Gravelbourg & District Tribune

Another election with another distorted seat result to show for it.

 

The Liberals got 43.7% of the vote and 169 seats, The Tories got 41.3% and 144 seats. The NDP got 6.3 per cent of the vote and seven seats. The Bloc Quebecois got the same 6.3 per cent yet end up with 22 seats. Does that make any sense?

 

Our electoral system uses the first-past-the-post method to determine a winner. Justin Trudeau promised to change it but didn’t deliver. Fortunately all of the parties, except the Tories, agree that it must be changed to reflect a more realistic outcome based on proportional votes.

 

How did the prairie province’s vote in 2025?

 

In Alberta the Cons won 34 seats, the Liberals 2 and the NDP had one. With a proportional system the Cons would have 24, Liberals 11 and the NDP two. In Saskatchewan we have the Cons winning 13 seats with the Liberals winning 1. Using a proportional system we would have seven for the Cons, four for the Liberals and 2 for the NDP. Those results would show us exactly the percentage of votes each party received.

 

Most countries in the world have proportional representation. There are over 130 countries that use either a Proportional Representation or a mixed system to elect their lower chamber across the world.

 

We no longer use a horse and buggy to travel around, so why are we still using a voting system that dates back to the war of 1812?