Don't get discouraged, get organized, that's how we get proportional representation.

Proportional Representation Supporting

Democracy Supporting

While constitutional conventions "are not enforced by the law courts", this pretty much allows any unelected official to hold the role of Prime Minister.

We need to respect the law, including constitutional conventions.

Full text agreement here.

Section 3 – Policy Initiatives & 2025 Deliverables

11. Democratic and Electoral Reform

The Parties will work together to create a special legislative all-party committee to evaluate and recommend policy and legislation measures to be pursued beginning in 2026 to increase democratic engagement & voter participation, address increasing political polarization, and improve the representativeness of government. The committee will review and consider preferred methods of proportional representation as part of its deliberations. The Government will work with the BCGC to establish the detailed terms of reference for this review, which are subject to the approval of both parties. The terms of reference will include the ability to receive expert and public input, provide for completion of the Special Committee’s work in Summer 2025, and public release of the Committee’s report within 45 days of completion. The committee will also review the administration of the 43rd provincial general election, including consideration of the Chief Electoral Officer’s report on the 43rd provincial general election, and make recommendations for future elections.

The Narwhal on Bluesky

For a half-century, a pulp mill in northern Ontario has used a tributary of Lake Superior to dispose of its wastewater. With the mill shuttered, the creek is bouncing back, but it’s been through boom and bust before: https://thenarwhal.ca/ontario-pulp-mill-blackbird-creek/

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/40374512

Electoral Renewal Canada on Bluesky

Did strategic voting matter in the Ontario Election?

My verdict is that a large number of people DID vote strategically in this election. However, I don't believe it was a determining factor.

It did deliver a massive advantage to sitting MPPs. Let's look at the numbers. (1/6)

🟧 NDP incumbents performed remarkably well.

Avg. NDP candidate: -5.5% (compared to '22) Ridings NDP won in '22: -0.7% Ridings w/ NDP inc. running for re-election: +3.0% (‼️)

This difference is unusual, but it's quite clear that the NDP benefitted >when they had a strong name to rally around. (2/6)

🟥 Liberal incumbents also overperformed.

Avg. OLP candidate: +6.1 Ridings w/ Liberal incumbent running for re-election: +13.4

In all elections, incumbents do have a name recognition advantage, but beating the median by more than 7% is notable. (3/6)

Here's why I think strategic voting was at play. Here is he swing for:

🟧 NDP candidates in OLP ridings: -10.0% (4.5% below avg.)

🟥 OLP candidates in NDP ridings: +0.8% (5.3% below avg.)

I think this shows, when there was a clear name to rally around, a noticeable % of NDP and OLP voters did (4/6)

Here is where I dispel some enthusiasm.

In 2018, if you bundled Liberal and NDP votes into one party, they would have won 82 seats.

In 2022, that number was down to 71.

In 2025, it was 61. Which means that even with "perfect" strategic voting, there would be no majority for the coalition. (5/6)

The fact is that, even as it seems that many Ontarians did attempt to vote strategically, it did not impact the outcome of the election.

If voters are frustrated that a third consecutive Ford government is being upheld by a 40% majority, perhaps we should consider proportional representation. (6/6)

Alt text: Infographic titled "A Simple Guide to Electoral Systems" with a light blue background. At the top, a highlighted box states: "In a healthy democracy, citizens are deserving of and entitled to representation in government. Only proportional representation can dependably get you there."

The content is organized in two main columns. The left column labeled "Winner-Take-All Systems 🚫" (in red) describes First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) used in Canada/USA where the candidate with most votes wins but many votes don't elect anyone, and Instant-Runoff Voting (IRV) which uses ranked ballots but still wastes votes.

The right column labeled "Proportional Representation ✓" (in green) describes Mixed-Member Proportional (MMP) used in Germany/New Zealand where voters cast ballots for both local candidates and parties, and Single Transferable Vote (STV) used in Ireland which uses ranked ballots in multi-member districts. Both proportional systems ensure the percentage of votes equals percentage of seats.

A blue band across the middle highlights "Systems using Ranked Ballots: IRV and STV."

The bottom contains three gray boxes stating: "Which electoral system is best? If you care about democracy, proportional representation is the way to go," "Which political parties support proportional representation? Only Green🟢/NDP🟧/RPC🟨 consistently support proportional representation," and "Share this with a pro-democracy friend!"

The content is licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0.

List of parties that support proportional representation:

• 🟢Green
• 🟧New Democratic Party (NDP)
• 🟨Revolution Party of Canada (RPC)
• ⚜️Bloc Québécois
• 🐮Animal Protection Party
• Communist Party of Canada
• The Canadian Future Party

Also see: Simple things you can do right now, to grow the proportional representation movement—so we never have to vote for the lesser of the evils, have a two party system, "split the vote", or strategic vote.