If the federal election showed us anything, it is that it is time for a new electoral process. First-past-the-post is not working and threatens to break our country in two.
Other more successful democracies in the world use proportional representation, which allows people to vote for a leader and, on a separate ballot, vote for a local representative which may belong to a different party.
We need this system. Many people voted strategically in the last election choosing to vote for a national leader who could meet the challenge posed by Donald Trump. However, many of those people put their first choice aside wanting to support their country, even if it meant they would not get the local member they preferred.
Voters should not have to make this choice.
The outcome of the election may impact the communities where the bulk of the residents are Indigenous and where the needs are much different from those in Yellowknife. The result must be discouraging for a demographic which already feels abandoned and isolated from the capital city where needs are too often met at the expense of the outlying areas. Thank goodness for strong Indigenous governments who must take their concerns directly to Ottawa. In the system we have, they must be the voice for their people.
It's no wonder that so many of the people in the communities don't vote. The focus too often goes to those living in Yellowknife where there is more money and resources. Conditions in the communities, on the other hand, sometimes border on third-world standards, yet we ask them to be our eyes and ears for the North. It is a big ask for so little given in return.
What the communities needed was someone willing to bang on doors and on desktops in Ottawa; not dedicate themselves to party lines. They needed a voice. Considering the lack of services in outside Yellowknife proper, it is apparent that Ottawa is not addressing the needs of the North even though all the federal candidates reiterated the importance of bolstering Arctic sovereignty.
We know that the Trump administration, Russia and China are all interested in the rare earth minerals up here and we have done little to protect and bolster what we have. We are vulnerable and too often not supported.
More than any other time in our history, we needed a strong, experienced MP who was in touch with the needs of our vulnerable people.
The North is more than just a riding and a feather in one party’s cap. We are a crucially important territory vital to the very existence of Canada. It is long past time that it receives the attention it deserves from Ottawa.
In a proportional representation system, voters could have voted for Prime Minister Mark Carney and a local candidate of their choice. A ballot that would have allowed them to vote for someone they wanted might have encouraged more candidates and thus more people willing to participate in the system. Now people just feel more alienated.
Carney has indicated a willingness to consider a new electoral process. He has worked in many different countries and has seen the success of proportional representation elsewhere such as in Germany, where more than 80 per cent of the voting population voted in the last election. People feel heard. They know they count.
Carney knows there is an alternative to what we have and is willing to put the needs of the country ahead of the needs of the party. He also knows the dangers of a two-party system which we are evolving into, and which is causing almost civil war conditions in the United States. It causes sharp divide between people and tears countries apart.
Finally, the two-party system eliminates the positive effects that come from outside groups such as the NDP and Green Party. We cannot have a healthy democracy without them.
Fair Vote Canada will have a booth at the trade fair this weekend at the Multiplex. It will be staffed by people knowledgeable about proportional representation and able to answer any questions the public has. Take a few minutes to visit and see what alternatives are available.
Canada needs a healthy electoral process which allows more people to use their voice and does not cause further divide between people in this country. We must do what we can to pull people together and this could be one step in the right direction.
—Nancy Vail is a longtime Yellowknifer concerned with social justice.
