Canadian Senate essays

Canadian Senate essays The Canadian Electorate: Good, Better, Best There is a tendancy to believe that ones own electoral system is the best way of choosing a government. For this reason and the fact that Canada possesses an overall efficient and fair system, there is usually not too much controversy among the general public about the way political officials are elected to office. The fact of the matter is that the issues surrounding the First Past the Post (or Single Member Plurality) system are serious enough to be considering a better alternative. Canada would, in fact, be better served with a different electoral system. The party system suits Canadians well, due to its cultural, regional, linguistic and other diversities. However, it is the brand of party system that is incorporated which is slowing down the electoral system. To better understand where the current system (FPTP) could be improved, a discussion of some major flaws will be addressed followed by the offering of the Proportional Representation as the best alternative. The first-past-the-post system encourages strategic voting which can be very compromising. Citizens are encouraged to vote for one of the two options most likely to win, even if it is not their most preferred option. An example of this type of voting could be easily recognized in the 2004 Canadian federal election; where many people were believed to have only voted for Liberal or Conservative, respectively, because one of these two forerunners was the lesser of two evils. New Democratic Party leader, Jack Layton, expressed his concern immediately following the election that many potential NDP voters chose the Liberal alternative, only because of their distaste for the Conservatives. The reason why this type of voting comes to be is because the first-past-the-post system designates one clear-cut winner. Citizens become fearful that they will cast a wasted vote&ap...