Currently, Canada's electoral system is based on a "first past the post" system. The candidate with the most votes in a riding wins a seat in the House of Commons and represents that riding as its Member of Parliament. The Governor General asks the Members of Parliament to form a government, which is normally the party whose candidates have won the most seats; that party's leader generally becomes Prime Minister. An absolute majority of the electorate is not needed, and is rarely achieved. As a result, power has been held by either of two parties for most of Canada's history. The party whose candidates win the second largest number of seats becomes the Official Opposition.
Narrow down the conversation to these participants:
Political party:
Political theme:
Province/Territory:
Electoral District (2011):
Electoral District (2013):
@9F5KMPV1yr1Y
Canada should become a republic and use the electoral college like the United States.
@4Q5YTY84yrs4Y
Do the United States system.
@9KGWSV210mos10MO
Nonparty Semi direct democracy would be best. Elected representatives. Referendums. Leader of the country is elected directly in a multi phase race. Provincial, regional and local representation is elected. If a clear majority isn’t achieved on any subject it triggers referendum.
@4HRLRNS4yrs4Y
It is bigoted to assume an individual will have different opinions based on skin colour or genitalia. It promotes segregation and should not be tolerated. Western countries are a melting pot and we should be proud of it.
@4PVMH9K4yrs4Y
A system like Germany or New Zealand would be a system for Canada
@4QSX27S4yrs4Y
How about we banish the feudal system once and for all?
@Canadianpunk89 2wks2W
I am a little torn about this because I like the idea of it but wouldn't that mean we would have more than one prime minister at the same time?
@9JV5LCX 11mos11MO
No and Yes. The people voted into office should be "first past the post" but once in office, any vote is judge 50/50 by both the % of the vote made by those who are elected, then calculate the % of a proportional representation. ("FPTP"+"PR")/2= Final Voting Result
@9JQ8T5J11mos11MO
Yes, but switch to a Parallel Voting System, & ensure the constituency & proportional seat numbers are exactly 50/50.
@9JC6BKV11mos11MO
No, but more equally distribute the weights by culture and community, not by population; allow for the most diverse possible outcomes without losing overall importance of the popular choice. Something like 66% popular vote should guarantee a result, regardless.
@9HV5QFW12mos12MO
No, Canada should be a single-party socialist state and adopt a system similar to the National People's Congress in China.
@9GZYG4J1yr1Y
Canada should become a constitutional republic instead of a constitutional monarchy, then electoral college at state, county and at city level would make this question irrelevant.
complicated, it can be good but proportional rep. can give a possible risk of extremist parties gaining power that would otherwise not be in power
@9FJR2LX1yr1Y
Have a rank based voting system.
@9FHKZYX1yr1Y
STV-PR. Instant Run Off AND Proportional Representation. Checkmate, nerds.
@9DTTBXP1yr1Y
Not enough knowledge to say
Yes, but other reform is acceptable
No, switch from FPTP to STAR voting
@9D4R2DY1yr1Y
Yes, and implement a system similar to Australia's voting system regarding preferential voting.
@8V4B69J3yrs3Y
Should be 2 votes separately. Popular vote for PM and other vote for local member.
@8V8LQD4New Democratic3yrs3Y
All votes should be counted and the party with the most votes after ALL have been counted should win.
@9RF57CQ5mos5MO
No, we should adopt the Australian Alternative Vote system that maintains single constituencies but that also gives voters extra choice.
@9QZCYDN5mos5MO
I think we should implement parts of it into our current system to make it more like a mixed-member compensatory system
@9M6YCXK8mos8MO
It’s long overdue to change the voting system. China can easily manipulate a country’s voting system by a politician paying a certain amount of money.
No. Implement a series of run-off elections after those candidates receiving less than a certain amount of votes are eliminated. A candidate wins ONLY after securing 50.1% of the vote.
@9LHLKDC9mos9MO
No, instead give all candidates running an equal amount of screentime and determine the winner based on 100% of the voters.
@9K6M45410mos10MO
This could get really unstable and corrupted quick as any other political system, only better used for parties themselves, not for the head of the state.
@9JWMJCZ 11mos11MO
Well mostly they should only be telling the truth about themselves and that's the whole truth by following the rules. They should not be telling lies or else it will lead to their entire elimination of becoming government.
@9BT5HTF2yrs2Y
It should switch to MMP.
@9BP44CP2yrs2Y
No, but the system needs to be reformed so that not just Ontario and Quebec get to decide.
@96JGN832yrs2Y
We should have a mix of the current system and proportional representation
@962Z6QWConservative2yrs2Y
Switch to the popular vote
@95YWBT92yrs2Y
Switch to something more directly democratic
@95LSVQV2yrs2Y
No, leave it as it is now
@95J9PCR2yrs2Y
Yes, but only if regional representation remains limited to local candidates.
@955C6272yrs2Y
No, we should use a ranked-based voting system.
@953THJ82yrs2Y
The federal government should be abolished
@94K2WNC2yrs2Y
Switch to Mixed Member Proportional instead of full Proportional
@93TYLL52yrs2Y
Yes, for the Senate, NOT for the House
@93TM7X62yrs2Y
Yes, and add instant runoff alongside.
