The Rush to electoral reform in the Canadian provinces: Why now?

Abstract

Introduction In his seminal 1968 essay on the Canadian electoral system, Alan Cairns wrote that 'proportional representation has not been seriously considered as a possible alternative to the existing system,' and that 'the habituation of Canadians to the existing system renders policy oriented research on the comparative merits of different electoral systems a fruitless exercise' (1968: 263). Cairns' essay generated considerable academic interest in the workings of Canada's electoral system, much of it critical of the single member plurality system (SMP). None of this, however, leads to any serious consideration of reform. The best example of the reticence of the political class to deal with proposals for electoral system reform was the decision by the 1991 Royal Commission on Electoral Reform and Party Financing that it would consider virtually every conceivable issue related to elections and political parties except for the electoral system. The Commission produced 23 research volumes, not a single one of which deals with the electoral system. As recently as 1997, Henry Milner, who has emerged as a leading student and advocate of Canadian electoral reform, observed that '...unlike in Britain, in Canada we have not even brought the issue to public discussion' (1997: 8).