Masthead graphic based on a painting by Gudrun Thriemer.

Friday, December 26, 2008

"Almost Half of Canadians Are Open to Proportional Representation," Angus-Reid News Flash, December 2008.

Following weeks of political turmoil in Ottawa, Canadians are taking a second look at their existing electoral regulations, and almost half of them believe the implementation of a proportional representation system would be good for the country. In the online survey conducted on the Angus Reid Forum, 33 percent of you believe the current first-past-the-post system, where candidates win seats by getting more votes than any other rival in a specific constituency, is the best one for Canada. However, 47 per cent of members would be open to trying different guidelines.

Respondents who voted for the Conservative Party in the last federal election are the
staunchest defenders of the first-past-the-post system (47%), while more than 60 per cent of those who supported the New Democratic Party (NDP) or the Green Party believe it is time to change the system.

Read the rest here =>(PDF, 5pp)
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3 comments:

Chrystal Ocean said...

And if the media weren't so biased against PR (including the purportedly left-leaning the Toronto Star) even more people would be in favour of the reform.

It's obvious, of course, why the media wants to retain the antiquated and undemocratic FPTP. How else will they be able to participate in the puppet mastery they're so used to?

Skinny Dipper said...

I wonder what Mike Duffy's opinion is on proportional representation. I'll betcha he's a good democrat.

Jim Terral said...

I would be interested to hear if you have any other ideas or more specific ideas about democratic reform in general and proportional representation in particular. How, for example, to achieve proportional representation? STV? A commitment to STV would leave a lot of unanswered questions before it could be implemented.