Electoral Reform

In the 2022 Ontario general election, the Progressive Conservative Party, led by Doug Ford, secured 83 out of 124 seats in the Legislative Assembly, achieving a majority government. However, they garnered approximately 1.9 million votes, accounting for about 40.8% of the total votes cast. In contrast, the combined votes for the Ontario Liberal Party, Ontario NDP, Ontario Green Party, New Blue Party, and other parties totaled over 2.5 million votes. This disparity highlights a significant flaw in our first-past-the-post electoral system, where a party can achieve a majority in the legislature without a majority of the popular vote. 

Both the majority governments of Kathleen Wynne and Doug Ford have faced numerous scandals and have been criticized for not adequately listening to the people of Ontario. For instance, the Wynne government faced controversies over energy policies and privatization efforts, while the Ford administration has been scrutinized for decisions affecting public health and education. Additionally, voter apathy remains a pressing concern. In the 2022 election, voter turnout was approximately 44%, meaning that over half of eligible voters did not cast a ballot. This low participation rate should serve as a wake-up call, indicating a disconnect between the electorate and the political process.

People are tired of a broken system. And you know what? They’re right to be. The overwhelming majority of Canadians support electoral reform because they know that the system we have now is fundamentally unfair. That’s why we saw the Toronto—St. Paul's by-election turn into the biggest longest ballot initiative protest in history—with 84 candidates running, not to win, but to send a message loud and clear: voters want a fair election system.

Let’s talk about what that protest meant. People voted for random independent candidates instead of establishment parties because they wanted to prove a point: our elections are broken. And if you add up all those votes, they could have easily changed the outcome of the election. That’s not just some fluke—it’s a wake-up call. People are done with first-past-the-post. They’re done with majority governments that don’t listen. And they’re done with politicians who benefit from the broken system and refuse to fix it.

So what do we do? We fix it.

I support bringing Mixed-Member Proportional Representation (MMP) to Ontario. This system, used in Germany, is simple: You get two votes—one for your local representative and one for a party. The local representative still gets elected the same way. But then, additional seats are added to balance the legislature so that the number of seats each party gets actually reflects the percentage of the vote they received. That means no more governments with less than 50% of the vote ruling like they have 100% of the power. No more wasted votes. No more people being told their riding "doesn't matter." Everyone’s vote counts, and everyone’s voice is heard.

But if we really want a democracy that works for everyone, we should also look at how other countries are making their elections fairer. Take Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), for example. Places like Australia and New Zealand use it, and it works. Instead of picking just one candidate, you rank them in order of preference. If your first choice doesn’t win, your vote automatically transfers to your second choice, and so on until someone gets a real majority.

Then there’s Proportional Representation (PR), which countries like Sweden and the Netherlands use. PR ensures that the percentage of seats a party gets always matches the percentage of votes they received. If a party gets 25% of the vote, they get 25% of the seats. Simple. Fair. Democratic. Why does this matter? Because it eliminates "vote splitting." It means people can vote for who they actually support, instead of feeling forced to pick the “lesser evil.” No more “wasted votes.” No more worrying that voting for the candidate you actually like will help elect the one you hate.

At the very least, Ontario should test these systems in municipal and by-elections. We need to see how they work in practice, and I believe voters will demand them once they see how much better they are than what we have now. But we need to go even further. I believe Ontario should test out direct democracy—where the people have the final say. Imagine if voters could demand a referendum on key issues instead of waiting for politicians to "maybe" listen to them every four years. Imagine if we had real accountability—where if the government tried to push through unpopular policies, Ontarians could actually vote to stop them.