First-past-the-post: An affront to democracy

October 2003

To the Editor:

The Star's Oct. 8 editorial, "NDP's late fight for party status," concludes that "arbitrarily changing the rules within days of every election in which the NDP loses more seats is an insult to voters — and to democracy."

I strongly disagree. First of all, such rules are already "arbitrary." Thus, that is not the problem. Instead, it is a political question that has serious ramifications for democracy in our province.

Granting official party status to the NDP would hardly be "an insult to voters." That is ridiculous. The NDP has a long history in Canadian politics and has played critically important roles as both government and opposition. Furthermore, the NDP captured a larger portion of the popular vote than it did in 1999.

The real insult to voters — and to democracy — is our antiquated "first-past-the-post" electoral system. The Star's suggestions for electoral reform, however, are weak at best. Dalton McGuinty has gone further by suggesting we should consider some form of proportional representation.

In other words, both The Star and McGuinty acknowledge the faults of the current system. The first step towards correcting them is to grant official party status to the NDP — a party that has and will continue to play a significant role in Canadian politics.

R. Telfer