THUNDER BAY -- As the federal government tries to move away from a first-past-the-post electoral system, one local resident believes the proportional representation is the way forward for Canada.
Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP Don Rusnak hosted an open discussion as part of the national public consultation on the Canadian federal electoral reform.
The open house gave more than a dozen citizens a chance to voice their opinions to Don Rusnak Friday afternoon at the Cardinal room in the CLE building.
“I prefer proportional representation,” said Thunder Bay voter Dean Stamler. “It makes sure that there aren’t wild swings in policy between elections.”
He added that it will also ensure that parties are constantly accountable, it will improve voter engagement and it will ensure that the policies that matter to Canadians are represented equally in parliament.
Stamler wasn’t the only citizen in favour of proportional representation a few other residents agreed that should be the way to go.
“There was not a lot of talk about alternative vote,” Stamler said.
“I think in general it’s good, and it’s good and it seems like the government is actually listening to what the average voter is actually saying right now.”
Stamler doesn’t support the idea of alternative vote without some sort of proportional component.
“There’s alternative vote systems like the single transferable vote, but then are proportional and I think that that’s definitely an acceptable solution,” he said.
Stamler said he doesn’t see any issues with the proportional representation voting system.
“I really don’t any drawbacks to a properly implemented system of proportional representation,” Stamler said. “It just means that parties are represented proportionality to the popular vote.”
Rusnak said the message he took away from Friday’s discussion is that this is a complex subject.
“They would like more education,” Rusnak said.
“Of course we had well informed people here today, but most people don’t know a lot about electoral systems and the different electoral systems that exist across the country.”
Rusnak added that an education piece needs to be done, and they need to make sure people understand what is being proposed.
“The questions need to be clear and the systems need to be clear in their head because that’s so important.”
The Minister of Democratic Institutions Maryam Monsef will be coming to Thunder Bay as part of a national tour on Sept. 13 giving citizens another chance to discuss the electoral reform.