LPC: 189 (218)
• CPC: 122 (86)
• BQ: 23 (25)
• NDP: 8 (11)
• GPC: 1 (3)
• PPC: 0 (0)

April 22, 2025 | MOE: +/- 10

#cdnpoli #election #canada

Media Ecosystem Observatory on Bluesky

With Meta’s news ban still in place, many Canadians are now completely missing traditional media in their feeds. @abridgman.bsky.social warns this could lead to “less broad understanding of politics and more hyper-focused issue orientations," : www.france24.com/en/live-news...

Fair Vote Canada 🗳️🍁 on Bluesky

Glad to see commitments from @canadiangreens.bsky.social and @ndp.ca to proportional representation!

With rising authoritarianism, our democracy is too important to leave to politicians elected with just 30–40% support.

Ask your candidates where they stand, and vote accordingly.

#cdnpoli

London North Centre GPO/ London Centre GPC on Bluesky

Today is Earth Day. If you didn't vote yet, then consider the future of young Canadians when casting your ballot. While there are many immediate issues affecting people, we need significant climate change mitigation efforts now. Ignore vote splitting arguments & vote GREEN for a better environment.

Our @canadiangreens.bsky.social candidates are: London Centre, @maryannhodge.bsky.social; London West, Jeff Vanderzwet and Middlesex-London, Jim Johnston. Vote for change; vote Green!

Media Ecosystem Observatory on Bluesky

AI now lets users generate fake images of politicians, but the risks are clear.

@abridgman.bsky.social warns about the dangers of AI-driven disinformation in this election: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Fair Vote Canada 🗳️🍁 on Bluesky

The “no consensus” excuse is getting old.

EKOs polling shows Canadians support proportional representation.

What we lack isn’t agreement—it’s political courage.

#cdnpoli #Election2025 www.coastreporter.net/2025-canada-...

Longest Ballot Committee on Bluesky

Longest Ballot Committee on Bluesky

Jordan Leichnitz shares a common misconception about how Canadian democracy works on the "Curse of Politics" podcast. Unfortunately it is the ruling party, not Elections Canada, who decides election law. It seems like a crazy set up but it's true.

#electoralreform #citizensassembly

Media Ecosystem Observatory on Bluesky

Elections used to be shaped by silence. Now, they’re shaped by what doesn’t show up in your feed. @abridgman.bsky.social explains how Meta’s news ban is leaving millions of Canadians in the dark: youtu.be/RtxQvLTxATQ

Longest Ballot Committee on Bluesky

Bucking the trend 😀

www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/0...

Cooperate for Canada on Bluesky

Check out our endorsements at CooperateforCanada.ca

#cdnpoli #elxn45 #elxn2025 #neverpoilievre

SmartVoting.ca on Bluesky

We continue to see tight races between the LPC, BQ and NDP resulting in a flip-flop of numbers. CPC number is still firm at 120.

FEDERAL SEAT PROJECTION

• LPC: 191 (213)
• CPC: 120 (91)
• BQ: 23 (25)
• NDP: 8 (11)
• GPC: 1 (3)
• PPC: 0 (0)

April 21, 2025 | MOE: +/- 10

#cdnpoli #election #canada