The Star's Position On MFF

Those who think that minority government is the answer to our electoral problems are living in a dream world. In order for minority government to work members with vast differences in their agendas would form coalitions and I would challenge anyone to point to a coalition that has had a long shelf life. The strongest argument against this measure is that it was started by Premier No New Taxes & Broken Promises McGinty.

Bad electoral medicine

The 103 "ordinary citizens" selected by the provincial government to examine Ontario's electoral system appear poised to "fix" something that may not need fixing at all.

Last weekend, the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, set up by Premier Dalton McGuinty to fulfill a 2003 election promise, voted overwhelmingly for a form of proportional representation called "mixed member proportional" voting.

True, the vote decided only which alternative method the assembly will "work up" first. The status quo will not be up for consideration until later, when it will go up against whatever alternative the assembly eventually settles on.

Any change the assembly recommends when it finishes its work in May would be put to voters in a referendum that would be part of the provincial election ballot on Oct. 10.

But the strong support among assembly members for this electoral model is another ill-advised step down the road toward scrapping our current "first-past-the-post" method, which awards ridings to the candidate who wins the most votes.

It is a system that, while not perfect, has served us well.

That's why the assembly should think hard before recommending an alternative that could create far more problems than it would solve.

In its purest form, proportional representation awards seats according to the popular vote: A party that wins 30 per cent of the votes would win 30 per cent of the seats.

Under the variation the assembly appears to favour, citizens would cast two votes, one for a local candidate and the other for the party they support. The second vote would be used to allot the remaining seats from party lists, ensuring the total number of seats each party holds is about equal to its share of the popular vote. Such a system is used in Germany, New Zealand and several other countries.

Many tout proportional representation as a cure-all for perceived shortcomings in our current system. Smaller and single-issue parties like it because they would win more seats. Some say it would more fairly represent voters' intentions. Still others see it as a remedy for voter apathy, although voter turnout rates have also fallen in recent elections in many of the countries that have had proportional representation for years.

The best argument in favour of the status quo is that it leads to strong governments. By contrast, proportional representation is a recipe for unstable coalitions, permanent minority government and legislative chaos. For proof, one need look no further than Israel and Italy.

There is no reason to think Ontario would be any different. No party has won more than 50 per cent of the vote in an Ontario election since 1937. While some minority governments have achieved much, most have been failures that collapsed quickly in bitterness and disarray.

Voters in British Columbia and Prince Edward Island have already rejected proportional representation. Hopefully the Ontario assembly will study the results in those provinces closely before it makes its final recommendation.