NDP calls for proportional representation
Last Updated: Thursday, September 18, 2003 | 5:42 PM AT
CBC News
The Island New Democrats say if elected, they would make P.E.I the first province in Canada with proportional representation.
At a news conference in front of the legislature on Thursday, NDP candidates said they would reform government on the Island by restoring funding to the auditor general's office and removing MLAs from seasonal hiring for government works projects.
The NDP also promised to introduce proportional representation, a system in which the number of seats won by a party is based on the percentage of popular vote.
Party leader Gary Robichaud admits some people may argue he is promoting proportional representation because it could benefit the party – but he says it isn't about a thirst for power, it's about doing the right thing.
"Provincial governments appear to become less representative with each passing election," he said. "Come on, P.E.I., give it a try."
Election results don't represent voters: study
A new report by Fair Vote Canada, a national group that promotes proportional representation, bolsters Robichaud's claim.
Doris Anderson says the group looked at 54 provincial elections from 1980 to the year 2000. She says next to New Brunswick, P.E.I. has the most distorted election results in Canada.
"In actual fact, in 1993 only 55 per cent of the population voted Liberal and yet they got almost all the seats," she says. "That doesn't make for a very fair result and it doesn't make for a very balanced legislature."
Anderson says P.E.I. is one of three provinces seriously looking at the idea of proportional representation. She warns if governments don't move in that direction, voters will become disillusioned with the democratic process.
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