The Purple Party Paradox

Let’s imagine a new Canadian party. They pick purple as their colour because they are a perfect blend of red progressive human rights and blue conservative economic stability. Their platform has four pillars: cost of living relief, housing, healthcare, responsible immigration, and energy security with environmental stewardship. Each pillar balances compassion with fiscal responsibility.

Now let’s imagine that the Purple Party is second-past-the-post in each of Canada’s 343 ridings. How many seats would they win in the House of Commons? Zero. Yes, zero!

Map of Canada Public Domain/Horse Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

 Even though they won more of the popular vote, as the Conservatives did in 2019 and 2021, it could still be shut out of Parliament entirely. That's the fundamental flaw of first-past-the-post—millions of votes can result in zero representation.

Electoral reform with proportional representation would solve this unfairness. If the Purple Party won 35% of the vote, they would win 35% of the seats. Imagine knowing that your vote would count, help elect someone, never be wasted or split the vote, and make every riding matter in every election.

Unlike Canada, most OECD countries use proportional or mixed electoral systems. When votes are translated into seats, you are more likely to believe your voice matters. That belief builds trust in democracy. Trust creates a stronger sense of belonging, where you feel less ignored or shut out. A democracy you trust is more likely to stay united.

Support electoral reform with PR. Visit FairVote.ca or CharterChallenge.ca to learn how.

35% votes = 35% seats—simple math, fair representation

The Real Math of Representation

What did you think about the unusual wave of floor crossings? In the aftermath of Conservative MP Gladu’s floor crossing, Prime Minister Mark Carney said, "If you really want to unite the country, you want people with lots of different views." This applies most clearly to elections, when diversity within a party is built transparently. After elections, when diversity is gained through defections, it can raise questions about legitimacy.

When someone crosses the floor, it blurs the connection between how people voted and who governs. That dynamic is sharper under first-past-the-post, where even a small shift can have outsized effects on power. This strengthens the case for proportional representation (PR), where seats reflect how people actually voted. Similar shifts would be less likely to dramatically alter who governs because power is usually shared among multiple parties and coalition agreements.

Image created by ChatGPT 9-Jun-2026

While majority governments elected with less than majority support may “get things done,” the policy lurch that follows can undo those gains and create uncertainty. GPC Leader Elizabeth May points instead to Lester B. Pearson’s minority governments, which worked closely with Tommy Douglas and the NDP to help deliver Medicare, the Canada Pension Plan, and major expansions of social programs.

Canadians cast ballots for representation, not surprises. PR would make sure the democratic math still adds up after election day.

Support electoral reform with PR. Visit FairVote.ca or CharterChallenge.ca to learn how.

35% votes = 35% seats—simple math, fair representation

Vote and Voice

At an elementary school event, I witnessed a great example of nurturing parenting. The parent announced it was time to go. One child protested and pleaded. The parent listened attentively and responded to the child’s words while playfully herding their two children to the door. The parent’s listening was not a surrender of authority, but a way of guiding the child through frustration. Nurturing parenting often means giving a child a voice, but not a vote.

Our first-past-the-post electoral system offers an opposite example. Even when your vote helps elect an MP, that MP often has no voice. As Andrew Coyne explains in The Crisis in Canadian Democracy, MPs historically used their voices to “consider, refine and pass” legislation. Increasingly, they are whipped by party discipline (and/or personal ambition) to keep their party in power. Omnibus bills and truncated debate times further muzzle our MPs, reducing Parliamentary voting to a rubber stamp.

Proportional representation (PR) would change this dynamic. Coyne also explains how PR governments promote stable, consensus-based policy. Those consensus-based policies are because MPs have a voice. Also, because the votes a party gets translates into seats, voters have a voice.

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images and OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay.

Which raises a timely question: if PR converts votes into voices—both in Parliament and across the country—would Alberta be holding a referendum on leaving Canada at all?

Support electoral reform with PR. Visit FairVote.ca or CharterChallenge.ca to learn how.

35% votes = 35% seats—simple math, fair representation

From "Can AI?" to "Should AI?"

If you had asked me five years ago if my instructional design work could be done by artificial intelligence, (AI), I would have said no. Now, I would say yes. The question has changed from can AI replace human workers to, should it?

The recent federal budget cuts the federal public service by adopting AI tools. Imagine at 65, you defer your OAS benefits because you are still working. Then your checks start arriving. Your local Service Canada is closed. The automated phone menu is a maze. Your online My Service Canada Account is equally confusing. You give up trapped between AI systems with no human help.

Image by Alicia from Pixabay

Giving up has financial implications for you as OAS benefits are taxable. However, the larger harm is psychological. Being at the mercy of AI algorithms is likely to produce stress and alienation, undermining your wellbeing and civic trust.

Canada needs long-term AI policies that keep pace with technology and protect humans. But under first-past-the-post (FPTP), parties chase short-term wins, ignoring future consequences. Even if the current government implements good policies, the next government may change it to align with their politics.

To harness AI safely and for the common good, we need policies that prioritize humans and lasting solutions. Electoral reform with proportional representation (PR) fosters collaboration and consensus, encouraging long-term policymaking that benefits everyone. Support electoral reform with PR. Visit FairVote.ca or CharterChallenge.ca to learn how.

