Critics of proportional representation in Canada often argue it has the potential to give those on the margins too much of a voice. In such a system, legislative power would be based on its actual voting strength, instead of on a single elected official per riding, so that every vote is represented. It turned out to be a surprisingly big issue in the past federal election.
Canada’s major newspapers have railed against replacing our first-past-the-post electoral system on the premise it will allow those with extremist agendas, both on the left and right, to gain seats in the House of Commons. Despite what the mainstream media would have the public believe, however, allowing the political fringe into Parliament via proportional representation could widen political debate, making this country a safer and more tolerant place.
Of course, it is important to ensure that any group or individual intent on breaking the law to achieve its aims has no place in Parliament. Groups that promote hatred should have no role in the decision-making apparatuses of any state. There are extreme but legitimate points of view held by some in this country, like those of the Communist Party or the Family Coalition parties (some of them distasteful to mainstream newspapers’ readerships) that exist on the political fringe solely because of the workings of our electoral system.
Allowing these voices to be heard would strengthen a liberal democracy. Canadians who support fringe parties are no less Canadian than those who hold Liberal Party memberships. If the anti-abortion lobby were given the opportunity to defend and debate their positions in the Commons, it may make them less inclined to become radicalized and violent.
Canadians need not worry that extreme voices in Parliament will threaten rights that are pretty firmly entrenched. Even under proportional representation, fringe parties would likely have so few seats that they would be unable to successfully mount a challenge in a Parliament most certainly made up of a majority of members in the ‘mushy middle’.
Representation would subdue a culture of radicalism existing of the ideological periphery. Allowing extreme voices into our legislative bodies would assuage the tendency of these groups to become uncompromising and militant. It might make Parliament more fragmented, but Canadians will be better represented because of it.