@93SSKKF2yrs2Y
@93JMN2F3yrs3Y
No, just straight up do participatory democracy
@93B6FPP3yrs3Y
Mixed-Member Proportional Voting
@92MWQCF3yrs3Y
No, switch to a combination of instant runoff and approval system
@92DWMG73yrs3Y
No, adopt a mixed member proportional system
@924B2SN3yrs3Y
Switch to a run off system…
Yes, so long as it is kept democratic and attempts at gerrymandering and corruption are prohibited.
@8ZV7WDZ3yrs3Y
No, switch to a sortition system for choosing political officials and abolish elections altogether
@8ZN4YG43yrs3Y
No, this could make our government's ability of good governance/efficiency to be compromised, as the government is made up of a broad coalition of different views. I get why people think this is a good idea, as it could preserve a lot of really good ideas that in a FPTP system could be at more risk of being fully eliminated/scratched from budgets, but it could make people lose faith in an already good system that works, and that's why I'm against it.
I would prefer a system such as ranked balloting, in which individual people rank their preference in terms of candidates, because most people, when going to the polls, have an idea of at least two or three people they're going to vote for/allows candidates to win based on broad support, rather than pandering to their voter base only.
@8Z7DWC93yrs3Y
Yes and allow for recall elections
@8YSH4R23yrs3Y
I don’t really know the other options but I don’t really like the current situation.
@8YRX8JV3yrs3Y
No, switch to a mixed-member proportional representation
@8YNVGF33yrs3Y
@8YB6RMF3yrs3Y
I do not have enough information on this.
@8Y4YDJT3yrs3Y
No, Canada should switch to a single transferable vote system
No, switch to a Sortition system
@8XXXYKS3yrs3Y
Government show create a Committee to investigate a beneficial voting system
yes but only if a referendum is conducted on the issue
@8XH6SN93yrs3Y
No, switch to a preferential system
@8XH5YCW3yrs3Y
No but first past the post is also a bad system
@8XGCGKHConservative3yrs3Y
Preferential voting. Rank each candidate 1-5 so each vote counts.
@8XDRVQT3yrs3Y
No, switch to a decentralized direct democracy
@8XBLRJYLibertarian3yrs3Y
Reform to a consensus direct democracy
@8WZQ4HTConservative3yrs3Y
No, switch to a republic system like in the US
@8WYP84X3yrs3Y
Keep the current system but change the qualifications for the size and number of electoral districts, so as rural Canada gets the same geographical representation as urban Canada.
@8VW3N8D3yrs3Y
Try it for a little bit, if it results in fighting then quit it
@8VVPWGC3yrs3Y
No, not until a professionally curated, unbias, promoted list of pros and cons is published on the government website, so citizens have a common legitimate source of information to make their own dicision when voting on this.
@8VVD7Z43yrs3Y
Let’s vote on the platform that is best suited from each political party. They will be responsible for this platform. Each party has its pros and cons and I strongly suggest they work together representing their own platform. Let’s move away from party elections but platform elections.
@8VV2P573yrs3Y
Yes, we should switch to a Mixed-Member Proportional Voting system
@8VRG7SV3yrs3Y
@8VR933S3yrs3Y
Add in rank choice voting for each citizen to have their top 3 candidates.
@8VBMK2M3yrs3Y
No, switch to rank choice voting system
@8VB2DHN3yrs3Y
Each individual vote regardless of where in Canada the vote is from should count. First past the poll leads to an inaccurate representation of the people.
@8V99D273yrs3Y
Yes. Governments with a majority face very little accountability.
@8TTCLGB3yrs3Y
we should vote prime minister and our representative but get rid of party system and our rep should vote the way his/her constituents want him too. have small votes in riding for important subjects, so people tell rep how to vote not a party.
Maybe a different system all together
@8TRPMHX3yrs3Y
I am unsure at this moment/ don’t have enough information to formulate an opinion
@8T8PGV94yrs4Y
@8T452LX4yrs4Y
people need to earn the right to vote. the system should be proportional to that.
@8T452LX4yrs4Y
people need to earn the right to vote.
@8T3HZBLNew Democratic4yrs4Y
Adopt a mixed voting system such as those found in some European nations (ie. Scotland)
@8T2Y8DQNew Democratic4yrs4Y
I think the voting system should be a Direct Democracy
@8SDPH6Y4yrs4Y
Introduce the electoral college.
@8SHRW854yrs4Y
Alternatively, we could invest in technology to develop a direct democracy
@8SHRW854yrs4Y
Yes, but alternatively, we could invest in technology to develop a direct democracy
@8SH9LNK4yrs4Y
We should reform to ranked order.
@8SF8TLD4yrs4Y
@8SCRSMG4yrs4Y
Yes but with a open list format
@8S3NTLN4yrs4Y
switch to ranked voting system, for the election of the prime minister
@8RWBHS34yrs4Y
Yes and add instant runoff
@8RRKHHQ4yrs4Y
Don’t understand enough to warrant a relevant answer
I think you should be able to vote for who you want as your riding representative and be able to vote for who you want on a federal level.
@8RQFVPN4yrs4Y
They should have proportional representation in certain matters but not all
@shaelynj4yrs4Y
no, but i do think our system should change
Loading the political themes of users that engaged with this discussion
Loading data...
Join in on more popular conversations.