Restoring Democracy by Fixing Our Electoral System

The Green Party of Saskatchewan recognizes that we must fix the existing democratic deficit in Saskatchewan by changing our electoral system to be more proportionate - so that every vote counts. Our “first-past-the-post” voting system is outdated and is failing to produce results reflective of the general public.  We have a “winner-takes-all” electoral system that is leaving many voters without representation in government.  Democratic politics has evolved significantly in Canada and in Saskatchewan, yet our voting system has remained the same.  Both federally and provincially, our voting system was designed for a two party system, but many political parties now represent the interests of voters.  An electoral system of proportional representation would make every vote count.  The percentage of seats a political party would receive in an election would be based on the percentage of the popular vote that party received.  Governments elected by proportional representation reflect the priorities of all voters instead of those few who voted for the “winning” party.

Our current electoral system turns candidates and political parties into competitors instead of colleagues.  It is hard to get work done in government under these pretences.  If we are going to take concrete action on climate change, elected representatives will have to cooperate, and so will every province in this country, and every country in the world.  Proportional representation would reduce the overly partisan nature of our current political system that makes cooperation so difficult.  An electoral system of proportional representation would encourage collaboration and compromise so that elected representatives can stop fighting and can start taking action on the environment.  It is time to put an end to democratic bankruptcy; it is time to restructure our electoral system to be proportionate.

A Green Party of Saskatchewan MLA will:

• Work for the adoption of legislation that will discard the “first-past-the-post” electoral system and replace it with a more democratically representative electoral system based on “proportional representation”
• advocate for increased public funding support of the electoral process by providing a grant to Saskatchewan’s official political parties equal to a minimum of $1.00 per vote received by the party in a provincial election.
• advocate to lower the legal age for voting in provincial, municipal, and school board elections in Saskatchewan to  16 years of age in an effor to create more democratic participation.