Fresh Old Idea
By Arnold Malone
Pioneer Columnist

Canada has now concluded its 44th election for a cost of six hundred million dollars, and, as a result, this country has been turned around 360 degrees. In the aftermath, many will ponder what has happened, and some will ask, “All of that, for this?”

The cost is actually much more than six hundred million dollars. Many citizens have donated to their preferred party, and that money is now spend. There will be an abundance of requests to re-fill those coffers.

Worrisome for me is the chatter on radio talk-back programs requesting a change to our voting system. Worse is that too many are dreaming of a better world by advocating proportional representation (PR).

If the opinion of those who advocate PR with the hope for greater political tranquillity, then they need to examine how PR is practised around the world. While there are some examples of smooth governance with PR, that is not the common result.

PR has two negatives. First, it leads, everywhere, to an expansion of political parties. Groups who have a cause form an issue-based party while trying to gain enough votes to elect some seats to a legislative body.

Secondly, because majority governments are rare, the larger party’s needs to negotiate with smaller parties to obtain power. The result is, those parties with lower voter popularity end up with exaggerated persuasion. It almost never happens that the party with the largest number of seats co-operates with the party with the second largest success. The runner-up-party is looked upon as a political competitor.

Germany just concluded an election that ended with no party having a majority. It will be several months before a new chancellor will be named. Of course, Angela Merkel continues as Chancellor until a new one takes office. What is to happen to a country should a serious crisis develop before a new leader is determined? Can the out-going Chancellor govern with the same authority while a new administration is waiting to be formed?

In the past, in Israel, when a new government could not consolidate a governing coalition, another election was required. In short, it is a country without leadership waiting with hope that nothing earth shattering will take place until an enduring electoral process concludes. That is a vulnerable period because of a leadership vacuum.

A government is the nation’s manager. Not one private sector corporation would ever select a policy board that was constructed with a multitude of opposing views. Good management shoots with a rifle, not a scatter gun.

So, forget about what proportional representation did to Italy with its 163 political parties. Italy is an abnormality. Consider Europe, where in seven countries the smallest number of parties is seven and the largest number is thirty-five. Surely, a larger number of political parties does not lead to faster or more precise decision making. What is advantageous are political parties that have big tents where a wide range of views are accepted within.

Finally, Canada is such a favoured country. I can’t think of another place where I would prefer to live. So, if our present system has provided this level of security and comfort, what is all of this chatter about hunting for some new political electoral system? If we experiment with proportional representation to see if we might like it, consider what a gaggle of political parties would do if the public didn’t like the new procedure. There is no chance that those numerous smaller parties will give up their influence to revert back to our current system. With PR, a country is stuck. Try and change, and the tail will wag the dog. The fringe controls the power.

Arnold Malone served as MP for Alberta’s Battle River and Crowfoot ridings from 1974 through 1993. He retired to Invermere in 2007.