开云体育

I just heard you ask your guest about what Canada can learn from the US election. I have my own opinion on that. The incredible division we see south of the border may be the logical end of the first-past-the-post electoral system. We have a similar system, and we should be concerned about the similar divisions we're seeing in our own society.

First-past-the-post tends to result in two parties trading power back and forth. This is called Duverger's The US, where voters are regularly bullied out of voting for other parties, is an extreme example. Canada elects other parties to Parliament, but none of them have ever held power at the federal level. So we're not that far behind the US.

Whenever two sides are set against each other in that manner, it leads naturally to an increasing tribalism and hostility, and to war. Just this morning on the radio, it was reported that one of the anti-vote-counting protesters said it was high time for another civil war.

Contrast this to the recent New Zealand election. The Labour party won a majority for the first time since they adopted proportional representation, but rather than take it as an opportunity to rule unopposed, they've entered into a coalition with the Green Party! They've become accustomed to cooperation, while our parties have become accustomed to negative partisanship and opportunism.

Both the US and Canada need to switch to proportional representation to save our countries from the inexorable descent into tribalism and hatred.

Thank you,

--