35% votes = 35% seats—simple math, fair representation

Full Dose Democracy

Do we live in a democracy or a plutocracy? In End Times, Peter Turchin defines democracy as government “shaped by the collective will of common citizens” and plutocracy as government shaped by economic elites. The Pharmacare issue offers a revealing case study.

For decades, the majority of Canadians have wanted universal pharmacare as prescription drugs have eaten up a growing slice of health spending. Last year, the federal government passed the Pharmacare Act. At first glance, that looks like democracy in action. But is it?

Our collective will was for universal pharmacare covering everyone, regardless of income or private insurance. This model, recommended by the government’s own 2019 Advisory Council and four previous reports, would give Ottawa real power to negotiate lower prices and save billions. It’s a prescription for healthier finances and healthier citizens.

Yet Big Pharma resisted universal coverage because it threatened profits. They pushed for gap pharmacare, which preserves fragmented plans, high prices, and complex bureaucracy that confuses patients. Under gap coverage, the government lacks power to negotiate or unify drug policies. Turchin notes that in a plutocracy, the elite always get their way. Our case study is evidence we live in a plutocracy.

🄯 N Carswell

If we want policies shaped by people, we must strengthen our democracy. Adopting a proportional representation (PR) election system would dilute elite influence, boost accountability, and help deliver public priorities like universal pharmacare rather than watered-down, profit-protecting alternatives. PR is real reform, not a placebo. Learn more at FairVote.ca and/or CharterChallenge.ca. 

Democracy Needs More Women in the Room

The documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell chronicles how Liberian women used nonviolent protest to end 14 years of civil war. After pressuring the male president and male rebels into peace talks, they blocked the exits when negotiations stalled, forcing the men to stay until an agreement was reached. Having endured years of restriction, often without basic necessities, the women wanted the men in the room to taste that same hardship. 

Screengrab from Pray the Devil Back to Hell

What the documentary does not show are the countless hours the women spent after each protest, reflecting and strategizing. One organizer reflected, “If we had not had different women from different walks of life banding together, we may not have been able to solve the problem.” At its core, democracy exists to address the problems of its people. It flourishes when diverse voices are heard, and inclusive decision-making fosters policies that are both equitable and responsive to all.

Countries with proportional representation (PR) elect more women to the legislature, bringing a shift in legislative priorities. Research shows that women in government are more likely to champion policies that support education, healthcare, family well-being, and social equity. They also prioritize collaboration and long-term solutions over partisan conflict. With more women in the room, diverse problem-solving approaches lead to stronger, more equitable policies—this is, in essence, real democracy.

This federal election, ask you candidates if they support electoral reform with proportional representation. Visit FairVote.ca and/or CharterChallenge.ca to learn more.

Teen Brain Would Vote for Proportional Representation

Imagine you are living in the age of cavepersons with a constant supply of water and food in your cave. Would you ever risk venturing outside? Brain research reveals there is a demographic in our cave that has a brain designed to venture outside—teens. Ironically, it is our teens' drive for reward that has become the foundation of our existence as they enthusiastically ignore consequences. Sometimes they take themselves out of the gene pool and sometimes they succeed in a "better way" that benefits all of us.

Our government has promised to replace our first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system with a better way. While some think keeping FPTP is keeping us safe, among other severe problems, it favours survival of the richest.

The Electoral Reform Committee (ERRE) is reporting in December on two options; ranked ballots and proportional representation (PR). Ranked ballots would not meet the requirements of effectiveness and legitimacy, engagement, accessibility and inclusiveness, and integrity. PR meets all of these plus we can customize it for the requirement of local representation. No constitutional changes needed.

The "teen" brain found PR is a better way in 35 other robust democracies including Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. In our Canadian cave, let's replace adversarial first-past-the-post with consensual proportional representation. Tell your MP and/or tell the Committee (http://tinyurl.com/tellerre) that PR is the better way to make every vote count.

Nancy Carswell, Co-spokesperson Fair Vote Canada Saskatchewan Chapter

Dorito Democracy

The book The Dorito Effect proposes that the cause of our obesity epidemic lies in the food industry's fixation on mouth taste. Why do I specify mouth taste? Apparently other parts of our digestion system have "tastes" too. If these other tastes are not satisfied, we experience the Dorito effect and one Dorito becomes countless Doritos.

There is a parallel here to voting When we vote, we get a taste of power. Sadly, first-past-the-post voting is the equivalent of "mouth taste. It does not satisfy the needs of our democratic system. We can vote countless times and never count.

In 2016, the Electoral Reform Committee heard 88% of its expert witnesses and 87% of the people who stepped up to the mic say they believed a system of proportional representation would satisfy our democratic system.

In 2017, let's give our democratic system the proportional representation it needs to be healthy. Connect with our new Minister of Democratic Reform Karina Gould and tell her you want to experience how democracy tastes with a Canadian-made system of proportional representation. Email Karina.Gould@parl.gc.ca or phone 613-995-0881.

After experiencing a healthy democracy for a few elections, we could ask ourselves then if we wanted to return to a Dorito democracy.

Nancy Carswell, Saskatchewan Chapter Fair Vote Canada Co-spokesperson
Shellbrook, Saskatchewan